Agreed.
Zero chance he’s down there as a punter.
Would his low trajectory kicks be a concern for NFL teams? Yes, that was a phenomenal, perfectly timed leap to block that field goal in Calgary, but now that it’s been done, would it cause NFL coaches to worry that it could be duplicated, especially in a league of bigger players?
And, the trajectory, I’d think, would be lower when the ball isn’t set on a tee. I may be wrong (again), but I don’t think tees are permitted on FGs and converts in the NFL.
Lirim had a good year in 2019 ( 2018 not so much ) . Last spring he attended a kicking camp in
Arizona before going to the Seattle rookie tryouts . He returned to the Cats already to go .
Hopefully, history will repeat itself for TiCat fans but I wish him well in the states .
Michael Domogala is the 24 year old kicker/punter from Carleton who impressed in the Cat training
camp last spring . He may be one of many kickers in camp this year .
Kicking is a big part of the Canadian game and I’m sure Coach O and Reinbold will make it solid again .
Pat Lynch (the old dude)
We’ve seen a bunch of similar releases by other teams in the last month or so. I think due to the recent mess over the ineffective attempt to re-implement the “NFL window” with the new CBA (whether the CFL was acting in good faith or not), team’s are proactively trying to signal to free agents that they aren’t going to be hard-asses about retaining players with legit NFL aspirations. With a veteran like Hajrullahu, the team is probably worried about being perceived as a villain if in the current CBA mess they vigorously enforce their claim to him even though he had been signed a month prior to the current CBA.
It’s all about creating a perception that the team will treat players in a way that players consider “fair”, regardless of the letter of the CBA (largely due to the fact that NFL non-recognition of the window has resulted in a bit of a clusterf&$k this offseason). Once the dust settles on the re-implementation of the NFL window, maybe teams will start taking a harder line again.
Again, even though in Hajrullahu’s case, he missed the current CBA by a month, I imagine the team is concerned about a) not wanting to burn bridges with him, and b) not wanting to be perceived as holding a respected veteran hostage “on a technicality”.
The current CBA mess has nothing to do with Liram. He didn’t sign under the premise that he could go to the NFL.
The only other example of this scenario that I could find is Tre Roberson.
Doesn’t make it right. I support CFL players going south, and I support the release of players that are set to be free agents. But this one is different and while the perception is a good one, it doesn’t have any bearing on free agents moving forward because if this isn’t worked out they won’t sign more than 1 year deals anyways.
Sorry but I’m not a fan of this one. Seems unnecessary to me, Liram is taking advantage of the other players that actually sign under that premise.
Dallas recently released Brett Maher, he was good for us.
I think he just signed with the Jets around New Years.
He only hit 20 FGs on 30 attempts this year in Dallas. A 67% accuracy rate won’t cut it anymore.
Of course it does. The current CBA mess is causing some teams to grant releases to players they wouldn’t normally grant them to. The team’s decision to release Lirim DESPITE THE FACT THAT HIS CONTRACT HAD BEEN SIGNED UNDER THE PREVIOUS CBA is something that would not happened if we weren’t in this weird climate of “good faith releases”.
Team’s aren’t under any obligation to grant releases to players who signed under the current CBA either (despite the screw-up around the NFL window), yet they are still doing it. Lirim’s release would not have occurred if we weren’t in the current mess.
The current CBA mess is all about players that signed under a certain premise. Liram did not sign under that premise. When he chose to sign a 2 year deal he knew full well there was no NFL window at that time. A month after he signed the new CBA came into effect and the window was re-opened. He essentially got lucky.
Team's aren't under any *obligation* to grant releases to players who signed under the current CBA either (despite the screw-up around the NFL window), yet they are still doing it. Lirim's release would not have occurred if we weren't in the current mess.Never said they were. My issue isn't with Liram, its with the team. For players coming up on free agency next month the right thing to do is to release them, and I fully support that. I simply disagree with their decision to simply "be nice" in this example to Liram.
I am not a lawyer and don't fully understand all this,
but, I think he has a right to go to the NFL and if he doesn't make it
he then has to go back to his original CFL contract.
"In the event that the N.F.L. Club terminates the Player’s N.F.L. Standard Player Contract, and the Player’s C.F.L. Standard Player Contract has not expired, the Player’s C.F.L. Standard Player Contract and any renewal thereof between the Player and the Member Club shall become effective and shall remain in effect until its expiration date, and all benefits in accordance with the said C.F.L. Standard Player Contract and Collective Agreement shall continue to remain in effect.
Effective 2020 and going forward, all players under contract will be eligible for the NFL Option Window, described herein, at the end of each season, regardless of the length of their contract. This proposed clause is subject to agreement from the NFL."
MORE HERE
The NFL has not agreed to it. So he’s been released and is a free agent. This was confirmed by Dave Naylor.
The NFL agreed, it is the NFLPA that hasn’t agreed, but some of these guys are getting signed to contracts and they are definately getting tryouts
The NFL/NFLPA have not agreed to allow “under contract” players to try out.
Hence the players getting released form their CFL contracts. What you posted is the desired end state.
Any player that comes back to Canada will be a free agent.
In Lirim’s case, could it not simply be that he signed his contract at a time when both he and the club were informed, and under the expectation, that the soon to be agreed upon new CBA would include an NFL option clause for all players each season? And now, with that in mind, the club is being fair in giving the player the opportunity he expected, when signing, that he would have available to him at this time.
That’s what’s happening all over the league. It’s why Wpg released Kongbo and Calgary released Roberson. Players expected to have the right, and teams are giving them that right by releasing them. Whether or not LH expected it when he signed, it would be churlish of the Ticats to say no when so many guys are being told Yes.
What I posted was from a memo sent to the players from the CFLPA
…which outlines their desired end state. Those rules are not in effect right now.
Your previous post said that under that memo Liram would be a Ticat should he return. That’s not the case currently.
Seems like an easy way for a player to escape a CFL contract and then come back and test out the free agent market. Does the “tryout” have to be a pre-arranged, personally arranged tryout, or can a player just ask for a release and tryout out at any team’s open tryout camp.
I’m all for the “power to the people” but every freedom has to carry some responsibility doesn’t it?
What’s happening currently is not what was intended under the CBA.
Current state: CFL player may not tryout for an NFL team unless they are a free agent. Therefore CFL teams are being pressured into releasing guys since some of them signed contracts believing they could freely try out for the NFL. If they return they are a free agent.
Desired State (per the CBA): CFL player can tryout after any season, and if they have time left on their CFL contract their team retains their rights. This is not in effect yet.