There’s a unique sinking feeling that comes with the moment you realize you’ve been robbed.
Maybe you’ve looked around inside your car and wondered for a few seconds why everything looks so messy and out of place, before you see the bits of glass on what used to be your passenger window splintered all over the seat and floor. Your stomach drops, you panic over what may be gone and you get angry, all in the span of a few seconds.
Argos have raided the Stampeders over the years of not only players but also coaches. It is only fair that teams now raid Argos of their talent. No sympathy for them !
Argos have a great GM that knows football and great coach,not worried because these two always find great young talent and a coaching staff that is competent my only question is that the play in a small venue and had a low attendance that plays into revenue for signing free agents,don’t count those Argos out yet!
#12 was a good QB on a GREAT team, but the last time we saw him, he did a total faceplant in front of their biggest crowd and had his little tantrum after the game. Credit the Als’ D for getting under Chad’s skin, but that was the only real time he faced any adversity last season. He’s going to have to be a lot better if the Argos can only put a mediocre team on the field…though, that will let us see if he can be a great QB, or if he was just being propped up by a great supporting cast.
Losing Ouellette is going to leave a mark. That’s a big hit! I bet the Boaters were bummed to see that the Bombs were able to lockdown Oliveira for the next two years. Oliveira would have been the best answer to losing Ouellette. Speaking of Ouellette, if the Riders can find a few more pieces to the puzzle they might be an intriguing team in 2024.
I think the Als were helped by the coach that they were able to bring on board. Maas did an amazing job with the team and brought out the best in Fajardo. The GM gets some love too, for some of the interesting pieces that he assembled, including bringing in Lemon. I loved the way the team kept improving throughout the season and then peaked at the perfect moment. The Eastern Final and the Grey Cup were some of the best football that I witnessed in my lifetime. As much as I wanted the Bombs to win, Montreal was the better team. Some truly masterful coaching occurred with that club.
In a league with a salary cap - this happens. When you win consistently you need that pipeline fo good young talent because the young talent lets you afford the veterans.
Toronto slid by until this year when a bunch of those good young guys all hit free agency at the same time.
To be a good GM you need guys whose salaries all fit in the box. All the best teams from the last couple seasons are now in the same boat and will be looking for a bunch of young talent so they can afford the big names.
They had Chad Kelly on almost an entry-level QB contract in 2023, which is why they could afford to overspend at other positions. Now he’s getting paid and they have to budget just like everyone else.
I find it interesting that the Argos still haven’t named a defensive coordinator to replace Corey Mace. Will it be Eiben or Fields, or do they have an outside candidate in mind? And is this uncertainty part of why defensive players are signing elsewhere?
I’m not that concerned with the Argos at this point. Bede’s replacement was in place. Jordan Williams had split time with Jonathan Jones & Jones was better. They are anticipating losing 1 of their stud DT’s & picked up Ceresna. Peters & Leake are losses but there are a lot of DB’s out there.
Kelly played with a group of WR’s who, outside of Daniels, were virtually unknown & got career bests out of pretty much all of them. He didn’t have a trio like Schoen, Lawler & Demski or Rhymes, Hatcher, Hollins. They’re good at identifying young talent. It’s early in the game &, depending how things turn out on some other fronts, they could always circle back to, say, Ouellette, next week & lure him back.
This happens every year & often the better teams pick up value deals when the big buyers have emptied their wallets. You can’t keep everyone.
I’m impressed that the Argos granted Pickett his release ahead of next week, indicating that door was closed. I’d like to see more teams follow that example.
One theory I have, I could be wrong, is that M.L.S.E. owners have told the Argonaut organisation to cut costs. The Argos have won many more championships than the Leafs & Raptors put together! M.L.S.E. have not exactly been great owners investing much time & money into the football team. M.L.S.E. has BILLIONS of dollars! They are mediocre owners that should be ashamed. If they ran the Leafs & Raptors like that fans would have a fit. Wake up M.L.S.E. & do a better, more PROFESSIONAL job of running the Argonauts football team! The Argos deserve much better. M.L.S.E. CAN afford to spend millions of dollars marketing the Argos.
Yes the sky isn’t quite falling in Argo land, just maybe dipped a little bit in our minds. Pickett is a game changer IMO gone but I agree with you Jones was better LBer than Williams. That guy has a real nose for the football. The defensive backfield took a hit IMO losing Peters and Stiggers, there are some good guys left although smaller so that might take a while to sort it self out. The DLine is still good maybe not the depth there on paper. But DE Betts is still out there at the moment.
The Argo OLine is right up there with the best in the League and can make a lot of RB’s look good who ever they might be. Some people have mentioned former Stamp Carey. He could be a short term answer in a rotation with Adeboboye while they break in a new back. WR’s are still good now with Coxie back to go with Daniels and Bissett. Would be nice to see Pinball sign Tim White away from Hamilton to give them another game breaker. Every year some unknows come in a lights it up and I expect this year will no different. The kicking is still ok even if Boris is gone and that gives the Coaches more flexibility with a back up/special team Import which is no small thing IMO. But maybe we will only get 13 or 14 wins this year.
LOL. That’s a good one. I expect the Argos spend as close to the cap as anybody else in the League. They just happened to have a lot of good players that all deserved to be paid the going rate so you can’t keep them all. The Argos have always brought players into the League that probably wouldn’t sign else where up here. I expect the average young American player doesn’t know too much about cities in Canada but Toronto is a known name. Chad Kelly wouldn’t sign with Edmonton but would with Toronto. Starting QB’s MB Thompson, Collaros, Harris and Farjardo all came into the CFL with the Argos just to name a few players.
The negotiation list player is Khalan Lahorn, 5’9", 204 Lbs who posted a 4.44 40 & spent some time with the 49’ers last year. They wanted him in the deal so there’s that as well.
Yeah, I’m still quite high on the Argos in the East. Losing players is never good but it clears CAP space to make some moves of your own.
