Just thought I would throw it out there. I'm one of many many Ticat fans I know that do not want Lumsden to leave. So I'm asking you please Jesse reconsider and help build this team into a champion. That's all I have to say I think eveything else has been said and I'm sure he won't see this but I had to do it, it's gonna suck seeing a warrior like him leave a team like this that's defined by warriors, really hoped to see him on the Wall of Fame one day.
I will take heat for saying this but......He will be in Edmonton. He will play a few games then he will realize he made a big mistake not taking the 150,000 Obie offered him last season. If you asked me he is not a feature back and should accept that. He has been injured everywhere he has gone. McMaster, NFL, Ticats and wherever he may be this season. He is just not a durable player period....Flame on :twisted:
No...flame on here, miketc.
You hit the nail ...bang-on.
I do wish Lumsden the very best...and yes, I also think he will sign to Edmonton.
And for a hell of a lot less...than $150 K per season.
Like it or not....he 'is' too much of a risk for repeated injury.
I'm glad last years contract with the Cats, did not go through.
Plain and simple, sad.... but very true.
Cheers.
Sorry...ment to say tcmike.
I like jessie but only about 90 Thou a year Plus incentives to bring to 120,000 Preseason.
Jess is good guy I love to have him back but not at 121,00 to 150,000
No worries :cowboy:
The only way Lumsden plays in Hamilton is if he's wiling to take less than 100K...the Ticats don't see him as an every down player, and would pay him accordingly.
Bob O’Billovich has said that Jesse Lumsden will test free agency and might come back to Obie to see if he can match the best offer. It would be very good news if the Ticats could re-sign Lumsden as he has played some entertaining football over the past four seasons when healthy. However, as they are already paying Kenton Keith the salary of a feature back and as the Eskimos, Lions and Argonauts no longer have the salary of a feature back on their books, the Ticats probably won’t be able to match the best offer made amongst those teams.
Please SIGN Jesse :thup:
We love you!!
I will give you $10,000 my self :cowboy:
I doubt he'll get $150k firm anywhere at all. Maybe with incentives, from one of the teams mentioned. More likely $125k or so including incentives. I don't think he'll get that from Hamilton even if he does give Obie the opportunity to match. I suspect Obie will max out at $100-120k including incentives for a guy he sees as a very talented runner, a mediocre blocker and receiver, and a player with considerable risk of injury and therefore the cause of substantial ratio-juggling headaches. And I think Obie is right in his assessment. Too bad, JL is a good player who adds a dimension to the Ticats when he's healthy, but that's not often enough to make him a feature back with commensurate pay.
An excerpt from an article in today’s Edmonton Journal about tonight’s “free agent frenzy” summarizes Jesse Lumsden’s prospects in the free agent market:
"At the top of everyone’s menu tonight are Saskatchewan Roughriders linebackers Maurice Lloyd and Anton McKenzie, B.C. Lions offensive lineman Rob Murphy and Hamilton Tiger-Cats running back Jesse Lumsden.
A deal for the latter, who has played just 17 games over the last two seasons due to shoulder injuries and surgeries, may be easier to swallow if he can accept an incentive-laden contract. Of course, there will be several CFL teams looking to step up to that table.
"He wants to see what’s out there. Once he gets a dose of that, he might come back to us and see if we still have an
interest," Tiger-Cats general manager Bob O’Billovich told the Hamilton
Spectator this week.
Lumsden has maintained all along that he would test the free-agency waters and actually turned down a $150,000 offer from the Ticats last August. He’ll draw nowhere near that now, at least not in a base salary."
Here is the link to the full article:
[url=http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Free+agent+frenzy+begins+tonight/1292276/story.html]http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/F ... story.html[/url]That'll be pretty rough if he takes an incentive laden contract somewhere else. If it's true that he'll come back and give Obie a chance to match w.e. he is offered anywhere else than that's good because either he'll get offered some ridiculous contract from Edmonton or T.O. and fine take it and it helps us by tying up a large portion of their cap space by a player who's not gonna be playing every down or he'll get offered an incentive laden contract and Obie has a chance to match, which hopefully if its the right price he does.
I love to watch Jesse play, I think he's a great guy and I'd love to have him re-sign here. That being said, anyone who signs him to anything other than an incentive-based contract is a complete fool.
I wish Jesse all the best and if he chooses to go elsewhere I hope the 4 games he plays next season aren't against us. 
(Just kidding) Good luck to him. Can't blame him for going after the most $$ he can get expecially with his injury.
This is what Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun had to say about Jesse Lumsden in his column on Feb 13/09 on free agents who might be signing with the Eskimos:
"Lumsden, who was born in Edmonton six months earlier than that, suffered injuries at two different NFL camps to hurt his chances of making it below the border. He's also ended his last two seasons early by damaging his left shoulder, requiring off-season surgery both years. The latest happened here in a game against the Eskimos.
Keep him healthy and ... well, his stats tell the story.
In parts of four seasons he's carried 285 times for 1,797 yards for an average of 6.3 yards per carry in a situation where most everybody knew he was going to get the ball.
Playing on a grass field, the same one where his dad played for the five-in-a-row glory gang, has to be a big attraction for Lumsden. Here, with Ray at quarterback, he wouldn't have to carry the load he's had to carry in Hamilton and could be used in a way in which there'd be the likelihood of his lasting longer.
Two big deals. Just waiting to be done. Might only take a minute."
Here is the link to the article:
[url=http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Eskimos/2009/02/13/8376231-sun.html]http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Eskim ... 1-sun.html[/url]I would love to see Jesse here in black and gold but at the right price. I think he still has to show the league that he can play 16 games a year at least.
I see Edmonton as a smart team and don’t see them backing up the Brinks truck to get him. I am leaning more towards the Argos who need to rebuild their talent pool and they have taken chances on guys before.
We play EDM 2x and TOR 4x. If Lumsden is on either of these teams, don’t be surprised if we see him in half the games we play against him.
Lumsden is injury prone. Plain and simple. Incentives are what he need. Play for pay. We got burned last year with Miles and I don’t want Obie to take another hit on this one.
I say, let him go. He won’t do that much damage in the league.
Terry Jones summed up Jesse’s choice of Edmonton (IMHO) well in TCTD post…
Natural grass is nice ,Ricky Ray will use Jesse with passes out of the back field more …
I say it’s a shoe in that he goes to Edmonton,and I’m cheering for ya Jesse .
Can’t see him fitting in Argo land…but… who knows.
A lot of pressure on the Lummer in the hammer, but none in ED, dream on. But where ever the Lummer lands he'll be doing a hell of a lot better than me. 
I wish he was back with the cats. It will seem wierd seeing him in another teams uniform( I know, he didnt dress half the time) if he goes and I hope he stays healthy wherever he goes cus he is fun to watch. I love cfl football and want canadian kids to do well as much as possible. He is entertaining as hell when healthy and wherever he goes I hope I get to enjoy watching him for many years. whether cheering for him or cheering our d to stop him.
Great post, beet.
Amen.
I love Jesse. I really do, but he seems as though he thinks he is worth a lot more than he is. If someone offers him more than 150K (which I think Toronto might) they are insane. Edmonton will not offer him that much, they have other big name players (Peterson, Perry, Ralph etc.) and I don't think they have enough cap room for Lumsden. Toronto however, in the recent abcense of Dorsey is basically screwed for runnngbacks. I see him going to Toronto for big bucks, OR here. I'm not sure why, but that's how I see it.
At least since O'Shea is probably done we'll have someone else to hate.