Playmakers Available: Who are the top unsigned FAs?

TORONTO — Free agency has officially started with big names being signed all across the league.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.cfl.ca/2024/02/14/playmakers-available-who-are-the-top-unsigned-fas

Things look a little different this year. We’re seeing a lot of the “old guard” having trouble finding spots leaving some like Simoni Lawrence & Jeffcoat, to name 2 good players, to retire. I would not be surprised to see Sewell, Laurent, Van Zeyl, Arcenaux, Ellingson, Muamba & Dom Davis to follow suit. Guys like Ja’Gared Davis, Shaq Evans, Derel Walker, Duke Williams are all still in the 30-33 range but likely not on the top of anyone’s list anymore. And of the above mentioned players, Dean is 36, Morrow, Grant & Whitehead would command less money because of injury concerns.

In Winnipeg, always the outlier, I was amused by a comment Walters made. When mentioning they were moving on from 3 players he said that they were letting Gray go because they wanted to get younger at that position. :grinning: In light of the fact Gray is the only OL starter under 30, it makes perfect sense that the youth movement would start with, say, Eli who is 13 months younger replacing one of the old guard. :grinning:How so true to form is that?? Thanks to Walters for the unintentional irony. I needed a good chuckle with breakfast today.

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I created an account just to mention to cfl.ca that this article, originally posted Feb 14 and again reposted Feb 17, is wrong.

Jamal Morrow signed with the Stamps Feb 13, as reported by 3DN. This article was wrong by a day when it was first posted and by 4 days now.

Considering this website is operated by the league I would expect more accurate reporting but instead these articles are unfortunately subpar and usually late to the table compared to 3DN.

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Last I heard Morrow is on his own. Didn’t pass the medical with Stamps apparently.

Not surprised. The style of running game the Riders had was really hard on backs and they were lucky to get the the 4th quarter without be so knicked up they were not playing.

I would bet the rest of the guys on that list are negotiating with some team. It’s nothing new. These guys are all veterans who will wring every dollar they can out of thier next contract, so it might take a while to get it done for them.

Certainly a list of really good to great players when they were in their prime. Grant, for example, seemed to be a very different dude after his injury. Whitehead does not seem to be the guy he was two or three seasons ago. Are teams unwilling to risk bringing some of these guys onboard and/or are they asking too much? Most of the players on the list were studs at some point, or demonstrated great potential. I hope they land somewhere. Hate to see them leave the game too soon. Front office types though, might hate to see them leave the game too late.

Damn! That is dark, right? Harsh reality of professional football. Until they get old(er) most people do not realize that the human body has an odometer and once it exceeds the genetically allocated marker, just idling requires a great deal of work. And spending a lifetime playing football knocks distance off of the warranty. A few years ago, I read that a study showed that every collision on the football field (tackle) generated the same force on the body that a 50kmh/35mph car accident produced. It is amazing that these guys can play as long as they do. I wish Morrow the best.

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An update on Morrow. Stamps are concerned with his wrist. If he is healthy come training camp they’ll look at signing him.

That’s good to know. Where did you hear this?

Unfortunately, the wrist is a very complex joint with a bunch of small bones in it (Broke one of them a couple years ago) and they take a while to heal and longer to stop being sharply painful if you move the wrong way.

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