Rumour, Ticats make offer to Fantuz

gary lawless ?@garylawless 2h2 hours ago

told @Ticats making WR Andy Fantuz an offer to keep him in Ham. ACL surgery will keep him off field for long stretch but they want him #cfl

Fantuz is to ME is as polarizing as Banks/Owens/Dyakowski. Fan fav and earns respect. Here’s my thing though, winning teams know when to cut their losses. Fantuz is literally as slow as an unopened can of molasses. I truly think the team needs to put past accomplishments behind them. I worry that Austin waxes nostalgic. Take a look down south with Belichick. That guy knows when a player should be put out to pasture. Matt Coates means more to me at this point than Andy Fantuz.

Fantuz is a big part of Cat offence. If you're complaining about his speed, then you never saw Hugh Campbell play. The guy ran great routes and caught everything. His speed was glacial but glaciers pound rocks. Back in the day, our best Db was Garney Henley and his assignment was to try to contain Campbell. It was the hare guarding the tortoise but the tortoise caught his fair share. Campbell was that good and so is Andy.

I hope Andy is back with the TiCats. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

Pat Lynch (the old guy)

Fantuz if signed would be on Injured Relief for Salary Cap purposes until well after Labour day
I hope we sign him

Andy seemed to get 45 yards down field in a big hurry here for being "slow as molasses"

"Andy Fantuz has an instinctual understanding of time and space on a football field and I’ve always felt that’s the main reason he’s been such a great player throughout his CFL career. But there’s also another reason: he’s a phenomenal athlete."

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Good thing you included “to ME”. Traditionally, “polarizing” would imply lots of people on each side of an issue. I’m not sure there are too many on your side. Granted he has to come back from injury, but if he does (as he has in the past) I expect him to be at or close to his 2016 performance level. I didn’t hear a lot of complaints last year as he was breaking records.

I think his rehab will take him into the end of July so he will likely start the season on the 6 game and his salary won’t count against the cap.
I wouldn’t expect him to be at or close to his 2016 performance level, he will be recovering from an ACL and 35 years old. If he hasn’t recovered by august then they give him the opportunity to retire or he’s released.

I agree 100%. The Hall of Fame is full of guys with less than blazing speed but great hands like Andy has: DiPietro, Brian Kelly, Ben Cahoon, Ray Elgaard, Darren Flutie…Fantuz will certainly join them one day. Here’s hoping we get to watch him in black & gold for another couple of years.

Fantuz just turned 33 years old in DEC., he is a tremendous athlete, doubt his commitment at your peril

A knee injury isn't always the end. To use an example from another sport.. Andrei Markov of the Canadiens. He tore his ACL twice in his early 30s, and everyone thought he'd be done. He's 38 now and looking like he might have another year or 2 left. A lot of guys will tell you they're in their best shape ever in their mid-30s.

anyone else feel like Owens will be back in TO?

No.

Owens will be back in Hamilton.

The reason he left is Millanovich and Barker. I hope you’re right, but I could see Toronto ownership paying him to help sell tickets.

well, to be honest, if he does go TO's way, it'll be because KA couldn't get the deal done...and I doubt that will be the case.

(at least that is my hope) :slight_smile:

let’s just wait and see how that works out!

The TiCats will be tight against the Cap with Collaros' contract kicking in for a $270K raise on his last contract.
I would think that Tolliver just signed for a nice raise and they signed Fulton also.
Owens was reportedly making $200K on his last years contract, the only way I would want him back is for less than one half of that. If he wants to sign for 90K and stay close to his family and then collect some playoff bonus 's, I would welcome him.
It would be DB Emanuel Davis that has earned and deserves a decent contract over Owens,
I would prefer what little Cap $'s we have left on Davis, another F.A. DB(Rico) and Sinkfield

I agree with all of your statement there! Yes to Owens but only at the right price!

Boys your forgetting two major facts on Andy #1 he is a Canadian!
And #2 he has played way back for Austin in Saskatchewan and Austin knows Andy very well and would trust his gut feeling on performance/ Health vs Cost

But he’s had major ACL surgery and he won’t finish rehab until July, the coach and Fantuz have no idea what he will be like after he returns. He could be as good as he was or he may not recover from it, there is no “gut feeling” when you have had major surgery.

So what's the downside? If he can't return to form we keep him on the injured list all year with no cap hit. And if he does return to form, we have one of the top Canadian receivers in the league who has great rapport with our QBs and coaches. And obviously we will have someone else taking his spot to start the season, so if/when Andy returns we will have better depth at receiver.

Hard to argue with this logic.

Fantuz in form makes the Cats a better team.