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Being Buono: A BC Lions Wish List Ahead of CFL Free Agency

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The CFL off-season is about to begin its next momentous period on February 9th when the league’s free agents will be on the market. Fans across the league are wishing with Christmas like anticipation that their GM’s can find a few treasures to add to the line-up of their favourite team.

At his end of the season address Wally Buono was asked whether or not the BC Lions would change their approach to free agency this off-season. Traditionally, Wally Buono has not been a big believer of building a team through CFL free agency. However, in his reply he said that the team had to have a different approach, because the “landscape had changed”.

With the elimination of option year contracts (excluding rookies), CFL players are becoming free agents more frequently in hopes of getting a look down south. This is making it harder to find, develop and keep players to build your team around.

This year’s crop of available players is large and impressive, and you can bet the international players on the list are going to be looking at the most they can get given the weak Canadian loonie.

Last week we looked at the Lions remaining free agents, so let’s take a look at who outside of the organization might have Buono’s interest (okay, more like who I would be interested in if I was him) come February 9th.

We may be reaching for the stars with some of these, but hey it’s fun to dream right?

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Ted Laurent – DL (Hamilton) – National

There is no better interior defensive lineman in the league today then Ted Laurent. When you combine that with the fact he is Canadian, it’s no surprise that many consider him the prize catch in this year’s crop of free agents.

Buono has spoken highly of Laurent in the past and wanted to try and get him last time he returned from the NFL. The Lions would dearly love to add Canadian depth to their defensive line and the 28-year-old Laurent would be a key piece to accomplish that.

One of the reasons Laurent signed with Hamilton last go around was a desire to play closer to home, so whether or not he would be open to playing on the west coast is an unknown. He also won’t come cheap and will have several bidders for his services.

Justin Capicciotti – DL (Ottawa) – National

For many of the same reasons the Lions might be interested in Laurent, Justin Capicciottiwould also fit the bill on the defensive line for the Lions. The 23-year-old Simon Fraser University graduate had a monster season for the Redblacks and should he make it to the open market he will be a very hot commodity.

Capicciotti is a relentless pass rusher with a motor that doesn’t quit. He racked up 47 tackles and was third in the league with 12 sacks to his credit. There is no chance the Lions would get both Laurent and Capicciotti, getting one of them would make free agency a success.

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Josh Bourke – LT (Montreal) – National

The last time Josh Bourke hit free agency the Lions sent out a tweet saying they were going to be making him an offer. It obviously fell on deaf ears as the 7-time Eastern all-star and lockdown tackle re-signed with the Montreal Alouettes.

The Lions could dearly use some reliable and National depth on their offensive line and starting a Canadian at tackle can have a huge positive ripple effect on your ratio possibilities. The Lions were interested in the past and given the fact Bourke is still at the top of his game, you would think they would be again. But whether Bourke has any desire to move is the question.

The money will have to be top of the pile to get him, but just close your eyes and imagine Bourke and Jovan Olafioye as your starting tackles Lions fans.

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Aaron Grymes – DB (Edmonton) – International

Aaron Grymes has been a favourite of mine the last two season playing for the Eskimos. I love how aggressive he is from the half-back spot and he has a great nose for the football. With the Lions absorbing some departures in the secondary, he would be a solid addition to a developing group of young players.

Grymes has had NFL interest himself but to date has not signed a deal. The Eskimos will be eager to keep him and you have to think his previous head coach Chris Jones might come calling as well, but he will be a solid signing wherever he lands.

Whether the Lions try and land a couple of big fish or look for smaller fill-in pieces, it’s going to be fun to watch the fur fly come February 9th.

Who is on your wish list?

Lions Not Busy But Talent Is There

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Chris Rwabukamba should give the Lions ratio flexibility.

 

The first three days of CFL free agency are done, and the BC Lions appear to be finished sifting through what’s out there and will now focus their efforts on the draft and upcoming free agent camps.

While they only added one player from the available pool of league talent, the addition of Chris Rwabukamba is one the Lions have been trying to make for a couple seasons now.

The former Edmonton Eskimos DB has the flexibility to play the corner or at safety and with comfort of having Canadian Matt McGarva, the Lions may finally have that national safety they’ve been coveting for two years. McGarva is coming off a second major knee injury, but if he can have a solid return to the lineup it gives the Lions great roster flexibility.

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Ernest Jackson

In the loss column, the Lions say goodbye to Ernest Jackson, who in the second half of last season took on a major role in the offence. The Lions wanted to have him back, but the money paid by the Redblacks closed that window. While Jackson may continue to thrive, the body of work didn’t necessarily reflect his new deal with Ottawa. The Lions have Lavasier Tuinei and Bryan Burnham waiting in the wings and both showed promising talent in their appearances last season. The off-season signing of Austin Collie, a healthy Courtney Taylor and Manny Arceneaux, combined with improved numbers from Shawn Gore and Marco Iannuzzi should mean that the Lions should be ok without Jackson.

The Lions might have wanted to add an offensive lineman and were reported to be talking to Stanley Bryant prior to Winnipeg securing the two-time all-star. But most of the top tier players had already re-signed with their clubs or found NFL deals south of the border. While fans (including myself) are pining for improvement with the offensive line, I don’t think the cupboard is as bare as people think.

The key for the Lions will be to have their young guys make strides of improvement, while at the same time, stay healthy. Hunter Steward impressed in his limited action last year and Kirby Fabien was having a stellar rookie season before his injury. Last season, Fabien struggled both mentally and physically returning from that injury, and will hopefully rebound. T-Dre Player also showed some promise and will be attending his second training camp. After a strong rookie season, Matt Norman will be under scrutiny at training gamp with talk that the Lions may try Cameron Thorn under centre. At tackle they are solid on the left with Jovan Olafiyoe and on the right Jermarcus Hardrick provided some stability in the second half of last season.

The Lions would also like to find a kicker after releasing Ricky Schmitt and losing prospect Rich Leone to the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course Paul McCallum will be back at camp, but to ask him to both jobs will be a stretch. Ideally the Lions would like to find a kicker that can handle all duties.

Travis Lulay is the key.
Travis Lulay is the key.

Of course the big question is at quarterback and the status of Travis Lulay. The Lions have spoken with Dan LeFevour and Lowell Ullrich reported that they will wait and see what they have at their April offence camp before deciding if more help is needed. John Beck will return with a better knowledge of the CFL game and newcomer Jordan Rodgers will be evaluated as well. Should LeFevour still be out there, and the Lions decide they need help, don’t be surprised if they look at bringing him in.

There will be more players added through the draft and free agent camps and don’t underestimate the contacts that new coach Jeff Tedford has south of the border. The Lions may not have been busy to start CFL free agency, but they do have the nucleus to make strides in 2015.

And that will be critical in the tough CFL West Division.

The BCLionsDen.ca Pawdcast – Episode 23

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Nick MooreIn Episode 23 Brian and Mojo return from a hiatus to chat about the off-season of the BC Lions so far. They’re also joined by Ryan Ballantyne of the CFL Horsemen Podcast in Calgary, as well as Andrew Bucholtz of Yahoo Sports and the 55 Yard Line Blog to talk Stampeders and other CFL topics.

To stay up to date with our podcasts, blogs and other Lions news, follow us on Twitter @BCLionsDen

Please leave us a comment on the site and let us know how we’re doing. You can also leave us a ranking and a review on iTunes, we would really appreciate it!

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Free agency misses are just a minor setback for Buono and the Lions

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The BC Lions haven’t had much success this off-season in getting their man. It started in the off-season when they courted the likes of Paul LaPolice and George Cortez for their offensive coordinator positions and were declined on both fronts.

Then came free agency, where the club was bold and aggressive in its pursuit of some of the big names, only to get none of them. For fans who were hoping some solid editions to the 2014 team that has brought a lot of disappointment and in some cases frustration.

Thankfully, Wally Buono has been around long enough to know that consistently competitive teams are not built through free agency, but through the draft and finding players through free agent camps and development.

Surely Buono would have liked to have kept Nick Moore. A player that they found through free agent camps and developed while he learned from the best, Geroy Simon. Last year Buono had seen enough to move Simon to Saskatchewan and Moore into the starting role created by his departure.

Nick MooreMoore took advantage of his opportunity, leading the Lions in receiving and putting up his first 1000 yard season as a pro. In a perfect scenario, he would have remained here and built on that success but the business side of football came calling from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the numbers were high enough that Buono was willing to say goodbye to the player he helped mould.

“When you go about building your team you do have to maintain a vision of two to three years down the road,” said Buono on BCLions.com. “We’re not going mortgage long-term competitiveness simply to make a splash in February with one or two players. We owe our fans a team that’s stable over the long haul.”

And that’s what Buono has done his whole career. He’s separated himself from the players so that he can be objective when it comes to the business side of the game. Players don’t always like that, and the fans get upset when their favourite player leaves. But all will be forgotten if Buono can find more diamonds in the rough like Cord Parks.

Things don’t always work out the way you plan of course. The Lions record in recent drafts have been hit and miss at best and they will certainly want to find some quality in this year’s selections, but it’s all part of the process. You win some and you lose some.

So while fans express their frustrations at being shutout through free agency, those who have been around a while will know that’s just a small part of building a winning football club. Not just for this year, but for the long term future. It would be good advice to look at things from the business side from time to time and realize that the days when a player plays for one team his entire career are extremely rare in today’s age of salary management systems and free agency.

“The one thought I kept saying to myself over and over again was that our philosophy is not to buy players but find players,” Buono said. “When we’ve taken that approach we’ve always gotten better.”

Buono has done it many times, and given a little patience, he’s likely to do it again even if he has to do it the old fashioned way.

 

BC Lions Social wins big on first day of #CFLFA14

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The BC Lions may not have come out winners when it came to getting the players they coveted on day one of CFL free agency, but they certainly came out the winners when it came to engaging their fans on Twitter and Facebook. Free agency had barely begun when the @BCLions tweeted this:

That’s the first time I’ve seen a professional sports team let their followers know what the they were working on during what is traditionally a top-secret operation for teams. It also has the interesting dynamic of letting the other teams know who they were after right off the bat. Fans and traditional media both got a kick out of the tweet:

Quickly though the players on that list started to disappear, one by one. The Lions further teased their fans by tweeting a picture of their own free agent, Keron Williams working out at the team’s facility in Surrey:

That caused speculation an announcement was pending on Williams re-signing with the Lions. It of course never came…TEASES!

And when they lost Nick Moore to Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Lions broke up the disappointment for their fans with this little gem to remind Moore to buy some protection with his fat new contract:

And for good measure retweeted a Manitoba weather report:

Ahh, those Lions social media peeps are gold Jerry, GOLD!

And when the day was done there an interview with the big man, Wally Buono, who explained the club’s use of Social Media and how the day unfolded for BC.

I’ve been on Twitter as long as the Lions have. In fact before the league or the team ever had an account. From day one the Lions have always been the most engaging team on Twitter and continually come up with ways to engage their fans.

They may not signed any of the players they had on their list this morning, but when it came to social, they were clearly the winners of the day.

Now go be social, and share this blog would ya?

 

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