ESKS MOVE THE ‘MAYOR’
Fan favourite Willis off to B.C. in three-team deal
Farewell, Odell. The fan-anointed Mayor of Commonwealth is part of the Edmonton Eskimos no more. In a move that was sure to strike a nerve among the club’s faithful, general manager Brock Sunderland pulled the trigger on a deal for veteran defensive end Odell Willis that involved three teams. Initially, Willis was traded to the Ottawa Redblacks in exchange for 23-year-old defensive tackle Jake Ceresna, a 6-foot-5, 295-pound Cortland State product who had two sacks and 18 tackles in 14 games during his inaugural season in the Canadian Football League last year. “I just want to thank Ottawa and R Nation for a solid rookie year,” Ceresna posted on Instagram. “I met a lot of amazing people and got to play for a great organization. It was a lot of fun. “With that said, I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m excited to be a part of the Edmonton Eskimos and to play for a historic franchise and city.” The native of Danbury, Conn., spent time with the National Football League’s New York Jets, and would have been scouted by Ottawa when Sunderland was the Redblacks’ assistant GM. The Redblacks turned around and moved Willis to the B.C. Lions, reuniting him with Ed Hervey — the GM who brought him to Edmonton in 2013 — for a fourthround draft pick and an unnamed player off B.C.’s negotiation list. “I will always love the fans of Commonwealth and getting impeached will not change that, lmao!!!" Willis stated in a message to Postmedia following the double deal. “It was a great ride, from 5-13 (and) getting our ass kicked to 14-4 (and) Grey Cup champs. Memories I will never forget. “Until we meet again in 2018, I wish nothing but the best for the fans of Commonwealth. You guys will always have a special place in my heart. P.S.: Y’all please don’t boo me when I come back to Commonwealth, lmao.” Salary cap was a motivating factor in the decision to move Willis, with the 33-year-old’s annual price tag expected to be somewhere around $150,000. Meanwhile, Sunderland entered his first full off-season at the helm of the Eskimos with 37 player contracts set to expire on Feb. 13, including: Euclid Cummings, Aaron Grymes, Adam Konar, Kenny Ladler and J.C. Sherritt. And that’s on defence alone. Twenty-six contracts are still pending, with six players having re-upped with Edmonton while five were released, including NFLbound Brandon Zylstra and Ladler. And while Sunderland didn’t engineer any of the expiring contracts, he was left holding the bag with 10 more pending free agents than the next two closest teams had this year. Meanwhile, Hervey, his predecessor and the current Lions GM, is no doubt looking to reacquaint Willis with a few more familiar pieces that end up falling through. Still, it couldn’t have been an easy decision to take away the frontman and break up the band on a defensive line that led the way to the Eskimos’ last Grey Cup championship in 2015. Especially with the way Willis started out last year, recording six sacks in the first seven games, which happened to coincide with Edmonton’s remarkable 7-0 start. But, just like the team took off on a six-game losing streak at that point, Willis’s performances couldn’t be sustained and he ended the regular season with eight sacks and 22 tackles. It’s a far cry from the 13 quarterback takedowns and 31 tackles he earned in 2014, which stand as career highs, but that came before he turned 30. Willis was 28 when he first joined the Eskimos in the opening minutes of 2013 free agency, which accompanied a $10,000 tampering fine for Hervey. In 155 career CFL games over nine seasons, Willis has recorded 218 tackles, 86 sacks, three interceptions, two touchdowns and 22 forced fumbles while playing for the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Eskimos. His contributions to the Eskimos included 126 tackles, 46 sacks, all three interceptions, both TDs and 10 forced fumbles over five seasons. With the 6-foot-2, 255-pound native of Meridian, Miss, landing in Vancouver, he’s hit for the cycle by playing for all five teams in the West Division. While his larger-than-life personality is as impossible to ignore as it is polarizing for Canadian football fans, there is no denying the leadership role Willis assumed in the Eskimos locker-room. He inherited the title as Eskimos defensive captain after middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt was lost for the season with an Achilles injury on opening day of the 2017 season.