Stampeders tell veteran running back, Messam, to test free-agent market
It’s been quite a two-year run for Jerome Messam.
No CFL running back has been more prolific than the Brampton, Ont., native, who has rushed for 2,214 yards the past two seasons and helped lead the Calgary Stampeders to consecutive Grey Cup appearances.
But the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Messam is expected to be on the open market Tuesday when CFL free agency begins.
On Thursday, Calgary president/ GM John Hufnagel said the team advised Messam to test the freeagent waters although he didn’t close the door on a possible return.
“We told Jerome that go into free agency, see what’s out there and then call us if they’d like to,” Hufnagel told reporters in Calgary.
Veteran linebacker J.C. Sherritt won’t be hitting the open market. The CFL’s top defensive player in 2012 reportedly agreed to a one-year deal to return for an eighth season with the Edmonton Eskimos.
But there’s still plenty of other CFL vets who could join Messam in free agency, including: American linebackers Taylor Reed (Ottawa) and Larry Dean (Hamilton); Canadian defensive backs Matt Black and Jermaine Gabriel (both Toronto) as well as American defenders T.J. Heath (Winnipeg), Ronnie Yell (B.C.), Tommie Campbell and Joe Burnett (both Calgary); Canadian receiver Nic Demski (Saskatchewan); Canadian defensive lineman Ted Laurent (Hamilton); American receivers Luke Tasker (Hamilton) and DaVaris Daniels (Calgary); and American running back/ kick-returner Roy Finch (Calgary).
Age is certainly a consideration as Messam will be 33 once training camp begins and no other CFL running back has more carries the past two years than Messam (421). But Messam has been a durable performer, missing just one regular-season game over that span.
And there’s certainly no doubt regarding his productivity. Messam ran for a CFL- and careerbest 1,198 yards in 2016 before registering 1,016 yards rushing last season and has averaged 4.72yards per carry overall.
Messam has also scored 20 rushing TDs, tops among CFL players, over the last two years. He’s also registered 87 catches for 668 yards and a touchdown.
Messam captured the league’s outstanding Canadian award in 2016 (for the second time) before being named the top Canuck in last year’s Grey Cup, scoring two TDs in Calgary’s 27-24 loss to the Toronto Argos.
But for the Stampeders, economics come into play. They could play a younger (and less expensive) American at running back and start another Canadian elsewhere for less than the six-figure stipend that Messam commands.
CFL teams must start at least seven Canadians each game and GMs wrestle with where to allocate that money in their lineup. Interstingly, the Stampeders have employed a Canadian starting running back since 2012 when Jon Cornish of New Westminster secured the job.
Calgary acquired Messam from the Saskatchewan Roughriders late in the 2015 campaign.
Messam became the starter when Cornish retired after the season ended.