Ticats to ship out QB Adams
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats training camp ended with more of a small roar than a thankful meow Thursday afternoon with news the club was going to trade Vernon Adams Jr.
Head coach June Jones announced during his final training camp media scrum that Adams wasn’t practising because he was being traded to either Montreal or Edmonton, with Adams’ agent playing a role in the deal.
That’s definitely a ripple effect from Johnny Manziel’s arrival less than a month ago, which was certain to eventually dislodge Adams from the No. 2 quarterback spot behind starter Jeremiah Masoli and already had.
“As soon as we signed Johnny, it kind of changed and that’s what I told Vernon,” Jones said.
“Everything changes so fast and, like I told him, ‘Maybe in two years you’ll be right back here with me.’ The numbers change so fast when we signed Johnny, now all of a sudden that’s one out.”
Jones also confirmed that Saturday’s starter in the final pre-season game against Montreal will be Bryant Moniz, the only one of the four remaining quarterbacks in camp who did not see action last Friday against Toronto. Manziel will come into the game second and, in the absence of Adams, Dane Evans, who wasn’t supposed to play, will also see action.
Adams came here in a February deal with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for big-time defensive lineman Charleston Hughes, who’d been a Ticat for less than a day after being obtained from Calgary with a 2018 fourth-round draft pick for Hamilton’s fourth-rounders this year and next.
Adams started and won three games for the Alouettes and, still only 25, seems to have a future in the league.
Although he missed time earlier in the Ticats camp with a back injury incurred in the weight room, there was already really no longer room for him in Hamilton — on the field or the pay grid. Jones said Moniz and Evans will battle it out for the No. 3 spot.
Teams must submit their roster cuts to the league office by 10 a.m. Sunday, so Saturday’s game will determine who starts the year behind Masoli and Manziel.
Assuming the Ticats carry a quarterback on the practice roster, they likely already have their complement of four now.
“We’re going to decide all that on Sunday,” Jones said.
“But certainly that’s a possibility. I feel good about Dane and I feel good about Bryant, too. So we’ll see how this goes this weekend.”
Manziel had been expected to start Saturday, but he’ll line up behind basically the same personnel — mostly what football teams call the 2’s, meaning current backup players — that Moniz does.
The Ticats will leave a large number of their starters at home, including most of the offensive line, although veteran centre Mike Filer is likely to make the trip because injuries have limited the team to just one other centre (rookie Darius Ciraco).
Running back Alex Green probably has to play, since he missed last week’s game while attending to a family matter.
Neither Masoli, nor any of the top receivers (Luke Tasker, Brandon Banks, Jalen Saunders) will see action, and it’s likely to be a similar scarcity of presumptive starters on defence.
Jones did mention that defensive lineman Bobby Richardson, the one-time NFL starter signed six weeks ago, wasn’t playing, indicating he will be on the roster after Sunday’s cuts.
“It’ll be mostly young guys playing, we’re leaving a lot of starters home, so the guys in the game will play pretty much the whole game,” Jones said.
“Except the quarterbacks; they’ll rotate.”
The team still has to make decisions on the SAM (field side) linebacker, two or three of the positions in the secondary, at least one International receiver, the kick returner, the pecking order of their young National offensive line corps, and the backup depth at a number of positions.
The regular season opens a week from Saturday against the Stampeders and the Ticats will practise the following week in Calgary before heading to Edmonton for Game Two on Friday, June 22.