Plan of attack
As CFL free agency looms, don’t expect Stampeders GM John Hufnagel to make a big splash for a pricey upgrade
When John Hufnagel spoke to the media last Thursday, he sounded like a man who probably wouldn’t be trying to make much of a splash on the first day of CFL free agency.
The Calgary Stampeders president/GM had made it a priority to try to re-sign three key players from last year’s squad before the free agency window opened on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Those three players were understood to be receiver DaVaris Daniels, defensive back Tommie Campbell and kick returner/running back Roy Finch.
“I think it all depends on what we accomplish over the next couple days,” Hufnagel said. “If I accomplish what I want to, then I won’t have any money.
“The thing about free agency and signing a (new) player and having to say goodbye to a player, I mean, when you sign a bigger contract you have to get rid of a bigger contract, it’s just that type of game. If I’m successful with the names you talked about, I’ll probably be a Day 2 guy.”
The idea that Hufnagel wasn’t planning on diving into the free-agency market to try and sign a big-name star should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody.
That’s just not the way the Stamps have built their teams in the decade since Hufnagel took over as GM. The team’s got the best scouts in the CFL, and that allows them to avoid costly bidding wars in free agency.
The question is whether the way this weekend went will affect those plans.
If Finch, Campbell and Daniels were the three priorities, only Daniels has resigned as of Monday evening.
Finch has had tryouts with several NFL teams after a season that saw him win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player award.
He wasn’t alone among 2017 Stampeders in getting NFL looks, though, and Daniels, Ja’Gared Davis and Ciante Evans have all opted to sign new contracts in Calgary, while Shaquille Richardson has joined the Oakland Raiders.
With Jerome Messam, the Stamps’ starting running back in 2017, being told by the team to explore free agency, getting Finch back seems like as big a priority as ever.
Campbell, meanwhile, appears to be heading into free agency, as sources suggested the team and the player weren’t nearing a deal on Monday evening.
The team has cleared some cap space with the trade that sent Charleston Hughes to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — before he was flipped to the Saskatchewan Roughriders — and the release of Marquay McDaniel, but if the Stamps are needing replacements for Finch and Campbell it’s not likely that they’ll find players of that calibre in free agency that come with an especially affordable price tag.
That means that replacements are likely to come from within.
With few exceptions, that seems to be manageable for the Stampeders, so it remains unlikely that the Stampeders will try to make a big splash when free agency opens on Tuesday morning.
There’s been some understandable concern about how many veterans have either been traded, released or have opted to retire this off-season.
For the most part, though, there are pretty solid replacements already on the Stamps’ roster.
Position-by-position, the team’s got depth.
Hughes is gone, yes, but the trio of Cordarro Law, Ja’Gared Davis and James Vaughters seem more than up to the task of terrorizing opposing quarterbacks on the defensive line.
At linebacker, Deron Mayo looks like he’s headed for free agency, but the Stamps might have the best linebacker duo in the CFL next season when Jameer Thurman and Alex Singleton take the field side-by-side.
At defensive back, Josh Bell’s decision to retire from playing and take over as the Stamps’ DB coach has made room for Tunde Adeleke to take on a bigger role in his second season, while Patrick Levels should help ease the pain of losing Richardson as well.
The main concern will be how they replace Campbell if the corner can’t be persuaded to return. It’s a big question mark, but if that’s the only major worry on defence heading into free agency, that’s not a bad spot to be in.
On offence, Bo Levi Mitchell is going to be the quarterback, and we can all move on.
At receiver, there’s a tonne of depth and getting Kamar Jorden and DaVaris Daniels back should help make the loss of McDaniel easier to take.
At fullback, Rob Cote has retired but there are internal candidates to fill his boots — someone like Charlie Power has certainly shown that he’s capable — while Dan Federkeil’s retirement seems unlikely to prompt Hufnagel to spend lavishly on an offensive lineman.
Running back, though, is a concern. Terry and Dominique Williams both showed flashes of potential last season, but they’re unproven. If Finch doesn’t re-sign, this could be one area where the Stampeders need to shop around a little bit.
Alternatively, though, the Stamps may have Finch signed up first thing in the morning or be happy to roll with the two Williams.
Both seem more likely than Hufnagel spending big on the first day of free agency.