GM’s free agency gamble pays off
Hervey asked players to restructure contracts and paid them back with reinforcements
In his first big moment since moving into the corner office, Ed Hervey took an extensive shopping list into free agency, which reflected his vision for a rejuvenated B.C. Lions team in 2018.
And by extensive, we mean more than one player, but less than 84.
But in pro sports, visions generally aren’t free. More to the point, they tend to come with a sizable price tag, especially when your remodelling job involves just about every room in the house.
The challenge for the Lions’ firstyear general manager, therefore, was two-fold: He had to sell the many players he’d targeted on joining the Leos and also convince a slew of Lions veterans the necessity of restructuring their contracts so Hervey could bring his vision to reality.
The Lions now have 12 new players in their fold who seemingly address their most-pressing needs.
It’s still too early to form an assessment of Hervey’s skills as a GM, but one thing is certain: The man could sell snow-removal equipment in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“I told (the Lions’ vets) we want to be active in free agency and that’s going to take a certain amount of money,” Hervey said Tuesday as offensive tackle Joel Figueroa, his prize catch, was introduced to the media. “We spent a lot of time talking to players about the vision. It wasn’t a forced negotiation. It was a conversation about choosing to be a part of it or not.
“This is a thank you to all the (veteran) players who helped us. We
would have not been able to get these players without their willingness to buy in.”
So how many are we talking about here? It’s well known quarterback Jonathon Jennings had his contract restructured.
Were there a couple of others? “Probably more than a dozen,” Hervey said.
Oh.
“You can take from two to get what you need and disrupt the whole room or you can request a small portion from a large group,” Hervey continued. “We weren’t blowing up the team. We were going to keep our core group together, but our core group had to work with us.”
The Lions’ free-agent haul, in fact, says something about Hervey’s philosophy, but probably says more about his powers of persuasion.
To attract a dozen free agents — and to rebuild the offensive and defensive lines — he had to enlist the aid of the Leos’ leadership core.
He now says those weren’t easy conversations even if the end result wasn’t a massive pay cut, but rather a tweaking of their existing deals.
Still, Hervey can now go back to foundational players like Solomon Elimimian, Manny Arceneaux and Bryan Burnham and say, ‘See, I told you I’d change things.’
At the top of his list is Figueroa, the 6-foot-6, 320-pound, five-year
CFL vet who played the last two seasons in Edmonton. The University of Miami product might not have been the sexiest signing, but for a team that desperately needed to upgrade its offensive line, he becomes an indispensable piece.
At somewhere in the $175,000-peryear range, he didn’t come cheaply.
“Very physical, plays with an edge and has leadership qualities,” Hervey said when asked to describe Figueroa. “He’s just an all-around solid person and player. As far as who was available, he was the guy at the top of our list by far.”
He’s also a fan of Hervey, who brought the giant tackle to Edmonton from Hamilton three years ago.
“When (Hervey) says he’s going to do something, he does it,” Figueroa said. “I believe in him. He’s a person who walks the walk.”
Beyond Figueroa, Hervey also added import Jeremy Lewis and Canadian Chris Greaves to the O-line. On the defensive line, he brought in Euclid Cummings, another former Esk and his No. 2 priority behind Figueroa. Cummings joins Odell Willis and Gabe Knapton, who were acquired in earlier off-season trades, on the revamped unit.
“Our team, the 2018 B.C. Lions, needed to improve on the offensive and defensive lines,” Hervey said. “Those guys are hard to find. We’ve addressed the areas we need to address.”
As a result of all these moves, the Leos will also feature a revamped secondary in 2018. Veterans Ronnie Yell, Loucheiz Purifoy and Chandler Fenner are out. In are CFL vets A.J. Jefferson, Garry Peters, Otha Foster and Keelan Johnson.
Canadian receiver Cory Watson, who should see a significant number of snaps; QB Cody Fajardo, late of Toronto; and University of B.C. grads Mitch Barnett and Dominique Termansen round out the free-agent class.
“These are exactly the guys we targeted,” said Hervey.
It’s also instructive to note that just before free agency started, Edmonton made all-star receiver Adarius Bowman available. Bowman has a close relationship with Hervey.
He’s also a marquee name who would have generated a lot more excitement in this market than, say, signing a bunch of offensive linemen. But Hervey wasn’t distracted by the bright, shiny object that flashed across his field of vision.
“That would have interfered with our strategy,” he said. “I think that’s the kind of splash people would anticipate. But to keep our quarterbacks upright, we needed to start with the left tackle (Figueroa).”
In other words, he was a man with a plan and he stuck to that plan.
He owed as much to some of his players.