Stampeders GM crunching numbers
There’s no truth to the rumour Calgary Stampeders head coach/GM John Hufnagel is suffering from repetitive strain in his right hand from signing such a massive pile of new contracts and extensions.
Add defensive tackle Junior Turner to a lengthy laundry list of players locked up by the Stamps including Corey Mace, Rob Maver, Rene Paredes, Justin Phillips, Marquay McDaniel, Karl McCartney and Deron Mayo.
But regardless of all that paperwork, Hufnagel understands, with 17 days to go before free agency, that he simply can’t keep everyone in the fold.
Barring a marked change in negotiating position, right tackle Stanley Bryant is not ex- pected back in red and white. The same goes for wideout Romby Bryant, a mainstay in the Stampeder receiving corps for the last four seasons.
Hufnagel won’t rule anything out, but he has advised the 33-year-old Bryant to test the open market come Feb. 15.
“I think the best thing for Romby is to let him go to free agency and see what his value is, because I’m not going to be able to afford what I was paying Romby,” Hufnagel says. “And so I’m hoping something works out for him, that he’s still in the league, and he’s happy monetarily.
“I just knew that hey, I wouldn’t be able to appease him. I didn’t want to go out and talk pay-cut and make a good situation sour.”
Known as a deep threat with speed to burn, Bryant corralled 55 passes last season for 678 yards and two touchdowns.
Should he indeed sign elsewhere, the Stamps are high on rising star Maurice Price and the promising Joe West to step in and fill the void.
“I have all the respect in the world for Romby,” Hufnagel says. “He’s a great person. He’s a tough football player. There are times when most people would be coming off the football field, and he doesn’t. He just stays on the field and works through any injury he may have with the pain, and he keeps playing.
“He practises hard every day, and he’s a great contributor to the success we’ve had over the years. So yeah, any time you have that kind of player who will quite possibility not be on the football team, there is a point of sadness.”
When it comes to Stanley Bryant, his asking price, at present, is simply too high for a Stampeder team already blessed with two import tackles in Edwin Harrison and Na’Shan Goddard.
“With our position at the tackle position and the money they’re looking for,” Hufnagel says, “we would have to say that it’s highly unlikely that Stanley would be back.”
As for Chris McCoy and Larry Taylor, both have told Hufnagel they want to exhaust all possibilities in the National Football League before committing north of the 49th parallel.
Just last week, Hufnagel signed a consent form for Taylor to work out for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McCoy is still rehabbing a knee injury, so he’ll likely wait to see if any NFL options open up before deciding whether a return to Calgary is in the cards.
Another key pending free agent is safety Eric Fraser, a non-import expected to attract plenty of interest on the open market with his hometown B.C. Lions a likely landing spot.
Hufnagel has not given up on his first-round pick (eighth overall) in the 2009 Canadian College Draft, but he realizes Fraser might walk.
“I talked to his agent this past week and I tried to sweeten the pot,’ Hufnagel says. “I just don’t know if it’s going to be good enough, so we’ll see. It’s just the way it is. We do have good depth at the position, so if Eric does decide to move on, we’ll be fine. “Hopefully, Eric does realize my offer is not a bad offer and we can come to an agreement.”
The latest Stamp to come to an agreement, Junior Turner, is elated for a chance to return to the Calgary and hopefully avenge that 35-22 Grey Cup loss to his hometown Toronto Argonauts.
The 24-year-old non-import signed on the dotted line at his mom’s house and faxed the deal back to Hufnagel and the Stamps.
In 11 regular-season games last season, the Bishop’s University product played both on the edge and in the interior. He collected 11 tackles and one sack.
“The players, the coaches and everybody, they’re like family,” Turner said, the ninth overall pick in the 2011 Canadian College Draft. “For six months, you spend each and every day together for multiple hours during the day.
“It’s not like you’re signing away your life. You’re just signing on to make sure you’re part of that family for the next couple of years.”