All quiet around Stamps so far in CFL free agency
McDaniel contract talks went down to the wire, but receiver happy to be back
Marquay McDaniel wasn’t going to give the Calgary Stampeders a discount.
On Tuesday, the Stamps officially announced their star receiver and defensive lineman Micah Johnson had re-signed with the team and McDaniel took some time to elaborate on the negotiation process that kept him in Calgary.
He wanted to stay and he said that from the start, but at 32 years old and with one of the CFL’s most impressive receiving resumes to his name, McDaniel had a number of demands that needed to be met.
“At the end of the year people asked me about free agency and I said I wanted to stay in Calgary, but if the business side wasn’t fair I wasn’t going to sign a bad deal again,” McDaniel said.
“That’s just football, people don’t understand how much of a business it is.
“Especially when you see what other people are getting around the league and on your team and you feel like you’re producing yearin and year-out and week-in and week-out, you just want to feel appreciated.”
While the financial terms of the deal weren’t made public, both the team and the player said they reached an agreement that made both sides happy.
The new contract will keep McDaniel in Calgary for two more seasons, ensuring quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell will still have his favourite target lining up in the Red & White. Last season, McDaniel led the team with 83 receptions for 1,074 yards and four touchdowns.
Despite McDaniel’s importance to the Stamps offence, the deal didn’t get done until the last minute and there were many around the league who assumed McDaniel would be testing the waters when the CFL free agency window opened at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.
As it turns out, McDaniel was one of those people.
“When it didn’t happen in December and we didn’t hear from them for a few weeks, I figured I was going to hit free agency,” McDaniel said. “But then about two weeks ago there was some communication and we got some stuff worked out that we like and it got done.”
With the signings of McDaniel and Johnson, the Stampeders were put in a position where they didn’t have much to do Tuesday when free agency did kick off.
The team signed 13 potential free agents in advance of the window opening at 10 a.m., ensuring most of the core from last year’s Grey Cup finalist team will be back in Calgary next season.
The sustained success the team has had over the last decade or so makes McMahon Stadium a desirable destination for players, and while Johnson was also looking for the best deal possible before signing, he admitted the on-field success made him want to stay in Calgary.
“Really, it’s the winning,” Johnson said Tuesday. “Being in a winning environment and being with a bunch of guys who want to win. To leave my country and leave my family to play football, I want to be winning.”
But while getting Johnson and McDaniel to commit to the team was a boost for Calgary, it wasn’t all good news for the Stampeders on Tuesday.
President and GM John Hufnagel admitted Monday that receiver Bakari Grant would not be returning next season and Tuesday morning saw news break that reigning CFL most outstanding lineman Derek Dennis will be suiting up for the Saskatchewan Roughriders next season.
Dennis was a key part of an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the CFL and helped running back Jerome Messam become the league’s leading rusher.
On the bright side, it appears free agent Dan Federkeil could be playing again next season. Hufnagel said Monday he wasn’t sure whether Federkeil wanted to play for another year, but the offensive lineman took to Twitter on Tuesday to say he wants to play.
“I was in the office during the news conference telling them I wanted to play,” Federkeil wrote on Twitter.
Whether or not Federkeil opts to re-up with the Stamps or not is anyone’s guess at this point, but a quiet Tuesday at McMahon Stadium doesn’t mean the team won’t have announcements to make Wednesday.
Hufnagel has a reputation for sitting out the early free agency circus and said Monday that he expected to be far busier on Day 2 than he would be on Day 1.
When it didn’t happen in December and we didn’t hear from them for a few weeks, I figured I was going to hit free agency.