Eskimos sign Kendial Lawrence — again
Ed Hervey can sum up the Edmonton Eskimos’ approach to the opening of Canadian Football League free agency this week in one word.
“Methodical,” the general manager said before Tuesday’s 10 a.m. deadline, when players with expiring contracts became free agents. “Just take it one player at a time and talk to a group of guys.”
Turns out it works whether players are coming off another team’s roster or their own list. Of the Eskimos’ original list of 24 potential free agents, 13 hit the market, seven were resigned and four were released outright, including NFL-bound linebacker Deon Lacey and receiver Derel Walker.
“And in those players that want to test free agency and want to make certain the doors are still open for them here, we invite that as well,” Hervey said, adding there are still a couple Eskimos from last year he’s looking at bringing back. “We like our guys, we liked the players that we had here, and we feel very confident in the players that we bring in here.
“And if they choose to go to another team, we know it’s not because they don’t like it here. It’s more so because the opportunity is greater somewhere else or there’s a greater opportunity to be compensated, which we sometimes can’t do.”
That welcome mat was not only left out for Eskimos on last year’s roster, but past ones, too. Their first foray into free agency Tuesday didn’t happen until 1 p.m., with the return of returner-receiver-running back Kendial Lawrence. And it couldn’t have come soon enough for a fan base that watched the Eskimos struggle mightily in the return game last season.
Edmonton was dead last with a 8.3 punt-return yard average in 2016, and second-last in kick-return yards, averaging 19.4 per. Strangely enough, the team they finished ahead of in that department was none other than the Saskatchewan Roughriders, at a meagre 18.5 yards per kick return.
Between Saskatchewan and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — to whom he was traded to finish out last season — Lawrence’s contributions saw him earn 923 yards on 48 kick returns for an average of 19.2 yards, ninth-best behind Edmonton’s Kenzel Doe’s 20.8-yard average.
While it was an off-year for Lawrence — like the rest of his ex-Roughriders teammates in a 5-13 season — the five-foot-nine 195-pound Missouri product brings an ability the Eskimos lacked in his absence: returning the ball to the house, with a pair of punt-return and kick-return touchdowns to his five-year CFL resume. He is also versatile, showing the ability to play both at slotback and running back.
“It’s a good fit,” Hervey said. “The punt-return game could use a shot in the arm, it felt like he is the player that can give us that dynamic player at that position, and utilize him in our offence, especially with (head coach Jason Maas) and how creative he can be. It felt like he can be a weapon for us and it was an improvement for us that gives us a running back who can actually punt return, so we can get that position on the roster and be more dynamic.”