OUT OF THE TUNNEL: THE PLAYOFF DEBATE, AND FREE AGENCY ANALYSIS

BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF

Before we get to the first week of free agency we will begin with the mini-bomb CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie dropped in the first stop of his off-season CFL tour in Ottawa.

To summarize, Ambrosie laid out a plan to have the #1 teams in the East and West divisions getting a first round bye with the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th place teams overall, regardless of division, in the CFL meeting in the semi-finals.

Then the top team in the CFL would actually choose who they would play in the ‘division’ final.

We tend to side on being a traditionalist but when it comes to the playoffs; the top teams should always be in the playoffs and should be rewarded as such. The current crossover, which started in 1996, was a solid alternative to having the just top three in each division making the playoffs.

This would change who makes the playoffs, but who they play and how the top teams are rewarded does.

It would take out the forced ‘crossover’ of a West Division to the East and vice versa. It also guarantees the top teams would have a home playoff game, and rewards the teams who placed 3^rd or fourth a fair matchup.

This change would also help ensure the top-two teams play in the Grey Cup.

Either way, the current playoff format needs to change, and this would be a great start.

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Week one of the 2020 CFL free agency season is in the books and after a flurry of signings, what we know for sure is that we don’t know who the winners or losers are (yet). It’s a lot of fun for fans to talk football in the middle of winter but what the impact exactly is on each specific team come kick-off of the 2020 season remains to be seen.

Yes, there are websites all over Canada giving their ratings, percentages of players signed or re-signed, underrated signees and overall thoughts on the first week. That’s awesome. We have been guilty of this over the past two years too. What we at Out of the Tunnel have learned is that no one has a damn clue how this will shake out until the Grey Cup is raised at Mosaic Stadium in November. We may not even know the true impact of this free agent season until next Grey Cup in Hamilton.

Free agency has been fun – but messy – since the 2014 collective bargaining agreement that put in place the one-year deals and not a single GM has figured out the right way to go. The past five seasons have seen teams stay patient and sign just their own with others going nuts and trying to rebuild their team in just one week.

Calgary Stampeders general manager John Hufnagel has usually been the most patient during free agency. He re-signs his own and rarely dips in heavily with new signees. This year was a lot different. The Stampeders needed to go a little deeper in signing new free agents with players leaving for the NFL, injuries and retirements.

Toronto and B.C. went crazy trying to rebuild their teams but with a combined record of 9-27, they had to do something to crawl back into the playoffs and build some sort of momentum in two of the CFL’s most important cities.

What was a little different in 2019 is that teams did a better job of re-signing their own. Then once the Winnipeg Blue Bombers brought Willie Jefferson back into the fold the rest of the week didn’t have the craziness of high-impact players changing places like what we have seen over the past few years.

Solid contributors did change addresses however and rosters are starting to take shape for the 2020 season. What this free agency season did show is where front offices are starting to place their dollars.

As per usual, quarterbacks are key as are the offensive and defensive lines. What was apparent is how important defensive backs with CFL experience are. With how unique defensive back is, the CFL teams have realized that once a defensive back has figured out how to play in the league, it’s important to keep him.

Playing backwards, wider spacing and different zones make the learning curve for incoming defensive backs that much harder. Also, like offensive linemen, there isn’t a huge pipeline of players coming into the league from either side of the football border.

The complete opposite can be said for receivers and running backs. There are still a ton of both positions still available on the market. Big names too.

Like the NFL, the CFL is starting to rotate running backs and the days of having a bell cow on every team seem to be gone. Yes, there are outliers, but the days of giving big-time dollars to a running back are starting to fade. There are also a lot of quality young running backs available out of college and cut from the NFL.

With offences in U.S. colleges going predominantly pass first, many of the game’s best athletes play receiver. This means that there are so many quality players coming out of college that NFL teams regularly cut quality pass catchers. So, if you are a CFL front office, are you going to use a lot of your budget on current CFL free agents? Or are you going to try to find those receivers that will come at a lesser price who are looking for a springboard back south of the border? It sucks for those who have been constant producers in the CFL but it’s just a sign of the times.

The Riders are a prime example of this; they are more than likely saying goodbye to fan favourite Naaman Roosevelt. With veterans Shaq Evans, Jordan Williams-Lambert and Kyran Moore coming back as well as a host of Canadians, the rest of the potential roster can be filled out with faces that are brand new to the CFL. Rashad Greene, Randy Satterfield and Xavier Ubosi may not even make it to training camp, but if they are gone, there are many others that can take their place.

Overall, Jeremy O’Day and the rest of the Saskatchewan Roughriders front office were incredibly patient in free agency. They re-signed many of their own and didn’t get sucked in to paying a lot of money where they feel that they already have depth.

Micah Johnson was too steep of a price for his production while the opposite can be said of Charleston Hughes, Ed Gainey, Cam Judge and many others. This is a good sign. O’Day is trying to build a team that just won’t compete for the Grey Cup this season, but will be good enough and deep enough to compete for a championship every year.

The Riders will also place a lot of trust with their American scouts to bring in fresh faces and continue to build up their solid repertoire of Canadians in the draft.

Many fans hate that the Riders were quiet in free agency but more times than not, this is a good thing.

(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF)