Jason Clermont Update… and other random musings

Well the race to sign Clermont is heating up. Calgary and Saskatchewan have submitted formal offers and Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto have been in contact (seriously, what is wrong with you Hamilton?!?!). The Riders have reportedly offered $115K a season which, barring an extremely lucrative offer from the others, should be enough to get Clermont in green and white.

But before you all start heading out and ordering your #82 Rider jerseys, I feel I should inform you that Clermont has contacted me in regards to my touch football team’s offer of a beer after every game (seriously). While no commitments were made, I felt there was some genuine interest from both sides. So Jason, if you are reading this, I’m willing to up the offer to 2 beer after every game. And failing that, if you sign with the Riders I will hand deliver you a case of beer. And yes, I acknowledge that the beer clause is binding!

As for the rest of you, don’t let it be said that the Rider Prophet never did anything for the Riders.

In other Riders news, I had an interesting rumour passed my way. Seems there is some speculation (and it is purely speculation at this point) that Omarr Morgan is being considered for a coaching position with the Washington Huskies. Former Rider Steve Sarkisian was recently hired as their head coach and Sarkisian and Morgan were roommates back in their college days at BYU. Sarkisian is in need of a DB coach and Morgan’s name has been tossed around. I guess Sarkisian feels his DB’s need to learn how to play 9 yards off a receiver. This marks the first time where I would actually be happy if another team lured one of our players away. No disrespect to Morgan, he’s done a lot for this franchise, but it seems his best days are behind him. Let me add that if Sarkisian is looking for defensive coaches I think James Johnson would make a great assistant to Morgan. Just saying. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.

CFL Ins and Outs

Saskatchewan
Out: Mike Gibson (hired as Hamilton’s new Offensive Coordinator)
This seems like a logical move for Gibson. He goes from coordinating our O-linemen who are a bunch of jokers to coordinating Hamilton’s offense which is a joke. Good luck Mike… you’re going to need it.

BC
In: DL Caesar Rayford, DB Donald Brown, K Sean Whyte and WR Rufus Skillern and Greg Hetherington (signed contracts for the 2009 season), DL Justin Shaw and LB Josh Bean (agreed to terms on new deals).
Out: Tyrone Williams (asked to retire)
At first I was excited at the prospect of Williams becoming a free agent… then I realized he’s 36. Plus he's obviously expendable in BC now that the defensive force that is Justin Shaw has committed to returning to the fold in 2009 (I know, who?)

Montreal
In: Anwar Stewart (re-signed)
Out: Jeff Keeping, Elijah Thurmon and Mike Vilimek (released)
Okay let me get this straight… last year the Als were so over the cap that they lost a draft pick. So far they have done no major salary dumping and now their answer is to release 3 players who didn’t play a single down last season and spent all season on the 9-game? The sad thing is despite this ridiculous logic, the Als are still the best run team in the East.