This move makes me very happy for a couple reasons. The first is, I think Bagg is a hell of a football player. He can contribute in many ways: he can play wide receiver, he can move in to the slot (I think he's an underrated slot receiver), he made a living last year running the sweep (from I play calling stand point, I wholeheartedly disagreed with the timing of most of those sweeps but he made them work). He's a versatile Canadian that you can confidently fill a starter spot with. The second reason is that seeing Rob Bagg succeed just warms your heart. Undrafted yet has bested most of the crappy receivers drafted ahead of him. Missed the '07 cup because he turned down a roster spot to return to school. Then came the knee injuries. I'll admit I damned near cried when he was taken off the field in tears in '13 with everyone thinking it was the end. Bagg works his butt off, overcomes an endless parade of obstacles and is a heart and soul guy that we will need now more than ever given that he'll be surrounded by essentially a new team.
Bagg may want to invest in some platform shoes or a stool or something as everyone else Jones signed last week was at least 6'2. Chris Jones cares not for the motion of the ocean; for him the size of the boat is what matters. In an unrelated matter, Chris Jones may be looking to replace yours truly with a prophet who wields a bigger staff.
CFL Free Agent Frenzy kicks off next Tuesday. Expect the Riders to be very active... I mean we didn't clear out essentially all our cap space just because we are thrifty. Shawn Lemon created a stir on twitter by implying that Ted Laurent (the mostly heavily coveted free agent in the CFL) wants to come here. At this point I think its about 50/50 as to whether Lemon was dabbling in tampering or just talking with no real knowledge of things. Fact is every team in the CFL wants Laurent so $$$ will be king (something we happen to have a lot of).
Here are a few other random thoughts on Free Agency (I'll have more in the days leading up to Feb 9):
- I firmly believe the Riders will sign a Cdn DT in free agency. It will be one of Ted Laurent, Cleyon Laing or Keith Shologan (listed in order of preference)
- Former Chris Jones guys to keep an eye on as potential Riders include Otha Foster, Rennie Curran, Jermaine Gabriel and Aaron (I will call him Frank) Grymes.
- BE nice to shore up our O-line but its an extremely thin market there. We will not be targeting Josh Bourke so that leaves Jeff Keeping as the only real option hitting the market. There is a connection there with some of our coaching staff so I see this an unlikely but not out of the question.
- Some rumours have Jeff Fuller on our radar. He's both tall and a John Murphy find so file that under definitely possible.
- I would like to see us take a chance on Mike Edem. After bursting onto the scene in 2013 as a east all-star in his rookie year, Edem's career has fizzled out. I think Chris Jones could be the guy to revive this promising Canadian's career.
- The signing of Rob Bagg really makes me wonder about Getzlaf's future. We already have Demski and Bagg with Carroll, Haidara and Reaves for depth. I imagine we'd take him back but the contract offer won't be very high. Maybe Getz is just holding out hoping Brendan Taman gets another job so he can milk him for another ludicrous deal.
CFL Ins and Outs
Saskatchewan
In:
WR Rob Bagg (contract extension), QB BJ Coleman, OL Quinterrius Eatmon, WR Shay
Hodge, WR Jordan Reaves, DB Marte Sears, DB Robert Sands (free agent signing)
BC
Out:
OL Dean Valli (retired)
Edmonton
In:
FB Mike Miller, DL Matthieu Boulay (contract extension)
In:
WR Weston Dressler (free agent signing), DL Louie Richardson (contract
extension)
Montreal
In:
RB Stefan Logan (contract extension)
Out:
QB Dan LeFevour (released)
After reading the remainder of the Jones interview in Estevan, I'm not so sure we will have a spending frenzy in free-agency. Jones & Murphy have a very realistic idea of how salaries are to be managed and I don't see them throwing around crazy amounts of cash, even though they may have it on hand! I think they will make some respectable offers, but will opt to build this team through scouting. The guys with a team-first (or links to Jones/Murphy) mentality may take a little less cash to be part of building a championship team in the next couple of years, but I think the majority of players chase the big cheque at the end of the day... maybe the illusion of guaranteed cash up front may entice a couple of big names?!?!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I see Edmonton & Winnipeg throwing around some serious cash.Edmonton because they need to build on their championship year after losing their entire coaching staff and Winnipeg because this will be a do or die year for them! BC may factor in a little bit. It will be interesting to see where every lays in 10 days time!
If Grymes comes here, I think I will call him "Grymie".
ReplyDeleteChristopher - I don't expect us to go crazy but look for 2-3 signings.
ReplyDeleteGov - we would need to sign a player named Simpson to be his enemy
Ha ha. I posted yesterday that we would need to sign a DB named Simpson who got all the credit while Grymes did the work. I don't think anyone got it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always, for breaking down the ins & outs of the CFL (& especially The Riders) & helping me make sense of it all.
ReplyDelete