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CFL off-season tracker: blockbuster trades

By David Hollinshead,
Staff Writer

espite it still being early in
D the CFL off-season, with all

the hype of the BC Lions’
miraculous Grey Cup-winning year
slowly fading away, it has not been
all that quiet. As coaches in the NFL
were losing their jobs, coaches in
the CFL were gaining their own.

After Lions coach/ general
manager Wally Buono stepped
aside from his coaching duties as
the CFL’s all-time win leader, there
was speculation on who would
get the job to replace him. The
obvious choice was the correct
one, as Buono promoted defensive
coordinator Mike Benevides as the
Leos next boss. Last year, Benevides
coached the second-best defence
in the league, and had the most
players named all-stars. Buono and
Benevides will still obviously work
very close together, and Benevides
will no doubt try to imitate Buono’s
mold for the championship winning
team.

Despite all their potential free
agents, the Lions haven’t looked
to re-signing them. Several of their
players—including linebacker
Solomon Elimimian, defensive
tackle Khalif Mitchell, and tackle
Jovan Olafioye—are also out on
NEL tryouts. According to twitter
and speculation, it seems as
though Lions players are trying to
lure Toronto Argonauts starting
cornerback Byron Parker to not re-
sign with his team and sign with
the Leos this year, as he is also a
potential free agent. Lions staff
members aren’t allowed to contact
him due to league tampering rules,
but there’s nothing against the rules
for players to talk to each other.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders,
who were also in need of a head
coach, signed on Corey Chamblin
to his first head coaching job.
Chamblin has been on the
move these past few years, as
he was the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
defensive coordinator last year
and a defensive backs coach for
the Calgary Stampeders the year
before.

In Toronto, Scott Milanovich
was hired as the new head coach,
and he and general manager
Jim Barker made a trade with
the Edmonton Eskimos for star
quarterback Ricky Ray, in exchange
for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker
Grant Shaw, and a 2012 first round
draft pick.

Ray leaves the Eskimos as the
team’s all-time leader in passing
yards, completions, and passing

touchdowns. Ray led the Eskimos
twice to Grey Cup Championships
and was named a CFL all-star

in 2006, and has repeatedly

been named the Eskimos Most
Outstanding Player. Ray has had
his troubles with consistency
though; more often than not, he was
the quarterback you needed him to
be, but on occasion his level of play

f

him, Cleo Lemon. Jyles posted
a 56.9% completion percentage,
threw for seven touchdowns and 11
interceptions while running for 429
yards, with an 8.1 yards per carry
average and a touchdown. Jyles
says that he’ll try to be a more vocal
leader than Ray was.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats may
be looking for their next head coach

“According to twitter and speculation, it seems as though Lions
players are trying to lure Toronto Argonauts starting cornerback
Byron Parker to not re-sign with his team and sign with the Leos this
year, as he is also a potential free agent”

would drop—usually costing his
team a win.

The minute Jyles landed in
Edmonton, he was named the
team’s starting quarterback. Jyles
has never been a full-time starting
quarterback, always getting split
time with players like Ricky Ray
himself, Darian Durant, and Buck
Pierce. When Toronto signed him
half-way through last year, it was
his first attempt at a starting job,
though he didn’t fare much better
than the man that lost the job before

still, but that didn’t stop them from
keeping the quarterback carousel
turning, and making another
blockbuster trade. The Ti-Cats
traded starting quarterback Kevin
Glenn, offensive lineman Mark
Dewit, and a conditional draft
pick to the Calgary Stampeders in
exchange for former league Most
Outstanding Player /now backup
quarterback Henry Burris.

Burris now gets to start in
Hamilton, where they need a
quarterback who can lead them to

 

a better than .500 season. Burris has
been a star in this league since 2004,
when he had a breakout year with
the Saskatchewan Roughriders,
before being traded the next year to
Calgary. Burris was a CFL West All-
Star twice and a league wide all-star
once, when he won the league’s
Most Outstanding Player award.
He led the Calgary Stampeders

to a Grey Cup Championship in
2008, which was his statistically
best season. He threw for over
5,000 yards, 39 touchdowns and

14 interceptions, while running for
595 yards and three touchdowns.

It was thought that Calgary would
always be set with Burris as their
quarterback. However, 2011 saw
Burris’ play drop substantially

and he was benched in games due
to his inconsistency—leading to

the emergence of Drew Tate. It
became obvious that Tate was the
team’s future, and Burris stated
publicly that he did not wish to be
a backup—prompting the trade.

As aresult, Tate now has a veteran
quarterback to learn from in Glenn,
and less pressure as it’s probable
that Glenn’s starting days are over.

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