With the dust settling on this year’s CFL Free Agent Frenzy, the 2018 edition of the Ottawa REDBLACKS is coming into focus.
And from the front office to the players to all of RNation, there is plenty to be excited about.
While a new season resulted in the inevitable loss of some players that called Ottawa home, the off-season has brought with it some serious talent. But most importantly, General Manager Marcel Desjardins and his team were able to address needs on both sides of the ball with a mix of veteran talent and young skill.
Offensively, the REDBLACKS didn’t risk letting critical pieces like quarterback Trevor Harris and receivers Brad Sinopoli and Diontae Spencer get even a sniff of free agency before inking them to new deals. Same went for the running backs, with the tandem of Will Powell and Mossis Madu back in the fold for 2018. Julian Feoli-Gudino was signed as a free agent to further bolster the receiver corps. Offensive lineman Alex Mateas also re-upped for two years in January, while specialists like long snapper Tanner Doll and defensive back Jean-Philippe Bolduc will return.
Once the free agency period officially opened on February 13, it was nearly all about defence. The club addressed needs on the defensive line and secondary with the additions of d-lineman A.C Leonard and defensive backs Loucheiz Purifoy and defensive back Rico Murray.
Desjardins wasn’t done there, however, moving quickly to sign linebacker and former Alouette Kyries Hebert, who along with being a leader in the room will be looking to improve on a career year in Montreal last season in which he finished third in the CFL with 110 defensive tackles.
“I thought we addressed several needs both in the back end on defence and on the d-line in terms of a pass rusher and we helped ourselves at the Canadian receiver spot as well,” said Desjardins. “As an overall approach I think we met a lot of the needs that we had.
“You’re never going to get everything you want but we feel pretty good about it.”
In any sport with a salary cap, striking the right balance of the players a team wants to keep, the new ones they want to sign and how much money they can pay becomes a tricky balancing act.
“It’s easy to say we want all these guys or why did we let certain guys go, but at the end of the day it has to fit relative to the cap,” Desjardins said. “We had a strategy going in, we were thorough about it and we stuck to it and didn’t really deviate from what our intentions were.”
So what’s up next? In the coming weeks and months, the REDBLACKS will continue to fine-tune the roster while at the same time gearing up for regional combines coming up in Montreal (March 7) and Toronto (March 9), followed by the National CFL Combine in Winnipeg from March 23-25.
All of that heavy scouting work will lead towards the 2018 CFL Draft on May 3.
Stay tuned.
