Grey Cups aren’t usually awarded in February

The Riders have had some lousy teams and tried to rebuild through free agency in the past with mixed results. This year was different because the Riders are defending Grey Cup champs, and everyone is looking to take a piece of them and maybe create a bit of magic on their own.

While Bomber fans were pleased with having one of the better offensive linemen in the CFL fall into their laps and the Bombers did pick up Tommy Neild whose catch in the western final put the Riders in the Grey Cup, they were also cackling about how the Riders were being decimated by free agency.

This only confirms to me Bomber fans are not the brightest of their mother’s children. The 2025 Riders are notable and unique in team history because of the depth of their roster and how even when the receiving corps, offensive line and defensive backfield were hit with injuries, the depth players stepped up and got valuable experience.

The Riders biggest loss in free agency in my opinion was AJ Allen, the Canadian linebacker who had a knack for coming up for big interceptions. Allen went to Ottawa with DL Habba Baldonado, QB Jake Maier and LB CJ Reavis which makes sense because Allen is originally from Burlington, apparently has a girlfriend making good money back east, and wanted to be close to family.

The Riders may have a successor in draft pick Seth Hundeby from the University of Saskatchewan who was the outstanding defensive player in U Sports last year, but realistically he might be a year from delivering a similar type of performance because there is a difference between professional and university football.

Allen being a Canadian was valuable because he was a Canadian playing in a position where an American would usually play and Allen being there allowed the Riders to play with the Canadian ratio on the offensive line to better protect quarterback Trevor Harris.

Carney leaving the defensive line, combined with the loss of Baldonado and retirement of Micah Johnson, has this unit the focus of a lot of attention, but the situation is not as dire as it first looks. The Riders rotated a lot of defensive linemen, partially to keep them fresh, partially to provide different looks to opposing defenses.

The Riders have been recruiting several edge rushers from both the NFL and NCAA and are looking to get younger and cheaper and will likely draft a Canadian defensive lineman if they find one, they like. Carney took an offer from the Edmonton Elk which makes him one of the highest paid defensive linemen in the league, but that offer put him out of what the Riders could afford under their own salary cap.

The Elk and GM Ed Hervey are responsible for the convoluted free agency set up after Hervey managed the feat about 10 years ago of signing then Rider defensive lineman Odell Willis to a contract one minute after free agency started, a minute that made it obvious teams were talking to other teams players prior to free agency starting.

So the CFL had what it called a legal tampering period where teams could talk to other players and make them offers. The offers were tentative until the official start of free agency, so players could compare the offers to those from other teams and decide whether they wanted to accept.

The problem is all the movement happened on the first time of the legal tampering period, or the Ed Hervey Tampering Period as some would call it, leaving very little for the next two weeks until the contracts were verified as signed.

The CFL needs to rethink how it runs its free agency and maybe make it a week consisting of four days of legal tampering and three days of free agency and maybe do some better publicity and discussion of what is going on than what has happened so far.

The Riders had 44 free agents, re-signed 23 of them and 7 off the practice roster. The Riders will look different this year, on the defensive line, but they will be younger. If the Riders depth helped them win the Grey Cup last season, the Riders depth will be called upon to step forward and assume the starting roles played by others last year.

On offense the Riders are returning most of their receivers and have been working to upgrade their running game and offensive line. The Riders will be going with Jack Coan as their back up quarterback but while Coan did see some action in a couple of games, he did not provide any indication he could rise to the occasion.

Special teams will also look very different from last year. Brent Lauther is gone as the kicker while Jorgen Hus is contemplating retirement as the long snapper. The Riders may be looking at drafting for a new long snapper if Hus decides to retire and have two American kickers signed and will be looking at the kicking showcase being held in San Diego to see if anyone else can impress them.

Right after free agency there is the instant analysis of who won free agency and how this will impact their season. It is one thing to sign players, it is quite another to build a team and get a system to take full advantage of all the new talent.

Ottawa under Ryan Dinwiddie, the new GM/Head Coach finally seems to have shifted its attention from renovations at their field to the product on the field. Dinwiddie may have held handcuffed in Toronto where he had to work with what the Argo brain trust would provide, and he knew to change the culture in Ottawa they needed players who knew what it took to win.

Ottawa had talent, but not enough of it, so how fast they can meld together under a new system under Dinwiddie will determine how effective the money spent on new players will be. The players Ottawa got on defense can play multiple positions which will help when the injury bug hits Ottawa as it hits all teams.

Montreal did not do all that much, but they upgraded their back up quarterback position by bringing in Dustin Crum who can also run the ball in short yardage, unlike Shea Patterson. The key to Montreal will be Davis Alexander healthy this year so they can make it back to the Grey Cup.

Toronto is interesting under new coach Mike Miller and Director of player personnel Jim Barker and senior advisor John Hufnagel. Gone is John Murphy who made things interesting in Toronto, but the way the Argos came out of the chute last year showed there needed to be a change.

Chad Kelly should be back but is facing a big question about their offensive line. The Argos did sign Dakota Shepley, the former Rider who was released to pursue NFL opportunities and finally returned to the CFL, but to a team in a city with a viable film industry because Shepley also fancies himself an actor.

Toronto may have paid a big much for someone who has not really started consistently in the NFL over the years, but a porous offensive line needed to be addressed if Kelly or Nick Arbuckle is going to be upright and throwing downfield for the Argos.

Hamilton was looking for some additions in bit and pieces to help push the Tiger-Cats back into the Grey Cup game. The Cats fell short against Montreal in the eastern final which was not surprising because Hamilton did well against teams with losing records, not so good against winning teams.

Hamilton may feel having Bo Levi Mitchell at quarterback means never having to say they are sorry to their fans. However, whether Hamilton can do more to show they are a championship team is something that remains to be seen.

In Princess Otto Stadium Bomber quarterback Zach Collaros hailed the arrival of a new offensive lineman in Jarell Broxton from the Lions who was let go because the Lions have paid a lot of money to a handful of players. Broxton was an excellent get for the Bombers looking to protect the fragile doll that is Collaros and the Bombers tried to juice up their passing game by getting receiver Tim White from Hamilton and Tommy Neild from the Riders.

White is a good receiver when he isn’t dropping easy passes and Neild was a third option in the Riders passing game. The Bombers biggest mistake was letting Kenny Lawler go depriving the Bombers of a deep threat. Since he left, the Bombers are more a short passing team and their new offensive coordinator Tommy Condell will continue their tradition by using Neild and White for short to intermediate passes.

In looking at the telecast of the 112th Grey Cup where Collaros was not happy watching someone other than the Bombers play in the big game, the sense of entitlement the Bombers feel for being in the big game is still there and having the Riders win in their field will be a shame that will stain the souls of the Stony Mountain Blue Bombers.

I like the Bombers emulating the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail saying absence from the Grey Cup, which they have lost three in a row, is nothing but a flesh wound. Confidence or delusion is in big demand in Bomberland and while their offensive line got an upgrade, time will tell if the Bombers short passing game will get them to Calgary this November to contend to the Grey Cup.

Edmonton spent a lot of money on free agents as Hervey feels the pressure to get the Elk back to their previous winning ways. However, watch the Elk carefully because their buying spree is forcing them to release some useful players who are finding their ways to teams like Ottawa.

Austin Mack goes from Montreal to Edmonton to reunite with quarterback Cory Fajardo. Mack is coming off of injuries but expectations are high for Fajardo to use Mack to open up the field for the Elk running game.

Edmonton swapped out some pieces in their defensive line, letting Jake Ceresna walk to the Bombers and bringing in Malik Carney. This is the second year under coach Mark Killiam and after shedding Tre Ford as quarterback, it will be interesting to see the Elk hit the field without going through the growing pains Ford provided them.

Calgary was quiet in free agency, not a big player and they had some players head south for NFL tryouts. Calgary surprised people with their recruiting last year, so thinking they will slide is premature because if their recruiting is picking up, losing players should not be a problem.

BC is the early betting favorite for the Grey Cup, but BC is a house of cards with a lot of money in the pockets of a few players and what is left may not be up to snuff in getting the team over the hump to the Grey Cup. The Lions lost Broxton to the Bombers, and you have to wonder who will take over from Nathan Rourke if he gets injured on the field.

If the Lions are healthy, they can make a run at the Grey Cup. If they get a few key injuries, they will slide out of the playoffs. That’s why the Grey Cup is not awarded in February but in November after the games are played.

by Greg Urbanoski

Grey Cups aren’t usually awarded in February

What's Trending