Bombers upgrade defence with signing of Jefferson

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This article was published 12/02/2019 (2782 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was set to be a day of close calls and thanks but no thanks for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Day 1 of CFL free agency Tuesday.

In the hours after the player market — flushed with an unprecedented number of high-end free agents — officially opened, the Bombers had made just one move, returning Canadian receiver Nic Demski back into the fold with a two-year deal. Had it stopped there, Winnipeg would have been dubbed among the losers of the day, along with much of the East Division and fellow West rival Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Yeah, about that…

Right when it looked like the Bombers, who had set aside nearly $400,000 to spend on upgrades, would be keeping a mostly full wallet, Winnipeg reeled in arguably the biggest fish in the sea, at least on defence; after hours of negotiations, they signed defensive end Willie Jefferson to a one-year deal.

Outside of quarterbacks Mike Reilly and Bo Levi Mitchell, both of whom signed multi-year deals worth at least $700,000 per season with B.C. and Calgary, respectively, Jefferson was the most sought-after free agent. And though it became obvious in the days leading up to Tuesday’s deadline that Reilly was going to leave Edmonton for the Lions and Mitchell would return to the Stampeders, where he helped them win a Grey Cup championship last November, nobody knew where Jefferson would end up.

Not even the Bombers were confident Jefferson would sign, despite the team willing to shell out the money to get him. Jefferson, who represented himself, was asking for north of $200,000 per season and he had other teams, including B.C., Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal all looking to pony up. Ultimately, the Bombers provided the best sales pitch — and likely biggest payday — to have the 6-foot-6, 245-pounder put pen to paper and leave the Riders behind.

With Jefferson, the Bombers have arguably the top two players on defence in the CFL, along with middle linebacker Adam Bighill, who edged out Jefferson as the West nominee for top defensive player before winning the league’s top prize last season. Jefferson, who had a standout season in 2018 — including 34 defensive tackles, 10 quarterback sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns — joins Jackson Jeffcoat and Craig Roh as the team’s edge rushers, creating what should be constant nightmares for opposing quarterbacks.

The signing is not only considerable given Jefferson’s reputation as a game-changer — see: 97-yard interception return for a touchdown against quarterback Matt Nichols in last year’s Banjo Bowl — but his presence softens the blow in areas of the defence the Bombers will be perceived as weaker in 2019.

That includes the loss of weak-side linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, who jetted to Edmonton on a two-year deal, joining a number of exceptional free agents that signed with the Eskimos. It also alleviates some of the pressure off a secondary that will undoubtedly be less experienced this season with the exit of all-star safety Taylor Loffler, the release of veteran corner Chris Randle, and Kevin Fogg, who played both halfback and corner last season, also moved on.

Finally, it has expunged what would have been considered a day of disappointment for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters, who had his foot in the door for a number of high-end free agents, but none of which he could convince to come to Winnipeg. The Bombers had signed more of their team’s pending free agents than any other club in the CFL, while also having key players such as Nichols, running back Andrew Harris and three starters on the O-line — left tackle Stanley Bryant, left guard Patrick Neufeld and right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick — already locked up for 2019. That made it for an easier day compared to most teams, but they still were expected to make a splash, improving on a team that finished third in the West last year, at 10-8, and were unable to snap the Bombers’ long Grey Cup drought, now at 29 years.

While Demski should be considered a solid signing — the Winnipegger’s return injects some much-needed speed to the receivers group, especially with veteran Weston Dressler not expected to return — it doesn’t exactly tick off the box of finding an upper-echelon pass-catcher, something the Bombers swung hard after only to whiff.

Winnipeg was part of the Greg Ellingson sweepstakes, but couldn’t convince him to part from his Ottawa Redblacks teammate, quarterback Trevor Harris, both of whom signed lucrative deals with the Eskimos. The Bombers were offering close to $220,000 — $5,000 more than Ellingson made in 2018 — but Edmonton stepped up with a contract of a combined $500,000 over two years.

The Bombers also worked hard to ink DaVaris Daniels, who undeniably had a chip on his shoulder after working hard to return to the Stampeders lineup last year in time for the Grey Cup only to be deemed a healthy scratch. Daniels wouldn’t return to the Stampeders; instead, Edmonton got him, too.

Other receivers desired by the Bombers included B.C.’s DeVier Posey, who was likely overpaid by Montreal, seeing that he was asking for upper-echelon receiver dollars despite having yet to record a 1,000-yard season; and Bryan Burnham, though Burnham never made it to free agency, with the Lions signing him up just before the deadline.

The Bombers still won’t be considered the winners of the day, even with Jefferson, but that doesn’t mean things can’t change in the coming days. They should still have some money left in the bank to spend on a high-end receiver, with some still out there, including, in my opinion, the league’s best in Derel Walker. Other, cheaper options include Naaman Roosevelt and Chris Matthews, who broke into the league with the Bombers, in 2012, before heading to the NFL.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton