CFL meetings produce plenty of three-down scuttlebutt

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This article was published 17/01/2025 (434 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The CFL off-season received a major shot in the arm this week, as general managers and coaches met for their annual winter meetings south of the border.

It’s the second consecutive year the CFL has held its meetings at the same time as the American Football Coaches Association convention. This year, the convention was held in Charlotte, N.C., while last year, it was in Nashville, Tenn., with the CFL meetings running for two days after the weekend’s events.

It’s an opportunity for all nine teams to listen and learn from other coaches, while also selling the CFL, leading to potential hires. It’s a good option in the league’s pursuit to grow the three-down game, and there’s no better place the game’s growth than is the U.S.

It also provided the media a chance to speak to every team’s general manager and head coach, with all interviews done virtually. Those chats resulted in some interesting and noteworthy sound bites.

With that, we interrupt your regular off-season scheduling to provide some much-needed updates from the three-down loop in the latest edition of CFL Rundown.

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1) Ed Hervey is certainly making his presence felt as the new general manager of the Edmonton Elks. Never one to be afraid to share an opinion, Hervey went off on a rant when asked about his willingness to pay receiver Eugene Lewis the same $320,000 he made in 2024. Hervey said there was no chance he’d be paying that kind of money to a receiver and suggested the open market would determine Lewis’s true value. To be clear, Hervey has a lot of respect for Lewis, he was just offering a rare glimpse into the thought process of a GM trying to work under a tight salary cap.

2) Hervey predicted or at least hoped there would be a market correction for CFL receivers in free agency this year, and he’s definitely not alone in that wish. Top-end receivers have long been coveted and well-paid, but it took on a whole new level when Kenny Lawler left Winnipeg to sign in Edmonton for $305,000 in 2022. No team with a receiver being paid $300,000 or more has ever won the Grey Cup in the modern CFL era, and GMs around the league are becoming more and more reluctant to shell out big money on the position. Don’t be surprised if receivers take the biggest hit when free agency opens Feb. 11.

3) Look no further than the predicament currently brewing in Winnipeg, where GM Kyle Walters is still trying to find the money to give extensions to Lawler and Dalton Schoen. Both are considered among the best receivers in the CFL — Lawler and Schoen made $285,000 and $230,000, respectively, making them the second- and third-highest paid receivers in the CFL in 2024 — but both are coming off serious injuries. Schoen missed almost the entire year with a torn ACL, while Lawler missed a third of the season with a broken arm. Walters was able to pull a rabbit out of his hat by signing Schoen and Brady Oliveira last season, but I don’t think there’s enough magic — or money — for a second similar act this year.

4) Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, when asked about Adam Bighill’s future in Winnipeg, noted some of those conversations might still need to be had. I’ve been told that Bighill won’t be offered a contract ahead of free agency, putting his CFL future in a bit of doubt. Bighill has been a staple on Winnipeg’s defence, spending half of his 12 CFL seasons with the Blue and Gold, winning two of his three Most Outstanding Defensive Player awards (2019,2021) on the Prairies. Bighill is 36 and is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in the Labour Day Classic. The Bombers have also signed Tony Jones, who played admirably in relief of Bighill last season. Bighill vowed to return to playing when asked during Grey Cup week, so we’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

5) Dave Dickenson didn’t seem to appreciate the wording of my question when I asked him if he felt he could “get away” with another down year after a combined 11-24-1 regular season record over the last two campaigns. The Calgary Stampeders coach/GM also took exception to my question about fixing the locker room culture after a few veterans players went public with their frustration over a division between the older and younger talent. I imagine Dickenson’s frustration is rooted in the fact the Stampeders recent collapse has coincided with his promotion to upper management. Obliviousness is a bad look for any man in charge, but even worse when you fire pretty much your entire staff, while saving your brother, when you shoulder most of the blame.

6) The quote of the day, however, belongs to new Elks head coach Mark Kilam. Kilam was one of the casualties in Calgary, fired after 20 years with the organization, the last 15 as special teams co-ordinator and the last five as assistant head coach. I asked Kilam what made him the answer in Edmonton but not the solution in Calgary, and he didn’t disappoint, saying: “You have to ask the people that made the decision in Calgary, that’s out of my control. I can tell you I’m going to f—-king bring it in Edmonton — I can tell you that right now. You can print that.” Anyone else ready for the new era to start in Edmonton?

7) Add me to the group of people who like seeing Rick Campbell back in the nation’s capital. Ottawa has always seemed the appropriate football home for Campbell, who spent six years (2014-19) as head coach with the Redblacks, leading them to a Grey Cup victory in 2016. Campbell is back as the special teams co-ordinator, a role he last held while in Edmonton back in 2011. I joked with Ottawa head coach Bobby Dyce about whether he was worried that he might have just hired his future replacement in Campbell. Word is Dyce is set to receive a contract extension, which is well deserved after getting the Redblacks back into the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

8) It was a good idea for the Redblacks to lock up QB Dru Brown on a one-year extension that keeps him in Ottawa through the 2026 season. It’s great for both sides, as Brown can deepen his roots in the city and the Redblacks don’t have to worry about potentially losing him at the end of this season. Don’t think for a second the Redblacks weren’t looking over at Winnipeg, fearful that if Zach Collaros retires after the 2025 campaign, that Brown might be interested in a reunion. Now, they’ve got him locked up.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X and Blue Sky: @jeffkhamilton