Big bucks for Brady Oliveira

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2023 (1008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With front office and coaching staff now set across the CFL for the 2024 season, there’s been a flurry of signings in recent days.

There’s often a surge of extensions around this time of year, as clubs eagerly get to work on next season’s roster, beginning with poring over lengthy lists of pending free agents. That includes DE Willie Jefferson (Wpg.), DL Mustafa Johnson (Mtl.), LB Darnell Sankey (Mtl.) and DE James Vaughters (Cgy.), to name a few.

There’s an advantage to inking players in December compared to January, as teams can use any excess money from the 2023 salary cap to spend on contracts for the following year, so long as they are inked before the end of the month.

There are more than 250 players currently on expiring deals — an average of about 28 players per team.

A lot of that business should be taken care of in the coming weeks and months ahead of what should still be a free-agent frenzy over the winter. On that note, get your calendars out, the CFL has announced free agency will open at 11 a.m. CT on Feb. 13.

Now, let’s dive into some of the top stories in the three-down loop, in the latest edition of CFL Rundown.

1) There are some big names in need of a new deal next season, but none bigger than Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira. Oliveira plans to test the NFL, but if he ends up returning to the CFL, it’s not going to be cheap. I spoke with Oliveira during locker cleanup and he made no secret about wanting to get paid for his efforts and commitment. More specifically, he wants to reset the market for running backs, much like we’ve seen Kenny Lawler and Geno Lewis do for receivers in recent years. The asking price might not be as high — Lawler and Lewis signed in the $300,000 range — but I imagine it’s not going to be a heck of a lot less.

2) Just a few words on the Grey Cup. Congrats to the Montreal Alouettes for finishing off in style arguably the greatest single-season turnaround in league history. As for the heavily favoured Bombers, there’s not much to say other than they blew it. If you think that’s harsh, there’s not a single guy in the locker room who thinks otherwise. For what it’s worth, betting sites already have the Bombers as GC favourites next year, with Toronto a close second.

3) This is where I eat crow. I’ve been critical of Als QB Cody Fajardo in recent years, both for his play on the field and some of his antics off it. He proved to the entire CFL he’s capable of leading a team to a championship — his performance earned him the game’s MVP award — while his leadership with the club was palpable throughout Grey Cup week. Montreal also added another year to his current deal, keeping him through the 2025 campaign, a contract Fajardo said left “a lot of money on the table.” Got to love that commitment, but did he really have to say this Als team has the potential to be a dynasty? Maybe I’ll be eating crow again in a few years.

4) The Saskatchewan Roughriders got their guy, hiring Corey Mace away from the Toronto Argonauts to be the next head coach. I loved the energy Mace brings, which was abundantly obvious during his first press availability. The Riders wanted someone who wanted them, and Mace was all in. In other words, they wanted a guy who was willing to live in Regina year-round. Talk about sacrifice. I’m curious to see how the year plays out. That’s an impatient fan base that demands a winner. Not a lot of rookie head coaches hit the ground running. Even Mike O’Shea was 12-24 in his first two seasons as an HC.

5) A notable nugget to come out of the press conference was Mace seemingly being good with soon-to-be 38-year-old QB Trevor Harris returning as the club’s No. 1 pivot in 2024. Harris is coming off a season-ending knee injury that sidelined him most of the year. Harris had some impressive plays when healthy, and his CFL experience is important, but are we really expecting him to return better than before? Harris was 4-2 in his six games played, but half of those victories were against the lowly Edmonton Elks, with the other two versus a Calgary Stampeders team that was at its worst since Dave Dickenson took over as head coach in 2016. We should find out just how committed Saskatchewan is to Harris come Feb. 1, when his $250,000 bonus will be paid out.

6) Good news is Harris has all but guaranteed a Grey Cup title in Riderville in 2024. “I absolutely know that we can win a championship in Saskatchewan. 365 days from now we’re going to be looking at green and white confetti coming down on us and we’re going to be celebrating,” he brazenly told Regina radio station 620 CKRM.

7) Bombers offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce was the other leading candidate for the Riders job. My feeling is Pierce was ready for the challenge, evident by the fact he finally took an interview after turning down similar opportunities in the past, but that he’s happy to be in Winnipeg for another year. I don’t see him staying much longer, though.

8) Scott Milanovich, once considered by CFL pundits to be a shoo-in for the Riders job, was instead hired as HC of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He replaces Orlondo Steinauer, who will now put all focus into his role as the club’s president of football operations. The Ticats also promoted Ed Hervey to general manager. I like the moves and think it will pay dividends sooner than later. Something was missing in Hamilton the last couple of years, probably because too many guys were wearing too many hats.

9) I wonder what Milanovich’s hire means for QB Bo Levi Mitchell? After all, it was Milanovich’s decision to sit Mitchell in favour of Matthew Shiltz in the Eastern semi-final. That prompted the quote from Mitchell, who did eventually enter the game in garbage time, where he put his future in Hamilton in doubt, saying, “If you’re not playing your highest-paid player on the team in a playoff game, I don’t foresee myself probably being here.” That wasn’t shooting bullets. That was simply being honest. The hard truth is Mitchell just hasn’t proven worthy of his hefty price tag and it’s hard to imagine two more serious injuries this season will make him any better.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton