I think the biggest mission for the team in free agency was to a) get at least one viable Canadian starter and b) sign 1-2 impact players on defence above and beyond the existing players/guys they re-signed.
They didn’t have to go down guns blazing but they needed to dip their toes in the water. It’s still early but at this point we’ve:
Gotten older on the offensive line, lost two promising young tackles and picked up a journeyman centre and tackle;
Lost the experienced field side of our secondary;
Swapped out developmental qbs with Edm;
Lost another Canadian starter in BOO and a productive all-star slotback;
Signed a couple of depth special teamers and lost a special teams ace in Cole.
Pretty much everyone here has been waiting for a McManis signing announcement for two days. It should come to pass as he’s likely squeezing a few dollars more out of us but I’m not even certain anymore. Also figured one of Brissett or Gittens was a sure thing but the first one’s off the table and maybe we’ll get outbid on the second.
Outside of that there aren’t many real difference makers out there to be had at this point. The team is going to have to bank on a lot of second year players stepping it up and hopefully landing a gem or two in the draft, not to mention hoping some late free agent acquisition(s) has/have a Howsare-like resurgence in 2026.
Roster at this stage is chock full of question marks and I’m not sure what the strategy is.
I’m not against it, I’d even consider Dunbar again. To me Gittens at least gets you another Canadian starter on offence though so a bigger priority. Not sure Ternowski, Middlemost or Bruggeling will get regular reps on offence.
Another ST player. A staple in Calgary and had 10 ST tackles in 2024. Followed Kilam to Edmonton and didn’t have the same success with just 8 ST tackles, but still productive. Good addition to the teams.
Promising rookie in 2024 but injured most of last season. They might be considering him. I’d suspect if McManis doesn’t sign they’ll look at Awe or Santos-Knox also.
Still waiting on an announcement that now that McManis has been released that he has decided to sign in Edmonton instead of here . Honestly the way things have been going if that did happen it wouldn’t surprise me in the least .
/s