Before the year ends I have to thank Jim and Scott

[paulwoods13]

Suggesting that cutting four receivers at once was an act of desperation is wildly off base, unless it's desperation to expect players to follow team rules and come to work every day. Cutting three starters, without adequate replacements at hand, is not an act a coach "desperate" to make the playoffs would make. The two moves -- Willy trade and the receiver purge -- are completely separate. Both moves can be criticized (and have been, until the cows come home, on this forum), but to link them as equal measures of desperation is simply wrong.

[OV Argo]

The cutting of the four receivers was all about work ethic - or lack thereof. Interesting that only one of those receivers is still employed in the CFL.

Yeah - and IMO easily the least talented of the 4 - Hazelton - is now with the Esks, but mostly played due to injuries; guess he is being a good boy now.

Cutting 4 roster players at one position group in mid-season is unprecedented (maybe? - somebody name another example in pro football history), and sorry, a big-time act of desperation by the HC and/or GM - who should have figured long-before - like in TC - that these guys were this big "work ethic" problem or $hit disturbers or whatever. And cutting just one of them (a ring-leader/scapegoat) might have sent the proper message. 4 at one time was a laughable joke and combine that with a moron / dumb_@$$ trade = Scotty and Jimbo were in desperate mode - and a clear sign they deserved to be punted way out of town. And a great thing they were.

[ArgoZ]

They were both desperation moves. A desperate attempt to win back the locker room (even if some of those recievers deserved it), failed. It made it even worse actually. Then Milo goes on record to say that our back up/rookie/special teamers are going to do a better job. Unfair to expect that and to no surprise, they couldn't get open and were hardly thrown to.

I had no problem with Willy. However, to expect any new quarterback to turn around your disfunctional team, that late in the season, is also unfair and not realistic.

I admire and appreciate the job Barker and Milanovich did. To face so much adversity and win a cup was awesome. Unfortunately, good things are hard to make last and they made mistakes, followed by bigger mistakes instead of good solutions and so their time here was done. Give them credit for what they accomplished, but let's not defend the disaster they created.

[ArgoGabe22]

Don't think the release of the Big 3 plus Bates was just because of lack of production/effort. Pretty sure it's all related to one particular incident that had occurred after the Montreal game. That's not an act of desperation, that's a coach/GM doing their IMO.

[Jon Gonzo]

They were both desperation moves. A desperate attempt to win back the locker room (even if some of those recievers deserved it), failed. It made it even worse actually. Then Milo goes on record to say that our back up/rookie/special teamers are going to do a better job. Unfair to expect that and to no surprise, they couldn't get open and were hardly thrown to.

I had no problem with Willy. However, to expect any new quarterback to turn around your disfunctional team, that late in the season, is also unfair and not realistic.

I admire and appreciate the job Barker and Milanovich did. To face so much adversity and win a cup was awesome. Unfortunately, good things are hard to make last and they made mistakes, followed by bigger mistakes instead of good solutions and so their time here was done. Give them credit for what they accomplished, but let's not defend the disaster they created.

Yes they were. It was the beginning of the end, and it had to end at that point. Nothing good came from it. Great post. I couldn't have put it better myself.

[argolio]

Remember the narrative being floated here a year ago that the Willy trade and the receiver massacre would set back the team years? Good times!

[Jon Gonzo]

Remember the narrative being floated here a year ago that the Willy trade and the receiver massacre would set back the team years? Good times!

and then they hired Popp and Trestman. Whole new ballgame and a completely different narrative. The moves did not help the team; it set them back, and that's how those moves should be (and were) judged.

[ArgoGabe22]

Remember the narrative being floated here a year ago that the Willy trade and the receiver massacre would set back the team years? Good times!

I even heard that losing the #1 pick will set the team back for years. There are other ways to build a team!

[Jon Gonzo]

So you believe trading the first pick for Drew Willy should be applauded, or just met with indifference? I was raised to believe that Canadian talent was at the top of the list of priorities. A first pick, is always the best chance at the best pick.

[ArgoGabe22]

So you believe trading the first pick for Drew Willy should be applauded, or just met with indifference? I was raised to believe that Canadian talent was at the top of the list of priorities. A first pick, is always the best chance at the best pick.

Not applauded but trading a draft pick (in any trade) is not as catastrophic as some make it. I'm not talking about the trade itself but this belief that losing one draft pick will and can set a team back, especially when there are more import starters. Canadian talent is obviously key to this league but if you're able to acquire other pieces through CFL free agency (Finley), NFL cuts (Ball, Laing) picking up released players (Woods, C.Vaughn), free agent camps, trades (Edwards, Green, Franklin) and are able to make up a good roster, you can easily ease the "damage" caused by trading away the top pick.

I don't think anyone is saying how the team is set back by trading a top CDN prospect Mason Woods.

[Ron]

Remember the narrative being floated here a year ago that the Willy trade and the receiver massacre would set back the team years? Good times!

In hindsight ... there should not be anyone upset in any way at the Willy trade right now. In hindsight that trade set in motion the wheels that led to a GC championship in 2017.

At the time it looked not that great to most. But that's why actions are judged well after the fact and not during short term emotional responses.

[Rich]

Suggesting that cutting four receivers at once was an act of desperation is wildly off base

Milanovich was a dead man walking and he knew it. He had lost the room so badly that the ironically-named "Big Three" was like a second centre of power, at one point reportedly back-talking the coach during team meetings. And it could never have reached that point without at least the tacit support of some other players. Dumping the big three was never gonna cure that cancer, which became painfully obvious when the entire team quit on the coach for the last few games.

[Jon Gonzo]

Not applauded but trading a draft pick (in any trade) is not as catastrophic as some make it. I'm not talking about the trade itself but this belief that losing one draft pick will and can set a team back, especially when there are more import starters. Canadian talent is obviously key to this league but if you're able to acquire other pieces through CFL free agency (Finley), NFL cuts (Ball, Laing) picking up released players (Woods, C.Vaughn), free agent camps, trades (Edwards, Green, Franklin) and are able to make up a good roster, you can easily ease the "damage" caused by trading away the top pick.

I don't think anyone is saying how the team is set back by trading a top CDN prospect Mason Woods.

Hmmm. Right. No one is complaining, like they were when they traded a 1st overall for Willy. Wonder why that is? I suggest the narrative is more that some hesitate to admit when they are wrong and look for ways to justify this into perpetuity. This is the only spot where I have read people attempting to justify the final mistakes of the Milo-Barker combo.

It is a unique place. Indeed.

[Jon Gonzo]

Milanovich was a dead man walking and he knew it. He had lost the room so badly that the ironically-named "Big Three" was like a second centre of power, at one point reportedly back-talking the coach during team meetings. And it could never have reached that point without at least the tacit support of some other players. Dumping the big three was never gonna cure that cancer, which became painfully obvious when the entire team quit on the coach for the last few games.

Yes, and a Coach cannot lose the room or he's dead. To leave this on a positive note; our current administration doesn't get to that point. 1) Popp doesn't bring em in 2) Trestman is able to get through to them 3) or, after making a drastic cut (not 4 in the same position group) Trestman gets the attention of his team and it works.

The DESPERATE moves made by our last administration failed, and squandered a season. These things happen, even to good people. They predictably were let go and this is documented in history. It happened for a reason.

I for one am not going to make excuses for a past administration just because I backed them at one time or another. What on earth does that achieve? Alternate reality and football fans taking cues from a crazy-assed President. My god! (;

Mistakes are mistakes, and people (super-fans or not) should be able to come to grips with them. Especially after how we were all graced and gifted with the ultimate improvement of last season.

Nothing good can be said about how that last administration ended it's run. Plenty of good can be harvested out of how it started.

[AngeloV]

In hindsight ... there should not be anyone upset in any way at the Willy trade right now. In hindsight that trade set in motion the wheels that led to a GC championship in 2017.

At the time it looked not that great to most. But that's why actions are judged well after the fact and not during short term emotional responses.

I was basically voted off the island when I said the trade would not have any impact going forward.

[Will]

The 2016 season was lost well prior to the 4 receivers being released.

[R.J]

The 2016 season was lost well prior to the 4 receivers being released.

And prior to the Willy trade as well IMO.

Either way desperation moves by individuals who thankfully are no longer with us.

[ArgoGabe22]

Hmmm. Right. No one is complaining, like they were when they traded a 1st overall for Willy. Wonder why that is? I suggest the narrative is more that some hesitate to admit when they are wrong and look for ways to justify this into perpetuity. This is the only spot where I have read people attempting to justify the final mistakes of the Milo-Barker combo.

It is a unique place. Indeed.

Is Willy worth a 1st? No. Did trading the 1st really set the team (or any team when doing such a trade) back? No.

Looking back at it now, if Ticats pulled the trigger on Argos deal, what appeared to be trading away 4 potential Canadian starters for Zach Collaros could've been way much more riskier to entire health of the roster. Not defending the trade, just trying to tackle this notion that the team's destiny/future relied solely on the one player taken 1st overall. Because that's what it seemed like. Another, the sky is falling knee jerk reaction. Some even tried proving the value of a 1st Rd pick and I wouldn't call the evidence very conclusive.

[paulwoods13]

This forum and Twitter were full of "that trade sets the Argos back years." And look what happened. One year later -- the shortest possible span -- the team is champions and has lots of depth across the lineup, including young NATs. So clearly the trade did not set the Argos back any more than a few games, if that. (I'm well known to believe that going with Lefevour would not have been any better than going with Willy, but even if he did eke out a few more wins down the stretch, does anyone think we would have won anything of consequence in 2016 if that trade had not been made? It would sure be a stretch for all those who dump on Milanovich to suggest we might not have "blown the season" if only we had kept Heath and stayed away from Willy.)

As for dumping the Big Three not curing cancer, maybe so. But the fact is, our locker room was the exact opposite of cancer-ridden in 2017, and IMO a big part of that is we didn't have those guys in it. Call it desperation or whatever you want to call it, but IMO it is impossible to make a valid case we would have been better off in 2016 or 2017 of they had not been cut.

[OV Argo]

IF the Argos had kept Barker & Millanovich around last year, and they had Drew Willy as their pencilled-in QB, and no SJ Green or Armanti Edwards in the receiving corps - my guess is they would have went 1 & 17 or possibly 0 & 18.