Bede out; Hajrullahu in

[OV Argo]

Clearly the org has no plan at all, and was caught completely off guard by this. That'll teach 'em.

If you find it hard to believe a player would try to maximize his earnings, especially at this stage of his career and after a superb season, I have no idea what would convince you. I guess you might also find it hard to believe that an organization that went 16-2 with a bunch of key guys on cheap first contracts might have to make tough decisions all over the roster in order to put together another competitive team and comply with the salary cap.

Ok - I;ll just have to wait to find out. Bede might get signed to a mega buck$ contract by another CFL team in the near future.

No doubt you will provide all the right answers and the truth though. ;o)

[Skilz]

All the best to Bede moving forward.

What his forward did do however, is torpedo his negotiating value even before the negotiation period has ended.

How is another CFL team to know, whether their offer could be matched by the Argos?

By letting the cat out of the bag so early (he could have easily dropped this post on Super Bowl Sunday!) all he did arguably lower his value among the remaining bidders.

The Argos aren't stupid. The gist of his post reveals, that the Argos chose not to make him an offer. Whose going to play that kind of roulette without a backup plan? Do they allocate the funds they saved on Jordan Williams and attribute them to Liram H.? Thats good business.

[Shatto]

I'm sure the team has taken into consideration some of their free agents will leave and will have strategized how to address the losses. Clemons acknowledged that this year's team will have a different look. Nobody wants to lose a player that has contributed to the team's success but the cap makes it impossible to retain all players.

As far as Bede is concerned, the team will likely be looking for a FG kicker since Haggerty will be the team's punter. So either a global kicker, free agent or a drafted player.. We will probably hear more about the plans for a FG kicker in the next few weeks.

[paulwoods13]

There's little doubt in my mind that the Argos would have happily re-signed Bede for a price they could afford to pay at his position, and there's also little doubt in my mind that Bede deserves to be one of the highest-paid kickers in the league (if not the highest). Those two sentiments are not compatible, unfortunately, especially when the team has so many key guys coming off entry-level deals they outperformed in 2023. Really tough decisions have to be made. Bede won't be the only familiar face whom the Argos are not willing or able to compensate to the level they deserve based on their most recent performance. Hopefully they can keep the losses to a minimum, but I fully expect we will lose Pickett, Peters and at least one of the two DTs.

[bluto]

Bede is the best kicker, and some would say best special teams player, in the league. If he wants to be a free agent and set the bar for a 3-role kicker I can't blame him.

I just hope for his sake that whatever amount he agrees to is at least $23k more than the Argos had allotted for that position. Because when our players receive that as a bonus for lifting the Cup, he may have second thoughts.

(gut feeling: he'll be an Alouette)

[Will]

Farhan thinks he'll be a Elk.

He also alludes to the Argos going Canadian at kicker if they add Lirim Hajrullahu as many expect. What isn't clear from Farhan's tweet is whether he actually knows something about Lirim or whether he's just reading the room.

[bluto]

Farhan thinks he'll be a Elk.

He also alludes to the Argos going Canadian at kicker if they add Lirim Hajrullahu as many expect. What isn't clear from Farhan's tweet is whether he actually knows something about Lirim or whether he's just reading the room.

I'd rather have Bede... but going Canadian at K would soften the blow.

[Skilz]

https://3downnation.com/2024/02/05/c...nto-argonauts/

Good business as predicted.

Welcome back Liram!

[AngeloV]

I'd rather have Bede... but going Canadian at K would soften the blow.

Definitely softens the blow.

On the field, this is an equal move. But you can't replace Bede's personality. Always hate to see popular players go, but it's the nature of pro sports.

[paulwoods13]

Amazingly, mgmt apparently had a plan!

Moves like this cascade together. Big-ticket NATs go out the door (Gittens and, to a lesser extent, Williams), along with an INT who would expect to be paid mid-100s (Bede). In comes a NAT (Hajrallahu) to replace Bede (probably around the same salary), but combined with the other moves this opens room to keep/sign other NATs and bring in a replacement INT elsewhere on the roster at about half the price of Bede. It sucks to lose great players and great guys like Bede, but roster building in a cap environment, where roughly half the experienced players become free agents every year, requires sacrifice and a lack of sentimentality.

[OV Argo]

Interesting switch: very close in age (Bede about 6 months older); Bede has the slightly better CFL career FG % and punting average, and of course Bede has the strongest kick-off leg the CFL has seen in a long time. Wonder how much cheaper Liram might have come in at ?

[Will]

This topic has generated a lot of discussion in the transaction thread so I'm giving it its own thread.

[paulwoods13]

Wonder how much cheaper Liram might have come in at ?

He doesn't have to earn less than Bede for it to be a smart move. Savings from other NATs who departed (Gittens and Williams) can get applied to Hajrallahu and elsewhere in the NAT pool; Bede's biggish salary will get replaced by a non-kicking designated INT who will likely be on an entry-level (or thereabouts) deal. There's a saving of, say, $50-80k just on the two DIs; other savings elsewhere (including at SB and LB) cascade through the lineup, allowing other players to be signed/re-signed. It's rarely just a matter of "player x is cheaper than player y who plays the same position." It's more like "players x, y, z, a, b, c cost as much as players d, e, f, u, v, w, and the latter allows us to remain competitive even when we lose some guys to teams who can afford to outbid us for some of our players."

[OV Argo]

He doesn't have to earn less than Bede for it to be a smart move. Savings from other NATs who departed (Gittens and Williams) can get applied to Hajrallahu and elsewhere in the NAT pool; Bede's biggish salary will get replaced by a non-kicking designated INT who will likely be on an entry-level (or thereabouts) deal. There's a saving of, say, $50-80k just on the two DIs; other savings elsewhere (including at SB and LB) cascade through the lineup, allowing other players to be signed/re-signed. It's rarely just a matter of "player x is cheaper than player y who plays the same position." It's more like "players x, y, z, a, b, c cost as much as players d, e, f, u, v, w, and the latter allows us to remain competitive even when we lose some guys to teams who can afford to outbid us for some of our players."

Ok then.

[bluto]

He doesn't have to earn less than Bede for it to be a smart move. Savings from other NATs who departed (Gittens and Williams) can get applied to Hajrallahu and elsewhere in the NAT pool; Bede's biggish salary will get replaced by a non-kicking designated INT who will likely be on an entry-level (or thereabouts) deal. There's a saving of, say, $50-80k just on the two DIs; other savings elsewhere (including at SB and LB) cascade through the lineup, allowing other players to be signed/re-signed. It's rarely just a matter of "player x is cheaper than player y who plays the same position." It's more like "players x, y, z, a, b, c cost as much as players d, e, f, u, v, w, and the latter allows us to remain competitive even when we lose some guys to teams who can afford to outbid us for some of our players."

I was just about to post this.

Exactly this.

[OV Argo]

Dennis Moore has tough decisions and lessons to learn as a CFL GM ;o)