Reading Tea Leaves on Toronto Argonauts' Revealing Offseason Strategy: Part Two
At the start of the offseason, Toronto had a whopping 30 pending free agents on its roster. That number has dropped with a series of early moves made by the Argos that will likely dictate many of the decisions they still have left to make.
Star quarterback Chad Kelly, who signed an extension this offseason, recently restructured his deal to free up cap room for Toronto. But will it be enough to retain a couple more pending free agents, like one of Kelly's favored targets, wide receiver Damonte Coxie?
Defensive back extraordinaire Adarius Pickett was one of the most impactful players in Toronto last season, and he deserves top dollar for his versatile traits as a pass rusher, in coverage and against the run. Will the Argonauts brass reach deep into their pockets to retain the all-world defensive playmaker? Or do they plan on executing Plan B?
Pickett may not be the only star Argos defensive back to jump ship. There's a legitimate consensus building that Toronto may let standouts Jamal Peters and Robertson Daniel walk in free agency.
The ratio, as always, will play a factor in how CFL teams decide to allocate their resources in free agency.
That leads us all to perhaps the sexiest name on the Argos' pending list of free agents, running back A.J. Ouellette.
Sources inside the team have indicated that there is a genuine reluctance for Toronto to pay above market value for Ouellette.
Not being Canadian, and the fact that Argos running backs averaged nearly five yards per carry behind their offensive line are both factors working against the former Ohio standout returning to the Six.
The Argonauts would love to bring back Ouellette under the right circumstances. However, they are not willing to break the bank for him if another CFL team is.
With Andrew Harris (for all intents and purposes) retired, and a promising young Canadian running back like Daniel Adeboboye in the fold, don't be shocked if Toronto takes a risk and attempts to stay Canadian in the offensive backfield by letting Ouellette walk or handing the running reins to a mix of American recruits.
Pending CFL free agents and teams are able to negotiate offers for one week starting Sunday and ending Feb. 11, two days before free agency commences.
It's likely that by design, Toronto already knows who will return from last year's team and whom it will target to replace the departed. By the looks of things, those wheels have already been set in motion.
Updated Toronto Pending Free Agents
- Brandon Barlow | DL | Boston College
- Boris Bede | K | Laval (Player has announced impending departure)
- Dejon Brissett* | WR | Virginia
- Jack Cassar* | LB | Carleton
- Damonte Coxie | WR | Memphis
- Robertson Daniel | DB | BYU
- Andrew Harris* | RB | Nanaimo Raiders Jr.
- Dewayne Hendrix | DL | Pittsburgh
- Trevor Hoyte* | LB | Carleton
- Javon Leake | RB | Maryland
- Benoît Marion* | DL | Montréal
- Wynton McManis | LB | Memphis
- Henoc Muamba* | LB | St. Francis Xavier
- Shawn Oakman | DL | Baylor
- A.J. Oullette | RB | Ohio
- Jamal Peters | DB | Mississippi State
- Cameron Phillips | WR | Virginia Tech
- Adarius Pickett | DB/SLB | UCLA
- Robert Priester | DB/SLB | Wyoming
- Shane Richards* | OL | Oklahoma State
* Canadian
Toronto, Edmonton Pull Off Blockbuster Trade
You can find Mike Mitchell on X @ByMikeMitchell.
Catch up with CFL on FanNation on Facebook and X.
Mike Mitchell is a pro football writer/insider with decades of experience covering and following multiple leagues. He covers the New York Jets for TheJetPress.com at FanSided. He has also written for XFL Board and at Hub Publishing covering the CFL, XFL and USFL.