The new year is almost here and that means change is in the air.
People all over the world will celebrate 2025 by taking resolutions and giving up old habits. CFL teams will do the same thing as they work through their pending free-agent lists and decide which players are best left in the past.
Not every decision will be easy and every franchise will say goodbye to some popular stalwarts in the name of self-improvement. For some, it will be the inevitable decline of age that makes them expendable, while others will simply be casualties of the salary cap. It will be hard for fans to see him walk out the door.
Here’s an established veteran that every CFL team should let go in free agency in February.
BC Lions: DB TJ Lee(A)
The longest-tenured member of the Lions, Lee feels like a Vancouver institution, but he also understood when addressing the media at the end of the season that his days were numbered. The soon-to-be 36-year-old accomplished a remarkable feat in 2024 by coming back from a torn Achilles in record time and put up good numbers after converting to a strong-side linebacker. However, his move to the box became necessary as he lost the range needed to become the dominant CFL halfback for over a decade. BC is in desperate need of being young, fast and cheap in the secondary and while fellow veteran Gary Peters can still claim to be at the top of his position, Lee can’t anymore.
Edmonton Elks: Rec Eugene Lewis(A)
Arguably the most controversial pick on this list, my concerns about Lewis have less to do with his performance and more to do with his cost. The 31-year-old continues to be an elite receiver after passing for over 1,000 yards last season and was a worthy All-Star as Edmonton’s best player. However, it came at a ridiculous price of $320,000 – the highest amount ever received by any pass catcher, despite no one truly believing Lewis was the best receiver in the CFL. He still deserves a nice change, but the Elks have clear opportunities to go elsewhere, which should make their number one target expendable if he’s not willing to take a substantial haircut.
Calgary Stampeders: DB Trey Roberson (A)
Once considered the best cornerback in the CFL, Roberson’s decline has continued for several seasons now and reached new lows last year. Sure, his interception count jumped up to four – the second-highest number of his career – but it’s also a sign that teams are feeling emboldened to throw the ball in his direction. There were also stretches of play between the 32-year-old’s handful of sputters where he looked out of place on the field. Now is the time for the Stamps to find some youth to lock down the field.
Saskatchewan Roughriders: DT Anthony Lanier II(A)
Entering 2024, I would have debated with anyone that Lanier was one of the CFL’s most underrated players and an elite pass-rushing threat. You just can’t say that after a disappointing year in which he missed significant time due to injury and spent several games as a healthy scratch. Even when he was playing, the 31-year-old wasn’t as productive as we expected and was leapfrogged on the depth chart by several younger options. Lanier still has value because of his unique inside-outside versatility, but a change of scenery might be best for both sides.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: LB Adam Bighill (A)
How do you tell a future first-ball Hall of Famer that it’s time to step away? There are no easy answers to this question, but Winnipeg needs to figure it out. Bighill is still a more than serviceable CFL linebacker, but at age 36, he is no longer an elite defender. There’s no telling what he looks like in 2024 after recovering from a season-ending knee injury and frankly, recently re-signed Tony Jones proved to be an upgrade in the middle after Biggie’s departure . Unless the three-time Most Outstanding Defensive Player is willing to take the kind of pay cut that most veterans would consider outrageous, it’s time for the Bombers to convince him to take an off-the-field role with the club. Has arrived.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats: OL Joel Figueroa (A)
Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan since the Cubs brought in Figueroa two seasons ago, as he played just five games in 2023 and one game last year due to injury. Thankfully for Hamilton, he took enough pay cut to stay through 2024, but it doesn’t make sense to bring back the veteran at age 36, even if he plays for the league minimum. The Ticats got a tremendous young left tackle in Brandon Bordner and have depth on their offensive line that doesn’t need the presence of an aging veteran.
Toronto Argonauts: OL Isiah Cage (A)
The Argos have a tremendous roster without too many cuts and Cage’s inclusion on this list is not an indictment of his performance on the field. In fact, he has played so well when healthy that he deserves a raise, but it may not be in Toronto’s best interest to give him a raise. The 31-year-old has missed regular time due to injury and Ryan Hunter played well when he was forced to slide to the outside due to a stretch. With another young Canadian tackle, Sage Doxtator, eventually on the roster, creating ratio space at the position moving forward could be worth it.
Ottawa Redblacks: REC Jaylon Acklin (A)
Eklin is a very solid CFL receiver, throwing for 739 yards and four touchdowns last season, but that’s exactly the problem. He was the 10th-highest paid pass catcher in the league last year, but finished 22nd in receiving yards with an average of 10.7 per reception. The 29-year-old has seen his production decline every year since surpassing the 1,000-yard mark in 2022 and is too expensive to be Ottawa’s third option moving forward — or fourth if Kalil Pempleton doesn’t get an NFL opportunity.
Montreal Alouettes: K David Cote (N)
The writing was on the wall for Cote when Montreal signed global kicker Jose Maltos to a two-year extension earlier this offseason. After four seasons of inconsistent accuracy that ranked worst in the league, an unfortunate injury left the door open for the 28-year-old Canadian to be replaced by the Mexican national, who hit at a 91.7 percent clip. Even though Maltos is not a long-term solution, there are a number of young national experts roaming around the league who have quota-equivalent skills at a much cheaper price.
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