1966 Re-sign Stage

1966 Re-sign Stage

BOSTON
The Independents were able to lock up several defensive stars with LB Konrad Aust returning on a 2-year deal at $34,000 a season, and then DB Mordecai King and DB Lawrence both on 3-year deals at $25,000 and $22,000 a season respectively. However, there were a couple of players who were let go. DL Robin Hill has been struggling with penalty trouble in the last couple of seasons which has made him and the team frustrated, leading to the two parting ways. The other player key piece would be S Drew Porter, as they look to the 3rd year S Ernie Osborne.

BUFFALO
The Blue Wings had the tough task in bringing back their big trade splash from last season, DL William Sanderson. They would bring the superstar back on a 2-year deal at $37,500 a season which certainly makes the Blue Wings a challenger again this season. They also were able to lock up DB Dean Hawkins and DB Ezra Power on match 4-year deals and then WR Zachariah Pembroke would agree to another 2-year deal at $25,500. They did end up being unable to negotiate with another DL in Mickey Daly who wanted more money and a larger role which he was not getting on the stacked Buffalo D-line.

HALIFAX
It was fairly quiet in Halifax with the team signing a lot of their talent to extensions. They brought back Joe Robinson, WR Shane Steadman, WR Jav Kerrigan, and LB Bear Donnelly. The biggest fish ended up being DL Wayne Baxton who signed back on to a 6-year deal at $28,500 to start and reach up to $36,000. Halifax did let go of both QB Robert Humphrey and QB Sammy Townsend as they geared up to look for a new starting QB.

INDIANA
Following a very promising season, the Victors were able to maintain much of their team from the last few years. They brought back key pieces in DB Kelly Kirkland, WR Orlando Barrack, OL Viktor Stahl, and RB Raymond Green all to fresh contracts. Of course, to no surprise the team did allow for the reigning MVP, QB Lyle Painter to walk into free agency.

LONG ISLAND
It is always a tall task to manage the team following a championship, as there is a lot of talent that you want to bring back and need to pay to keep around. GM/Owner Wayne Tillman brought back most of the team for this season with big contracts going out to DB Rutherford Winter, DB Alexander Bradley, OL Elliot Winterbottom, and LB William Washington II. WR Casey Coleman also agreed to a 2-year contract, but it was a rough negotiation. Coleman wanted more money or at least more opportunities in the passing game, but it did not seem to mesh with what Tillman was envisioning with the team which could be a concern down the line. The team also had a couple of other players walk away with TE Andrew Mathias and DL Blaine Caswell that could be an issue if they don’t play this offseason right.

LONDON
The Tigers continued their usual plan of maintaining as many pieces as possible. The key signing would be QB Riley Kiernan who stays on for 2-years at $42,000. They also locked up OL Emil Jennings to a 5-year deal as well. There is not much else to say about the Tigers as they continue to maintain the team and hope they can still compete for another title.

LOUISVILLE
The Thunder were a team on the verge of going into a full rebuild after their 2-4 start, but after recovering for a McCallister Cup appearance, they are still looking to maintain the team. This starts with QB Leonidas Dumont, who many believed might be on the way out this season, but instead re-signed for another 3-years at $38,000 a season. They also spent a lot of money in the secondary, locking up DB Oliver Langstrom, DB Jayden Mills, and DB Jared Francis all to $20,000+ contracts. It certainly could be a risk as the team now has $107,500 locked up in the secondary with S Johnny Berger included. The Thunder did end up parting ways with WR Sammy Moss, after seeing the 2-year experiment did not work out.

MONTREAL
Montreal did a solid job of bringing back the important pieces, signing LB Sam Fitzroy for 2 years, Lucas Kipling for 4, and DB Jayson Kylde for 2. They did bring back 2nd string RB Hugo Hughes on a 1-year deal. Hughes has shown sparks of being the team’s next top back so they are hoping he takes a jump this season and he could potentially take over for RB Scott Mallard-White.

OTTAWA
The Royals have a lot of their roster currently in place, so they only made a couple of signings bringing back DL Zane Tannith on a 4-year deal and breakout TE Ryan Hatcher for 4 years as well. DB Wesley Nires also returned on a 2-year deal as the Royals hope the younger core starts to take a step forward this season.

PITTSBURGH
The Blacksmiths seemed like a popular place to re-sign for a lot of players despite the 2-10 season this year. However, a lot of the deals signed with players like LB Red Clarkson, WR Wilson Queensgate, and DB Elvin Waters were all 1-2 years. The longest contract signed ended up being with OL Wally McRose who stays for 3 more years. The team did bring back both the team Captain, RB Stavros Black, for another year and young QB Magnus Torrensen who has shown some promise thus far.

PROVIDENCE
The large overhaul in the front office seemed to shakedown to the rest of the team with a few key pieces in Providence deciding they did not want to be a part of a potential rebuild. The biggest piece was DB Cameron Taylor who is considered a fringe top 10 DB in the league. Taylor (29) is very much focused on trying to win now and does not feel like Providence will get him there soon. They also almost lost young DL Ryan Sargent, but GM Peter Brooks and HC Garret Boone convinced him to stay on for 2 more years. The last major question would be QB Connor O’Rourke, who was rumoured to potentially be let go by the team following injuries over the last several seasons, but with Brooks in office, he couldn’t wait to offer his old pal a 2-year deal at $40,000 a season. 

TORONTO
Cheap contracts were flying off the shelves in Toronto with the team gearing up for a run this season. Most of the veterans returning for one last push were more than willing to sign for less if it means the team can get some other help. The only larger investment the team ended up making was on LB Sebastian Andrews III, who they had acquired at the deadline to be the future #1 guy for the team. He signed on for 2-years at $20,000 a season.

Top 25 Free Agents
1 - QB Lyle Painter - IND
2 - DB Cameron Taylor - PRO
3 - DL Mickey Daly - BUF
4 - DL Robin Hill - BOS
5 - S Drew Porter - BOS
6 - DL Dexter Barbarcos - PIT
7 - OL Christopher Weeks - PIT
8 - DB Dennis Kirchner - PRO
9 - S Nick Larson - PRO
10 - TE Micheal Bowman III - LDN
11 - DL Blaine Caswell - LI
12 - QB Matt Fletcher - LI
13 - QB Stanislav Ovechkin - LOU
14 - QB Robert Humphrey - HFX
15 - WR Sammy Moss - LOU
16 - S Clarence Sale - LI
17 - LB Killian Reed - PIT
18 - TE Andrew Mathias - LI
19 - WR Otto Washington - IND
20 - WR Paul Franklin - HFX
21 - DL Dennis Hughes - MTL
22 - OL Benny Germain - MTL
23 - WR Sam Nash - TOR
24 - DB Lou Lake - IND
25 - QB Rigobert St-Hilaire - MTL

The reigning MVP tops the free-agent list unsurprisingly. It is very likely he lands with the Mariners as the only team that seems to be looking for a new starting QB this season and is trying to win now, but you never know. DB Cameron Taylor is likely the most unknown player on the board since he could go to a much larger list of teams that could use him. The question will be if he is willing to maybe take less to potentially win with a competitive team. After that, several teams are going to likely be targeting DL as there are a lot of open spots at the position across the league. It could be very tough for teams looking for a new LB with Killian Reed being the only real solution available in this class of free agents. Lastly, QB Matt Fletcher could create some noise as the former 1st round pick is going to be available after not getting many (if any) chances in his first three seasons in Long Island.