One of the most active free agency windows in recent seasons saw 23 of the top 25 free agents sign a new deal.
DB Bobby Bastian was one of the most interesting players. The former 7th overall pick never seemed to catch on with the Mariners and entered free agency to find a starting role somewhere else. It is rare to see such a highly drafted player be available at his age, so it attracted many teams. Bastian worked the teams to the best of his abilities. Early deals reportedly were coming in around $15,000-$16,000 for 2 years, however, by keeping more teams in the fight the price went up. By the end, he got a big $63,000 deal with the Thunder which was the largest signing so far this offseason.
Louisville seemed keen on rebuilding their roster by going out and spending money. Along with Bastian, they added WR Carter Henderson from Ottawa, OL Kurt Booker from Halifax, QB Buck Murphy from Pittsburgh, WR Samuel Petri from Toronto, DB Larry Pickett from Long Island, and young LB Norman Field from Providence. The crazy spending frenzy has the team spending a total of $240,000 ($125,000/year) across all the players they signed. One of the most talked-about signings for the team was QB Buck Murphy. Following signing the contract, Murphy was reported to say: “If you think I’m here just to sit on the bench, think again. That job is open, I’m here to take it.” It may seem that Murphy is going to compete with QB Leonidas Dumont for the starting role this season, however, decisions are likely going to be made at training camp.
QB Landon Ross also hopes to find himself in a similar spot to Murphy with his new team in the Raiders. The young QB is out on the Royals job so he is hoping that maybe he can restart his career with the Raiders and compete with QB Stanley Troyer for the job. However, it is likely to be a difficult battle to win with Troyer being the established QB.
A few players decided to return to familiar places. RB Kendall Morgan and RB Wally Morton both returned to the teams that had traded them at the deadline. Not too much of a surprise as they enjoyed playing in those places and were only traded to give them a better opportunity with teams that had injured RBs QB Lee Rogers (HFX) and RB Cody Barnes (LDN) on the other hand decided to remain with the teams they were traded to. For Rogers, he hopes to be on a team with a chance to win, while Barnes appreciated being closer to his hometown of Sudbury, ON.
WR Piers Key, who has only played for the Thunder, decided to move up to Canada and signed with the Royals. Key is excited about the new situation and stated that the coaching staff and culture of the team were a major lure. DL Jordan-Eugene White also shared Key’s liking of the Royals organization and joined him on a 2-year deal.
Along with Jordan-Eugene White, there were a couple of 27-year-old DL that ended up creating a bit of a bidding war. However, the winning teams would be Long Island in nabbing former Independent Brian Alvagardo and London signing form Blacksmith Steve Hamm.
LB Sam Wynn also was a high-profile free agent being the top LB when there is a lot of demand at the position. Wynn ended up being caught between signing a large deal with Long Island and Boston. In the end, he would end up signing with the Raiders, hoping to fight for another championship, as well as having his own distaste of Boston being a Pawtucket native and childhood Gold Stars fan.
Louisville was very active, but so was Boston under their new GM Allen Hutchinson. While a lot of Boston’s signings were bringing back old players, they did add a couple few pieces in OL Harrold Kera, WR Sam Nash, and DB Dennis Kirchner. Kirchner didn’t seem to surprise a lot of people as Hutchinson had liked the player from his time in Providence. The team also added DL Remington Hart who returned to his hometown for one last season of football.
Providence was fairly quiet, but they did sign a pair of former Blacksmiths in S Peter Sellers and DB Elvin Waters. Sellers could be in contention to get some starting time next to S Paul Christopher as Providence hopes to not have so much volatility at the position.
Lastly, Montreal hoped to be a bit more active but the team ended up being on the safer side and brought back DB Malik Davenport and QB Mike Key. However, Key ended up being a difficult player to bring back as he was hoping a team may give him the chance to fight for a starting job after his performance in Gene Bishop’s absence last season. However, in the end, Montreal was the best place for him. The Rouge also attracted LB Damien Savoie, who had always dreamed of playing for the Rouge since he was a kid.
1967 Top Free Agents - Signed
1 - WR Piers Key LOU -> OTT 2Y, $20,000 - NTC
2 - WR Carter Henderson OTT -> LOU 2Y, $21,000
3 - LB Sam Wynn PIT -> LI 1Y, $21,500
4 - S Peter Sellers PIT -> PRO 1Y, $16,500
5 - DB Bobby Bastian HFX -> LOU 3Y, $21,000
6 - DB Jacques Gaul PIT -> LDN 1Y, $13,000
7 - RB Kendall Morgan LI -> BOS 1Y, $18,000
8 - OL Kurt Booker HFX -> LOU 2Y, $19,500
9 - QB Buck Murphy PIT -> LOU 2Y, $19,000
10 - QB Lee Rogers HFX -> HFX 1Y, $17,500
11 - OL Stanley Witt BOS -> BOS 1Y, $10,500
12 - RB Wally Morton HFX -> OTT 1Y, $18,000
13 - DL Brian Alvagardo BOS -> LI 2Y, $12,500
14 - DL Jordan-Eugene White HFX -> OTT 2Y, $15,000
15 - WR Samuel Petri TOR -> LOU 1Y, $19,000
16 - DL Steve Hamm PIT -> LDN 2Y, $15,000
17 - QB Mike Key MTL -> MTL 2Y, $18,500
18 - QB Landon Ross OTT -> LI 1Y, $16,000
19 - RB Cody Barnes LDN -> LDN 1Y, $16,000
20 - DB Dennis Kirchner PRO -> BOS 1Y, $13,500
21 - OL Harrold Kera OTT -> BOS 2Y, $12,000
22 - WR Otto Washington LOU
23 - WR Sam Nash HFX -> BOS 1Y, $12,000
24 - LB Killian Reed BOS
25 - LB Norman Field PRO -> LOU 2Y, $13,000
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