Last season was a disappointment for the Victors who fell to the Pittsburgh Blacksmiths in overtime in the West Division Semi-Final. As the team is gearing up for the 1970 season, they are looking to make a push at the cup with many veterans returning to the team. The returning vets are headlined by captain, DB Kelly Kirkland and WR Silas Peyton. They also locked up several key pieces like WR Ed Edwards, OL Viktor Stahl, and LB Marshall Langenbrunner. However, the biggest question mark was at QB with the contract of QB Tom Applewhite. In the end, the Victors were able to get Applewhite signed for 3 years at $42,000 a season. The star QB becomes the 2nd highest paid QB in the league only second to QB Charles Lemieux of the Buffalo Blue Wings. Now, the Victors did leave one key piece unsigned and that was RB Raymond Green. Green has been a solid player for many years, but it looks like the team was not willing to pay to keep him on the roster, so they will be searching for a new option.
OTTAWA KEEPS KEY DEFENSIVE PIECES AND VETERAN RECEIVING CORE
The Royals came just a point short of their 5th McCallister Cup at the end of the 1969 season, so it was no surprise the team made sure to keep several key pieces from the roster. The big fish was young defensive superstar DL Bernhard Hartmann, who locked into a 4-year deal worth $137,000. The Royals also kept DL Zane Tannith and LB Sam Wheeler with 2-year deals as well. At WR the Royals would maintain all 3 of their 30+-year-old WRs in captain Marshall Leonard, Piers Key, and Ottawa-native Cedric Peterson. This does leave 28-year-old Colby Bancana as the youngest member of the core, although 1969 2nd-round pick, WR Matthew de la Cruz, may change that if he makes the roster this season. The Royals have had one of the best cap situations in the league over the last couple of seasons which allowed them to make sure they got their team back, but they also showed some caution with star QB Drake Young due for some big money next season.
TILLMAN AND BRAY CLEAN HOUSE IN LONG ISLAND
After a pair of miserable seasons, the Raiders were expected to be making a lot of changes come this season. RB Dareion Fields and DL Ilya Mikaelov would be the only key starters to get new contracts, as many of the team’s pieces would be cut from the team. LB Ed Krzano and LB Calvin Hardy were both dumped along with WR Chad Anderson and TE Ryan Hatcher, who were both trade acquisitions over the last couple of seasons. At QB the team is sticking with Ivan Sanchez, who still has a year left on his deal, and letting go of QB Landon Ross who certainly wanted to see what opportunities were out there for him. Sanchez does have a short leash this season as he has just not gotten to where Tillman has wanted over the past season.
HALIFAX MAKES COST CUTS
The Mariners elected to overpay a bit for their roster last season in hopes of continuing to compete for a title. However, after missing the postseason last year and the costs becoming too high for the team, they had to make some changes by letting some star players walk. DB Aquilio Ruiz is easily the biggest loss for the team. The former 3rd overall pick wanted more money than the Mariners were willing to offer so he elected to move on. He also joined LB Bear Donnely and DL Chauncy Overstreet who both were cuts for the Mariners. Luckily, some of the players still wanted to play in Halifax so the team was still able to lock up key pieces like star DL Pat Butler and last season’s leading receiver, Shane Steadman. However, the changes may not be done in Halifax as some other expensive contracts may get moved yet.
TORONTO SUFFERS LOSSES
The Steelheads have seen a steady decline as players have retired. Now, they would typically just replace the old with the new and young, however, you can’t do that when they leave. It appears that a couple of the younger pieces in the organization have decided to move on. Both WR Al Allmendinger and TE Jesse Butler have left the team. Allmendinger, a former 2nd rounder, has developed into a really solid young WR for the team while Butler has been a solid starter. While it seems that both have left due to wanting to be in more pass-heavy teams, there are rumours that the front office could be an option, especially due to the DL Lawrence Armstrong trade situation from a few years ago. The situation is manageable, but with several other key young pieces’ contracts ending after this season, they could have issues down the line.
FREE AGENTS
Ruiz is easily the strongest player available with his skill set and age being right in his prime. Of course, there are a lot of other key players that have decided to leave their teams. DL Bjorn Sigmarsson felt that his spot was in jeopardy with the Thunder drafting a pair of young DL over the past few drafts, and a 0-12 season certainly didn’t make him want to stay. LB Orion Carter has also decided to leave Buffalo after having his role shrunk in the Blue Wings' defence with their acquisition of Dallas Dillard last season. RB Raymond Green is joined by a few other backs, most notably, Tresean Jones and Ronald O’Sullivan, who were both not extended in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was unable to come to an agreement with their starting back in Jones, as the two sides were far apart on money. DB Jayson Klyde may fly under the radar as a top free agent, especially with Aquilio Ruiz leading the way, but Klyde has been a very solid piece for the Rouge for many years. Teams looking for QB will have a couple of options as well with QB Landon Ross and QB Tyrion Gainsborough being the most viable options. Ross has played well with the Raiders and could be a strong target for a team seeking a stable option. Gainsborough on the other hand is just a year removed from leading the Royals to a 10-2 record in 1968 and has certainly earned a shot with another team. QB David Simmons didn’t look great in his first opportunity to start with the Thunder following Buck Murphy’s injury, but he is still young which may be enough for a team looking at some future potential.
Top 25 Free Agents
1 - DB Aquilio Ruiz - HFX
2 - DL Bjorn Sigmarsson - LOU
3 - LB Orion Carter - BUF
4 - WR Al Allmendinger - TOR
5 - RB Raymond Green - IND
6 - LB Bear Donnelly - HFX
7 - TE Jesse Butler - TOR
8 - DB Jayson Klyde - MTL
9 - QB Tyrion Gainsborough - OTT
10 - QB Landon Ross - LI
11 - RB Tresean Jones - PIT
12 - OL Ted Cole - MIN
13 - S Tom Parrish - IND
14 - OL Amos Sewell - OTT
15 - DL Craig White - PRO
16 - RB Ronald O’Sullivan - PIT
17 - WR Russell Wilcox - MTL
18 - DL Tournel Guay - BUF
19 - WR Doug Piva - PRO
20 - WR Alexei Dubois - LOU
21 - DB Tim McGovern - IND
22 - DL Tyrone Powers - PIT
23 - QB David Simmons - LOU
24 - DB Tyler Hill - MIN
25 - RB Théodore Lemieux - HFX
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