1972 Training Camp Moves

As training camps rolled on and teams started putting the final touches on their rosters there would be a flurry of small trades. Most of these deals involve teams making depth moves or clearing up some positions of abundance. 

The first trade would see Toronto and Montreal swap 24-year-old prospects. Toronto would acquire undrafted OL Nic Bureau in exchange for former 3rd Round Pick, RB Tank Ferguson. Bureau had fallen in Montreal’s depth chart after they drafted two O-linemen this year, while Ferguson has not been what the Steelheads hoped. Bureau is getting the call-up to the Active Roster for the Steelheads this season while Ferguson will start the year on Montreal’s Reserve List.

After being a 2nd Round Pick last season by Edmonton, RB Rudy Saunders wanted out after Edmonton drafted two more RBs in this year's draft. He felt the younger two were getting preferential treatment by the team and didn’t feel as wanted. Edmonton would oblige and send Saunders to Long Island in exchange for RB Aeneas Phillips. Both players were taken in the draft last season. It’s a win-win with the Raiders getting the younger power back while Edmonton gets another Western Canadian prospect (their favourite) in Phillips, who attended Pacific Provincial. 

After acquiring Saunders, the Raiders would then make another trade to make some room for their new RB, sending 28-year-old RB Byron Rodham to Vancouver for RB Jeff Toney. Vancouver adds Rodham to the Active Roster as their RB3, while Toney will slip down to the Raiders’ Reserve List.

One of the more substantial trades would see the Regina Wheat Kings and Indiana Victors swap WRs. The Wheat Kings would bring on 29-year-old Leonard Green in exchange for 26-year-old WR Jesse Lambert. Green is the stronger player here and should be an upgrade for the Wheat Kings offence. With Green leaving Indiana, 1971 1st Round Pick, WR Lew Wallendowski, will get more opportunities this season with Lambert slotting in as depth.

Regina would not be done with trading as they would then send 26-year-old OL Jon Parkes to Providence for a 1973 4th Round Pick. Providence adds a depth lineman, while the Wheat Kings make room for 2nd Round Rookie, OL Simon Northcott. 

For the 2nd year in a row, OL Alanzo Tofflers would get traded after being moved to Indian from Providence last offseason. This time he would be moving from Indiana to Buffalo. Buffalo would pay a hefty price for a 3rd Round Pick, but they were desperate to add some stronger depth on the O-line. 

Then, we had a Reserve List move that saw WR Alphonso Abbott traded from the London Tigers to the Minnesota Serpents. The Serpents just wanted to add a depth WR for emergencies, while the Tigers were looking to clear out one of their 9 WRs in the organization. The Tigers would receive a 1973 5th Round Pick in the trade.

After all the small moves were made, there would be one last crazy trade that would involve 3 teams, 9 players and a draft pick. Boston, Pittsburgh, and eventually Minnesota would make a three-way trade that changes around a lot of depth pieces for Boston and Pittsburgh. 

In the deal, Boston would receive, veteran LB Kyle Essena, RB Gary Andrews, and WR Sergio Flores from Pittsburgh and DL Austin Antonio from Minnesota. Pittsburgh would receive RB Carter Roy, DL Watson Watt, WR Taylor Middleton, and LB Sefton Alfred from Boston. Then, Minnesota would receive a 5th Round Pick and DL Albert Kirk from Pittsburgh. 

To break it down a little more, Boston gets LB Kyle Essena as a starting LB option. They send Reserve List LB Sefton Alfred in return while Pittsburgh then calls up LB Tony Randolph to fill Essena’s spot.  Pittsburgh gets an upgrade at RB by swapping RB Carter Roy for RB Gary Andrews.  Pittsburgh also gets a slight upgrade at WR depth with Taylor Middleton being swapped for WR Sergio Flores. Finally, Pittsburgh needed an upgrade in DL depth, so they would get Watson Watt, however, Boston still wanted a decent D-lineman, which Pittsburgh didn’t have so Minnesota would be brought in sending Austin Antonio over. Pittsburgh would compensate Minnesota with their 5th Round Pick and Albert Kirk. 

Minnesota would then place Albert Kirk on their Reserve List and call up Morgan Kneller to the Active Roster. Also, with the trade, this will be Austin Antonio’s 3rd different stint with the Independents.