There’s lots of speculation around the CFL that Corey Mace could recruit some of his former players to the Saskatchewan Roughriders since becoming the team’s head coach earlier this off-season, though Toronto Argonauts’ general manager Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons doesn’t seem worried about what Mace has planned.
“It’s not a big concern. There are a number of players out there,” Clemons told the media via videoconference on Tuesday. “There are great players all around our league and if he takes some of ours, there’s a chance that we might take some of his.”
Mace spent the last two seasons as Toronto’s defensive coordinator following a six-year run as an assistant coach with the Calgary Stampeders. A number of defensive players left Calgary to sign with the Argonauts when Mace moved east, including defensive lineman Folarin Orimolade, linebacker Wynton McManis, and defensive backs DaShaun Amos, Robertson Daniel, and Royce Metchie.
Orimolade, McManis, and Daniel were all named East Divison all-stars in 2023 as part of a defensive unit that helped Toronto finish atop the standings with a 16-2 record. McManis and Daniel are both pending free agents, as are defensive starters Dewayne Hendrix, Shawn Oakman, and Jamal Peters.
Clemons made it clear that he remains primarily focused on retaining his current roster, though he seems prepared to dip into free agency if necessary.
“We are most interested in our own players, there’s no question about that, but this league has just a plethora of entertaining, great players that make our game so great,” he said. “There happens to be a few other players that are lurking out there in other leagues as well, so we’ll just do our best to come up with our best roster.”
Clemons wasn’t surprised to see Mace get hired as the head coach of another CFL team. He was highly complimentary of the work the 38-year-old native of Port Moody, B.C. did in Toronto to help lead a defensive unit that ranked second in offensive points allowed, fifth in net offence allowed, and second in yards allowed per play.
“We had the challenge of trying to find a new defensive coordinator a couple of years ago when we hired Corey and he turned out to be just tremendous,” said Clemons. “We knew and understood that day was going to pass when he was going to become a head coach. We thought it would even have been last year (when he was a finalist for the job in Ottawa) and now it did happen.”
One reason the Argonauts are facing a cap crunch is Chad Kelly’s new contract. The 29-year-old franchise quarterback will earn $615,000 this season on the first of a three-year deal that has made him the highest-paid player in the league. Though the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have enjoyed sustained success while paying a quarterback top dollar, the contract has forced Toronto to take a different approach this off-season.
“It’s not just the signing of him, it’s the number of players that were all-stars on our team this year. When you look at that and they look at what Chad makes, they look at the 16-2 season and how well we did, how well we played during the course of the season, that has put what is undue pressure on trying to get all of our guys back,” said Clemons.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the group but I’ve never had a season where every guy has returned. That’s a fact of life, it is what it is, but our desire to sign as many guys back as we can back is still there and we do believe that the majority of our roster will remain intact. We still have that hope and while it’s not easy, it’s not supposed to be.”
DaVaris Daniels recently restructured his contract with Toronto after making 51 catches for a career-high 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns this past season. Clemons didn’t offer details regarding the receiver’s new contract but indicated it provided the Argonauts with some cap relief ahead of free agency next month.
“Chad wasn’t the only guy that was signed in this process and we have to now try to figure out the best way to shape the roster and DaVaris has helped us out in making sure that he can get as many of his teammates back with him as we can.”
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