Frenemies and farewells: “I have to leave” he said, the B.C. Lions player leaving the team due to…

April 23, 2024 Baaki AMERICAN FOOTBALL 0

Frenemies and farewells: the B.C. Lions’ roller-coaster of CFL free agency

Frenemies and farewells: the BC Lions' CFL free agency roller-coaster | The Province

The joke for the B.C. Lions when CFL free agency officially started this week: No more Canadians.

The thing is, every time the Lions seem to strike gold with a domestic player, they get hornswoggled by the NFL.

They lost Nathan Rourke to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022, and when Mathieu Betts officially signed with the Detroit Lions this week, it was the second straight year they’d lost a record-setting Canadian to the NFL. Rourke was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 2022 before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Betts was the Most Outstanding Defensive player in 2023.

 

“It’s weird. You’d think you’d lose the American guys, but we’ve lost Canadian players the last couple of years, which is not something we’re used to,” said Neil McEvoy, B.C.’s director of football operations.

 

As with Rourke, it was a waiting game for the Lions to see if their offer was good enough to retain Betts, who led the league in sacks last year, setting a Canadian record in the process. The defensive lineman had three NFL workouts, but a strong showing in his first — with Detroit in December, who offered him a contract in January — had the Lions coming up with Plan B, C and D.

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