A year ago, the CFL was celebrating – ironically enough – the loss of a record number of players to its cross border counterpart, the NFL. By mid-February 2016, the Canadian league had shipped 16 players south, including Toronto Argonauts’ defensive tackle Cleyon Laing to Miami Dolphins and Aaron Grymes (Edmonton Eskimos) to Philadelphia Eagles. Pundits argued that, as a route to the NFL, the CFL had become a magnet for young talent.
It’s not far from the truth. One-time MVP and nine-time Pro Bowler Warren Moon started out in Edmonton before jumping ship to the NFL in 1984; Miami Dolphins’ defensive end Cameron Wake cut his teeth at British Columbia Lions, while New Orleans Saints Hall of Famer Joe Horn needed just one season in the CFL – at the Memphis Mad Dogs – to stake a claim for a career in the American league.
Quincy McDuffie
Fabion Foote of Hamilton’s McMaster U is banking on an NFL invite as early as the CFL Combine in March. The defensive tackle, who claims the caliber of a player like Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald, would be the 31st Canadian player to join the NFL straight from college, a group that includes Israel Idonije and Akiem Hicks, both of the Chicago Bears, Vaughn Martin (San Diego Chargers) and David Onyemata (Saints).
One senior player already on the march is Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ wide receiver Quincy McDuffie. The 26-year-old joins NFC East champions Dallas Cowboys, a franchise that comes in at 10.00 in the Super Bowl LII betting with bet365, despite stumbling early in the postseason last time around. McDuffie, formerly of Hamilton Tiger-Cats, led the numbers for a receiver in the CFL in 2016 with 27.7 yards per kickoff return.
Sack 3 _ Daniel Paquet _ Flickr 
“Sack 3” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Daniel Paquet
Boseko Lokombo
Greg Van Roten, the Argonauts’ Most Outstanding Lineman and formerly one of the best free agents on the market, has signed for Jacksonville Jaguars as of the end of February. The veteran joins BC Lions’ linebacker and CFL West All-star Boseko Lokombo and Otha Foster, a Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back, on the plane south. Both players have a job to do in breaking into the Baltimore Ravens’ 53-man roster for the new campaign.
Oddly enough, and despite last year’s mass exodus to the American league, there’s a lot of talent heading north this winter. The Roughriders recently welcomed Derek Dennis to the Mosaic Stadium and continue to court Cleveland Browns’ flop Vince Young, a man who hasn’t played pro football since 2011. The Argonauts have re-signed NFL journeyman Owusu-Ansah and added ex-Cowboys linebacker Victor Butler to their ranks.
Finally, while departures from the CFL have been modest so far there are still a number of top free agency players that remain unattached – Shakir Bell and John Ojo of the Eskimos, Winnipeg’s Tori Gurley, the Tiger-Cats’ Andy Fantuz (the first receiver in the franchise’s history to reach 100 receptions), Toronto linebacker and physio hog Cory Greenwood, and Terrell Sinkfield, one of the fastest players in the CFL, of BC Lions.
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