The quarterback landscape looks like it could be volatile heading into the offseason and beyond.
That has Saskatchewan Huskies program development and player personnel Chris Lambiris, a CFL agent whose clients include pending free agent Toronto Argonauts’ Chad Kelly, licking his lips.
“Chad happens to fall on a contract year where there’s not a lot of other quarterbacks that are also potentially going to free agency, and there’s also a crisis of veteran quarterbacks and the need for that in the CFL,” he said on the SportsCage. “All of that can add into: How can I drive that player’s value up in their contract?”
Lambiris noted that Kelly, 32, loves Toronto and wants to finish his career as an Argonaut. However, talks between Kelly and Argos have been paused through the end of the season. Kelly has thrown for 4,777 yards with 31 touchdowns and 22 interceptions this season.
According to Lambiris, the only two teams that are set at quarterback are the B.C. Lions with Nathan Rourke and the Montreal Alouettes with Davis Alexander.
Trevor Harris is having a solid season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but he’s 40 and in the final year of his contract. Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Zach Collaros is no spring chicken at 38. Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Bo Levi Mitchell is 36 and has missed almost the entire campaign with a severe ankle injury.
Throw in significant question marks around the sport’s most important position in other locations, namely Ottawa, and things are clearly in flux.
“Is there more than nine capable quarterbacks in the league right now that can start and push and get you to a Grey Cup?” Lambiris said. “There is not. There is not nine teams and 18 quarterbacks that are capable of playing nor is there draft classes coming out where quarterbacks can push the envelope.
“How many teams next year potentially need quarterbacks? Is this Trevor Harris’ last year as a Rider? If so, the Riders have tremendous quarterbacks in the system, but can they compete for 18 games, do well in the playoffs in the pressure, and win us another Grey Cup? I don’t know.
“We have an aging demographic, and we have a quarterback problem for supply in the CFL. That makes it a lot less difficult for me as an agent to negotiate.”
Lambiris believes quarterbacks should get a higher percentage of a team’s $6.28 million salary cap. Typically high-end pivots come in around 10 percent, roughly half of top play-callers in the NFL.
His desire is to have percentage-of-cap language written in contracts that allow a quarterback’s salary to rise as the cap escalates if that player is on a multi-year deal.
“For me, I want to go a lot more than just Chad Kelly. I want to set a precedent that all quarterbacks in the CFL are getting compensated a lot higher than what they (are),” Lambiris said. “Every quarterback should be in double-digit land in terms of percentage of cap. That’s not the case.”
Check out the full segment below, which includes some discussion about the Huskies and their massive 62-12 win over Alberta, the play of quarterback Anton Amundrud, and former Huskies receiver Daniel Wiebe.
