Ahead of CFL free agency, Toronto Argonauts face tough task of sorting through major roster decisions

When he took over as general manager of the Toronto Argonauts, Michael “Pinball” Clemons was focused on getting to the Grey Cup within three years. Safe to say, the team has exceeded those expectations but now the challenge is trying to maintain a level of consistency where they remain in the conversation year after year.

How they plan to do that is in the works with free agency not too far away and decisions on who will return from the championship team.

CFL general managers, coaches and executives are meeting in ​Kananaskis Village, Alta., to go over league business before teams get busy focusing on roster building for the 2023 season.

The obvious question on the minds of many is what the quarterback situation is going to look like. Clemons wants to keep any potential negotiations with players kept behind the scenes while Ryan Dinwiddie has made it a point to keep in touch.

“We texted back and forth wishing him happy holidays and talking about him at the Sacramento State family,” said Dinwiddie. “We just want to give him, his wife and his daughter some time. Looking back at the season they spent six months apart, they made a lot of sacrifices for last season to work, and you never know how that's gonna affect the family.”

It’s hard to say right now what Bethel-Thompson wants to do but the team will respect whatever decision he makes and plan accordingly.

“I feel like he deserves that, it's not like we're avoiding him and don't want him back. It's just it's a complicated situation because we have to do our research,” Dinwiddie explains. “If he doesn't come back we have to make sure we have the best plan. If we bring it back What's that number going to look like? We obviously would want to have him back as we have a lot of respect for him, so we'll see what happens.”

So while the door isn’t closed on Bethel-Thompson returning, the Argos know they need to have their Plan B ready to go. Many are wondering if that means Chad Kelly will get his chance to be the starter.

There’s belief within the organization Kelly can get there but the team isn’t just going to hand him the job either but they know he really wants it.

“We all want that. And that's one thing is makes him great as you know, he wants to be great he'll work at it and do all those things … but he's gonna have to earn the starting job,” Dinwiddie said. “If McLeod does decide to retire, we're gonna bring in another guy to compete with Chad.

“That's no disrespect to Chad. We feel like he can be the guy. But I think you got to have competition to bring the best in someone. If you're going to be a starting quarterback of the organization, you got to go fight for that job. You got to earn it.”

Argos happy for Peters’ NFL opportunity

While Toronto would have loved to see Jamal Peters back in Double Blue next season, there is a lot of excitement and pride to see the 26-year-old defensive back get his chance in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.

“I told him that I don't want to be coaching him, I hope he sticks down there,” said Dinwiddie. That's what you want for your players. You want them to have success, get a chance to make some life-changing money down there, which is, which is huge. I enjoyed coaching him, one of my favourites.”

This now leaves a hole in the Argos lineup to fill as Peters saw his role increase significantly as he continued to produce turnovers. He had six in 2022 and was tasked with covering the top receivers on most occasions.

Who exactly can the Argos look at as a potential replacement internally? Dinwiddie brought up Robertson Daniel as one player he believes is more than capable but they are also looking at other names as well.

“Daniel started at boundary corner and then got hurt and then that's kind of when Peters showed up and played really well… unfortunately, Robertson had to sit that year (2021), and then last year, he got hurt as well. So we feel like he can get it done,” said Dinwiddie. “We are also aware that he's had some injury problems in the past and we have to be aware of that. I think he's the guy that's in the house right now that can get done and wants to be back. You know, he's a free agent, but we feel like we can get him signed back, and maybe we have to go out and find a new one.”

How many players return from Grey Cup team?

In a salary cap world, the Argos know it won’t be possible to bring back the exact same roster from last season.

The team will be looking at some of their younger players to step into roles that high-priced veterans were playing last year.

“I think you have to have a turnover on your roster from time to time. We can't just hang our hats on the fact that we we won the Grey Cup with this roster last year,” said Dinwiddie “It's a new year and maybe we need some cheaper contracts in certain areas, as far as position groups and opportunities for these younger players.”

This was something Clemons echoed when talking about the managing the expectations of how the team hands out deals to players they want to bring back.

“The best way is building through our young guys. When we look at the draft the last couple of years look at Jack Cassar and Trevor Hoyte, Kurleigh Gittens Jr, the year before that, along with three, maybe four old linemen who make our roster every week,” Clemons said. “So the best way is to have that good young talent. Now, what happens is we'll have a couple of those guys who are maturing themselves and looking forward to their next contract. That part gets increasingly complicated. We've been on this mission for two years so with the guys that we've drafted, along with a few guys that were already on the team, they really helped us there. When those guys start to get to that second and third pain track, then it becomes a little bit more difficult. But there's this there's a natural graduation that happens along with that.”

One of the veterans on defence that Clemons believes has a lot of football left in him is Henoc Muamba who has embraced his position as a leader both on and off the field. The team wanted to give the Mississauga, Ont., native some time to enjoy the Grey Cup win rather than worrying about next season but they hope to sort that out shortly.