How Rasheed Bailey is earning respect of Toronto Argonauts teammates

As he prepared to enter free agency, Rasheed Bailey had the Toronto Argonauts high up on his list.

For one, it was closer to his home in Philadelphia, but it also gave him the opportunity to reunite with Pete Costanza, the Argos receivers coach.

"We won a championship together. I remember in the off-season he was the first person I called, I was like 'let's get this done and make it happen,'" Bailey said after practice this week. "One of the best things that I ever did because now I'm unlocking a new part of who I am. I'm excited about this group and being able to lead them in them different ways to grow together."

Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie saw Bailey put his leadership skills to work right away even though it's tough sometimes for players to come into a locker room and try to asset themselves.

When Argonauts quarterback Cameron Dukes met up with Bailey for an off-season workout in Florida, he was surprised by what the newly signed receiver wanted to work on.

"When we were training this off-season, he was excited to come down and run some subblocks and hit defensive ends," Dukes explained. "Some receivers talk about making big plays and big catches and he's coming talking about cracking guys."

Bailey said that his desire to focus on all the aspects of the offence is about his desire to earn the respect of his teammates. He also wants to make sure Dukes and the other quarterbacks know that if he's willing to do the gritty work then he'll hopefully earn their trust when they need to throw the ball his way in tough situations.

It certainly worked for Bailey in his time with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 58 games, Bailey over the last four seasons he registered 180 catches for 2,072 yards and 20 touchdowns despite not being the top target in the offence.

"I'm going to be that guy; I earned respect from a top-tier quarterback in this league when I made plays like that; I earned more respect from Zach by doing that than making the big catches," Bailey said. "I'm a big respect guy, and if you can respect me, I'm cool with that, and I don't know if it takes a certain type of person to be able to be able to do that type of stuff, so I'm willing to do it."

At a time when the Argonauts are sending out Dukes as the starting quarterback who doesn't have the experience as a starter in the CFL, having the team's strong depth of receivers will be crucial for the young quarterback.

Many are certainly down on the Argonauts' chances to repeat next season, which is understandable given that the Chad Kelly suspension has them without their starting quarterback for at least nine games.

Bailey isn't surprised to see the doubt but isn't letting it change his mentality going into the season.

"There should be doubt," Bailey said. "That's what this game is. That's what life is. When somebody sees a situation that's changed or something bad happened, you think they're going to fall off.

"But when you got guys like me, DaVaris Daniels, Damonte Coxie, all these receivers, especially me and DD, who have been in this league for a while, it's going to make it easier for a young quarterback to make decisions because we're always going to make sure we're presentable. we're open, we're talking, and we communicate. There are no secrets and I think that when you have a receiver group like we have that's very dynamic and do different things, it's going to make it easier for Cam."

Not only will Bailey be entrusted to help the offence perform at the level that it is capable of, but he also has a student learning behind him in Kevin Mital, the Argos' fifth overall pick from the 2024 CFL Draft.

With Mital learning to play the game at the professional level, having a player like Bailey showing him the way will be crucial. The veteran is not only eager to help Mital but he is excited by his potential.

"He's got that grit to him and he's one of those guys who wants to come in and wants to block, do the dirty work," Bailey said about Mital. "He understands the game, he's been playing it for a while now but just seeing how these young guys are responding to us vets.

"I've been growing every single day, but God put me here for a specific reason for a specific mission, and whether it's to lead and be there for these young guys, be there for the QB, this job is meant for me. Seeing what Kevin has been doing, I'm excited to see him grow and see them blossom into the players I know he can be."

Don't be surprised to see Bailey doing what he can to get his team going. Many of his teammates call him an energy guy that they can feed off of.

He's hoping to show some of that against the B.C. Lions.

"The energy, the love, the passion, I'm an all-or-nothing type of dude," Bailey said with a big smile. "I'm not a halfway in or halfway out type of guy. I will bring it every single week, and I hope the fans that are listening and watching, I hope they show up because some great things are about to happen, and it's gonna take time. It's gonna be day by day, week by week, and ultimately it's going to get us going."