Hey, How About Those Negotiation List Players?

Remember the ten guys from the team's negotiation list that the REDBLACKS announced this past February?

Yeah, me neither. So here they are.

Tyler Ferguson, QB, Western Kentucky 

Bug Howard, WR, North Carolina 

Joey Ivie, DL, Florida 

Kaleb Johnson, OL, Rutgers 

J.T. Jones, DL, Miami (Ohio) 

Greg Little, WR, North Carolina 

JoJo Natson, WR, Akron 

Ejuan Price, LB, Pittsburgh 

Phillip Walker, QB, Temple 

Andrew Wylie, OL, Eastern Michigan

You know what they all have in common? Not a single one has signed with the team in the months since these names were revealed.

That isn't to say that the negotiation list is useless. Hardly. I recall seeing some of the list prior to the team's first season. I began to follow Jamill Smith on Twitter as a result and he signed with Ottawa about a year later. For that matter, I remember Darian Durant was on the Renegades negotiation list at some point. Some of these guys are long-term projects. And for all we know, several of the rookie players who have signed on for 2018 were on the neg list at some point.

I just find it overrated by some. Some people argue that the list should be public because it will "generate discussion" by fans. Really? How much conversation did finding out that Joey Ivie and Jojo Natson are Redblack property generate?

The only name up there that is remotely interesting is Philip Walker, former QB at Temple University (during which time he went by the name PJ Walker) and presently on a futures contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Let's pull his collegiate records from Wikipedia.

 

As of July 2017, Walker is the Owls all-time leader in wins by a starting quarterback (28), passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions, attempts, total yards and total touchdowns. Phillip lead the Owls to their first conference title in 49 years (2016) and their first ever back-to-back bowl appearances in school history (2015 and 2016).

A hell of a resume in and off itself, but made more interesting when reminded that Henry Burris played his college ball at Temple in the 1960s (all right, it was 1993 to 1996).

It's ultimately irrelevant; I doubt that Burris' play in Ottawa impacts Walker's career path a whole lot. But we've seen stranger coincidences come to pass than two successful QBs from the same program lead the same pro team.

Maybe Walker will be lobbing passes to former Colts teammate Bug Howard, who was released in the middle of April. We all knew that, right?  ;-)

Jamill Smith photo: Greg Kolz/Freestyle Photography
Phillip Walker photo: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images North America