(November 25th) "REDBLACKS re-sign Norman, Salmon and Texada"

These are coming in so fast that I've fallen behind in posting them! 

The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced Thursday that they’ve re-signed a trio of defensive players for the 2022 season, with linebackers Dwayne Norman and Shaheed Salmon, and defensive back Ranthony Texada extending with the team.

Norman, 26 joined the REDBLACKS for his fourth CFL season, after spending three with the Calgary Stampeders. In a career-high nine games this season, the Jacksonville, Florida native recorded three special teams tackles, and three defensive tackles, along with his first career sack, and forced fumble.

In his sophomore season with Ottawa, the 26 year-old Salmon suited up for 12 games. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, he tallied 12 tackles on special teams, as well as a forced fumble, and four tackles on defence.

Texada’s first CFL season saw him appear in three games for the REDBLACKS. The 26 year-old Smyrna, Georgia, product recorded a total of 11 tackles, including a career-high of six against the Montreal Alouettes on November 19.

I like what interim GM Jeremy Snyder and interim assistant GM Jean-Marc Edme are doing here. Following the termination of Marcel Desjardins, the only person to work the role of general manager in the team's existence, re-signing their own free agents is the only method those two men have at the moment of demonstrating that they deserve to stick around. They are making the most of it.

I've seen some grumbles about essentially bringing back the same team that just went 3-11. By my count, they have 49 players under contract for 2022, some of whom are "futures" types that have yet to play for Ottawa. They can still bring in dozens of new faces to compete for spots.

To be honest, there are a few of the guys signed over the past couple of days that I could do without seeing in 2022 but until you've found a replacement, better the devil you know. Signing them now does not guarantee them a significant role in 2022, or any role for that matter.

What does irritate me with each announcement is the player salary cap implication. We'd been told numerous times that the team was spending right to the cap in 2021, as they always have. Yet a large part of the strategy in signing these players now is so a portion of the salary is applied against unused 2021 cap space.

I believe that this was the plan all along, with 2021 essentially being an audition for 2022. I think they were content to field what they perceived to be a decent club on the relative cheap in 2021 (as a result of revenues expected to be way down) with the goal to make a more legitimate attempt in 2022 when things are relatively back to normal.

2021 results were probably far worse than they'd anticipated though. By the time fans began to loudly question the team's effort to field a competitive product and the REDBLACKS tried to right the ship (when Kenny Stafford was added along with five other players at mid-season), things were too far gone to turn around.

Who knows if that mid-season "splurge" on Stafford and company and the money being spent now would have helped if it had been spent in June? Perhaps not. But it might have at least avoided the perception that the team was not putting in a full effort. Long-time fans here don't need to be reminded of those days and few things will turn off any fan base than the perception that the club is not committed. If nothing else, Snyder/Edme are dispelling that notion with every re-signing.