With the CFL’s list of pending free agents now live, we can all begin to scour it and form some opinions.
While fans and media take in this information and start to envision how they can see this year’s free agency period playing out, the general managers of the CFL’s nine teams are already hard at work. They’re trying to extend players’ contracts ahead of the market opening on Feb. 11, 2025 and just like the rest of us, they’re keeping an eye to who isn’t signing and who might be up for grabs this winter.
Here’s a look at a player from each team that to me, should be the top priority to have back on their rosters for 2025.
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BC LIONS: JUSTIN MCINNIS | WR
McInnis’ productivity exploded in 2024, his second season with the Lions after spending the first three years of his CFL career with the Roughriders. His 1,469 receiving yards led the league, with 225 of them coming in the Lions’ final two regular season games, as McInnis worked to edge out Ottawa REDBLACKS’ star receiver Justin Hardy (more on him soon) to take the 2024 receiving crown.
McInnis saw his receiving numbers more than double from the 690 yards he posted in 2023 and the seven touchdown catches he made in 2024 were a career high. Just 28, McInnis is in position to maintain that kind of dominance for some time, as he and the Lions move forward with Nathan Rourke at quarterback. Arming Rourke with the league’s top receiver feels like a must for the Lions in 2025.
CALGARY STAMPEDERS: SEAN MCEWEN | OL
McEwen is a three-time All-CFL selection and a key piece of a talented Stampeders’ offensive line (Brett Holmes/CFL.ca)
The Stamps made a huge off-season splash this week when they traded for Vernon Adams Jr. While that move should raise the eyebrows of pending free agents like Marken Michel and Jalen Philpot, keeping Adams protected and free to work his magic will also be a high priority for GM and head coach Dave Dickenson. That’s where McEwen comes in.
The 31-year-old started 17 games at centre for the Stamps last year and led an offensive line that allowed the second-fewest sacks in the league in 2024 (30). The Stamps’ nominee for Most Outstanding Lineman in 2024, McEwen is a three-time All-CFL selection (2017, 2021, 2022) and was a three-time All-CFL West selection from 2021-2023. With Lions’ QBs taken down a league-worst 49 times last year, Adams should be comfortable on the field this coming year. McEwen can play a key part in that for the Stamps.
EDMONTON ELKS: TRE FORD | QB
Ford’s name will likely top many lists in terms of free agent demand, value and future impact. The 26-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance in the moments he’s gotten on the field over the last three seasons in Edmonton, showing why the Elks made him their first-round pick in 2022.
The Elks are in the midst of an overhaul this year, from new ownership, to the arrivals of team president and CEO Chris Morris and GM Ed Hervey. The team’s search for a head coach continues and amidst that, the Elks organization needs to decide what direction it will go at quarterback. Ford feels he’s ready to take a starting job; given Calgary’s move this week, Edmonton may be his best option to get that at this point. Whether there’s common ground to be found here, or if Ford looks elsewhere and a team makes a bold move at QB for him will be one of the top off-season storylines to follow in the coming weeks.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS: DAVID BEARD | OL
Beard earned his first All-CFL selection in 2024, protecting Bo Levi Mitchell as the Ticats’ centre (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
While often the biggest people on the field, offensive lineman move in relative silence in football (especially if they’re doing their jobs well). Since arriving in Hamilton via a trade with Edmonton in 2022, Beard has established himself as one of the league’s top o-linemen. The 31-year-old, five-year vet was rewarded for his hard work this year, by earning his first-ever All-CFL selection at centre. Beard was part of a Ticats’ o-line that allowed the fewest sacks in the East Division and one that posted a league-leading 406.1 net yards per game.
There are other big names on the Ticats’ pending free agent list, but it all starts with your play in the trenches. Beard has proven he’s someone that you want to hang onto at one of the most important positions on the offensive line.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES: WALTER FLETCHER | RB
Fletcher was seventh in the league in rushing in 2024, with 764 yards, adding four touchdowns, averaging 5.42-yards per carry. Where the 27-year-old really flexed his ability was in catching the ball. Fletcher had 71 catches for a career-best 682 yards, to go with three receiving touchdowns. He averaged an eye-popping 9.6 yards per catch along the way, providing an extremely reliable pair of hands to an Alouettes’ offence that was hampered by receiver injuries through the season.
Fletcher has shown everyone what he can do and if he gets to free agency, should have plenty of interest from teams across the league.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS: JUSTIN HARDY | WR
Hardy took his impressive 1,009-yard season with the REDBLACKS in 2023 and built on it in 2024, establishing himself as one of the league’s top receivers by posting a career-best 1,343 yards with five touchdowns. Whether it was first-year starter Dru Brown under centre or backup Jeremiah Masoli or third-stringer Dustin Crum this past year, Hardy went out week after week and produced, topping the 100-yard mark in receiving in eight different games and helping the REDBLACKS get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
WELCOME TO THE AIR SHOW ✈️
Dru Brown airs one out 68 yards to Justin Hardy who won’t be denied for this TD!#CFLGameday on TSN & CBS SN
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/KVZeqeeJJP— CFL (@CFL) July 15, 2024
Hardy’s chemistry with Brown is undeniable and he could be poised to do more with the REDBLACKS next season, as Brown settles in as the team’s starter. If Hardy wants to, he could look around the league, where a top-end receiver would be in great demand for a number of teams.
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS: TREVOR HARRIS | QB
There are a number of talented pending free agents on the Riders’ list, but GM Jeremy O’Day will have to make a decision on what he wants to do at the most important position on his roster. Harris was excellent in Saskatchewan last year, particularly after he returned in Week 11 from a knee injury that kept him out of action for about two months. He helped pull the Riders out of a seven-game winless stretch that in years past had undone their seasons and left them out of the playoff picture.
That wasn’t the case in 2024, as the Riders not only got into the playoffs, they hosted the Western Semi-Final, downing the visiting BC Lions. At 38, Harris has dealt with injuries in each of his last two seasons in Saskatchewan, but has been accurate and productive on the field, with his leadership skills shining through for the duration of his time in Riders’ green.
Harris stays in remarkable shape and will be eager to try to lead the Riders back to their first Grey Cup since the 2013 season. Will he get the chance to do that in 2025?
TORONTO ARGONAUTS: WYNTON MCMANIS | LB
McManis’ play through the Argos’ run to the 111th Grey Cup should speak for itself here. The 30-year-old just won his third Grey Cup and was the active field general in the process for the Argos this season.
McManis’ influence emanates over the field in a game. He’s always lurking, waiting to find the weak point in an opposing offence — his interception and lateral that led to an Argos’ touchdown in the Eastern Semi-Final comes to mind — and has an ability to pounce on it at the perfect time. His six tackles, three knockdowns and an interception returned for 58 yards in this year’s Grey Cup game speak volumes for what he does. Off the field, he’s a leader and tone setter for the Argos. McManis is a flat-out winner and brings that to any team he’s a part of.
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS: TYRELL FORD | DB | WILLIE JEFFERSON | DL
We’ll look at two key pieces of the Bombers’ defence here, with a decision between them just too difficult to make, for me anyway.
Ford is the logical pick here. At 26, he’s already one of the top cornerbacks in the league, pulling in seven interceptions and earning his first All-CFL selection in just his second season in the league (remember he was with the Green Bay Packers for a part of the 2022 CFL season). Ford’s best football is still in front of him, which is a scary thought, given the impact he made in 2024. We haven’t even mentioned yet that he’s Canadian and brings ratio flexibility with that. To have a player that young, talented and valuable feels like a must for any team. You have to think the Bombers will do everything they can to hang onto him.
Then there’s Jefferson, who stands as perhaps the most unique player in the CFL. A six-foot-seven, hyper-athletic defensive lineman, Jefferson impacts the game in ways that few others can. He can get to the quarterback — he had six sacks in 2024, his 10th season in the league — and he had 10 pass knockdowns, just three back of league-leader Benjie Franklin in Toronto. Throughout his career and especially over his five seasons in Winnipeg, Jefferson has seemingly been everywhere on the field to make big plays for his team. He blocked a punt this season and is a constant pick-six threat when he gets his long arms up at the line of scrimmage.
And sure, at 33, the clock is ticking on what stands to be a future Hall of Fame career, but do you want to count him out? His performance in the 111th Grey Cup — six tackles, two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble — was game MVP worthy. If Jefferson isn’t helping your team win, he’ll be lined up opposite of you, helping you lose.