While Alouettes General Manager Danny Maciocia and his team have already done fantastic work locking up great talent for 2021, we can expect more acquisitions to come via free agency. The 2021 free agency period will officially begin at noon tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9, and we can’t wait to see what our football operations team has tirelessly been working on.
Danny carved some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his and his team’s expectations, goals, and plans for free agency so we can have a better idea of what to expect in the weeks ahead!
There’s plenty to dissect as free agency is set to tip-off in less than 24 hours, but before getting to the heart of the matter, we thought we’d refresh your memory about how it all works. Free agents are players whose contracts come to term at noon on February 9 should they not re-sign with their current respective team. After this date, players are free to sign with any team in the Canadian Football League. However, Danny raised an important point.
“In the week leading up to the market’s official opening, we have the opportunity to communicate and negotiate contracts with pending free agents and teams across the league. We can discuss with other players and agents, and even submit offers to the teams to which these players belong via the league. This allows us to get a jump start on the process. But what about our own pending free agents? Well, we’ve been able to talk to them and get into negotiations with them since the end of last season.”
At the moment, around twenty Alouettes players will become free agents on February 9 if they don’t sign a contract with the team.
“Are we going to sign them all? No. Could we sign a few of them? Maybe, it’ll depend on how the current negotiations with our players and players from other teams go. We have to take into consideration who wants to come to play in Montreal, and for what price…” explained Danny Maciocia.
As he’s been saying over the past few weeks, our General Manager has focused on bringing back together the 2019 core to lay the foundation for 2021; A solid foundation that has not yet been finalized, but to which he’s already added depth by signing a slew of players…Quebecers, Canadians, and Americans. Adding depth will remain one of Maciocia’s priorities throughout this year’s free agency period, especially at defense.
“Our number one priority in the next few days will be to find talent to solidify our defense. We’ll see if we can secure good defensive players while keeping in mind that there are still American players that could have a great impact on our team. It’s a real puzzle since some guys from the 2019 crew will not be back and will have to be replaced by players from other teams. But all the pieces of the puzzle will come together in the next few days. We’re looking at many different options, but we know for a fact that we need to improve that aspect of our game; We need a strong defense to get to the quarterback much more often.”
Danny is well surrounded to make these decisions; He works with his team of assistants, scouts, and coaches.
“It’s a team effort. We spend a lot of time discussing players, we watch a lot of film, we get feedback from different people, we do a lot of research to make sure that the guys we’re looking at will be a good fit with the rest of the 2021 team. As I’ve always said, if we have a strong team, it will show on the field,” adds the former Carabin Head Coach.
What stood out to him this year is the CFL players’ enthusiasm to come to play in Montreal; An enthusiasm that had somewhat disappeared over the last years.
“We laid a strong foundation in 2019 with Khari’s work, a 10-8 record, our participation in a playoff game at home. Players see that there is an opportunity to come here and build on what we started in 2019 and accomplish great things! Regarding our city and the atmosphere at the stadium, there’s not much convincing to do…”
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, we’re heading into a crucial period to secure more talent for 2021 and keep the momentum going in terms of player signings.
“I think we’re heading in the right direction. There’s still work to do, it’s an intense period and there’s a lot of movement, but the next few days will give us a better idea of what we will look like for the 2021 season.”
We’re expecting the coming days to be full of surprises, so make sure to check out our website and follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest transactions and news about your Alouettes!
Thanks for your time Danny!
