Lefko on CFL: Toronto welcomes new QB Ray

It’s been said Grey Cups are won in November, not June, and certainly not in December.

So before the Toronto Argonauts are congratulated this week for acquiring quarterback Ricky Ray from Edmonton, feeling he is a key component to winning the Cup next November at home, or Eskimos’ fans burn general manager Eric Tillman in effigy for making what appears to be a boneheaded trade, let’s review this move next year at this time.

Right now, the Argos can crow about acquiring Ray, who was introduced on Wednesday in a room high atop the CN Tower, overlooking Lake Ontario. Coincidentally, Steven Jyles, the pivot the Argos shipped to Edmonton, along with punter/kicker Grant Shaw and the second pick overall in the 2012 Canadian Football League Draft, was unveiled in the Eskimo locker room.

“It’s a little more low key in Edmonton,” Ray said of being introduced in such a spectacular fashion. “We don’t have a big tower or skyline.”

This is the Argo way, full of pomp and circumstance to compensate for a lack of winning, compared to the Eskimo way, which is more defined by success in the City of Champions. The Argos trumpet the acquisition of quarterbacks such as Ray, Kerry Joseph, Damon Allen, Doug Flutie, Kent Austin, Tracy Ham, Matt Dunigan, to name a few. All have come to Toronto with Grey Cup success. Some took the Argos to the Grey Cup and won it, some failed big time.

By his own admission, Ray is only a piece of the puzzle, and with a salary of $350,000- $400,000, he represents about one-tenth of the team’s salary cap.

“It’s more than just one guy out there,” he said. “It takes a full team to win in this league.”

A year ago at this time, Ray was asked to take a pay cut because of declining production. There was interest in his services from Hamilton, but Ray wanted to continue in Edmonton, where he had played eight seasons. So Tillman, who had just completed a half season in his new job as Edmonton’s football boss, laid it out for Ray — take the pay cut or play elsewhere — and a deal was done. It was trumpeted with a media release that detailed a multi-year contract extension. No mention was made of the pay cut.

The fact Ray lasted as long as he did in Edmonton is an exception to the rule. The Eskimos have usually traded their starting quarterbacks after five or six seasons, taking advantage of their value and demand from other teams, while having a backup ready to move up the depth chart. Ray lasted nine years, and for a guy who was working as a potato chip salesman in 2002 and signed by the Eskimos to an original deal paying $45,000 a year, that’s a pretty good run and return on investment. The Eskimos won two Grey Cups with Ray at quarterback and three trips overall to the final game, including his rookie year.

“I just didn’t fit into their plans,” he said of what has happened now.

Ray had a bounce-back season in 2011 because of some strategic personnel moves by Tillman, who has gone from being very bright for turning around the team to being very stupid according to critics for dealing the Eskimos’ star while still playing well. Had Tillman made the deal last year at this time, the hue and cry among Eskimos’ fans and media wouldn’t be nearly as strong. It took cojones (or is it Cohonees in the CFL?) for Tillman to do this deal. His popularity rating has just fallen.

Ray’s numbers after 2010 suggested his best years were behind him, so reading this trade strictly off the 2011 season is probably the wrong way to analyze it. From Tillman’s perspective, he wanted to free up cap space to sign some Canadian free agent players next February — we hear Hamilton offensive lineman Simeon Rottier is one he covets. Tillman knows the strength of a team is Canadians, and a key area is the offensive line. Edmonton’s was like a turnstile last year due to injuries and poor performance. Prior to last season, Ray had become like ground meat in Edmonton in recent years due to the many poundings he took.

Tillman feels he can find a quality quarterback for much less than $300,000-$400,000 per season. He has proven it before with Darian Durant in Saskatchewan, who followed up Joseph after he led the team to a Grey Cup win in 2007 and was then moved to Toronto, where he failed badly. He’s now in Edmonton, but won’t be the replacement for Ray. It’s Jyles or somebody with a lesser reputation.

Ray is a touch-and-timing passer, and with the benefit of a quality receiving corps he had success early in 2011. The Eskimos began 5-0, then crashed to reality when the receiving corps fell apart because of injuries and began a three-game losing streak. Ray’s numbers fell dramatically.

Now compare the excellent receiving corps he had in Edmonton to the lacklustre one he now has in Toronto. Good luck throwing for 4,500 yards. It is incumbent on Argo general manager Jim Barker to find some young studs for Ray to throw to and find a way to fit it into the cap. If the Argos want to pay to sign or trade for a receiver of any value with CFL experience, it will cost them.

So therein are the parts of this deal that need to be understood. The Argos look good now and Barker has reason to beam. Ray is only 32. He is young in quarterback terms. He can throw the deep ball and has mobility that isn’t as athletic as Jyles, but who would you rather have as your starting quarterback now?

The Argos need to be good immediately as they try to reclaim relevance in the competitive Toronto market. Right now they look much more improved with Ray than Jyles, who is being lauded in Edmonton as a player who can be better than what he has shown. But is there a reason why he’s played for so many teams, while Ray has been with only one? Ray has been to the Grey Cup three times, won it twice and one of those times was voted Most Valuable Player. He’s a future Canadian Football Hall of Fame player. Unless Jyles changes into a proven starter who can win a Cup, or even play in it, the Argos are looking a lot better in the immediate aftermath of the deal than the Eskimos.

We will, however, reserve the right to review this deal once all the pieces are in place beyond 2012. But if the Argos win the Cup next November, then you can clearly say it was won the previous December.