Lefko on CFL: Preparing for Lulay’s future
Posted March 1, 2012 4:53 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Canadian Football League will announce its coach of the year on Friday, and barring something unforeseen B.C.’s Wally Buono will claim the award, beating out Winnipeg’s Paul LaPolice and Edmonton’s Kavis Reed.
What Buono accomplished during the 2011 season will go down as one of the greatest feats in CFL history, taking a talented but moribund team that had a 2-6 record and turning it around to win the Grey Cup.
The fact it happened in what would become Buono’s final year of coaching — he announced he would restrict his duties to managing football operations shortly after the season — made last season a year unlike any other.
Buono retired with a record 254 regular-season wins accomplished over 22 seasons and a winning percentage of .645. Only Hugh Campbell, with a winning record of .755, has a better winning percentage among coaches with 90 games or more.
But 2012 may become Buono’s toughest challenge of his career, strictly from a managerial standpoint and, in particular, the contract of Lions quarterback Travis Lulay.
Lulay was voted the Most Outstanding Player in 2011 and followed that up with the Most Valuable Player Award in the Grey Cup. He turns 29 in September, and if he’s able to put together a season similar to last year — and there’s little reason to think he won’t — then it can only improve his stock.
Buono will need to re-do Lulay’s contract at the end of the 2012 season, so it’s really up to the quarterback to decide whether he wants to lock into a longer relationship with the Lions or give another try to the National Football League.
If he signs a minimum deal of one year plus the obligatory option year, he is stuck in the CFL for at least two years. The window of opportunity that allowed CFL players to sign with NFL teams in their option year is over.
If he opts to try the NFL, in which he really didn’t have much of a look with the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints prior to coming to the CFL in 2009, he will surely be a more attractive proposition because of his age and experience.
“The way that we’ve always looked at this is we know what’s going to happen in 2012, which is (Travis) is going to play for the B.C. Lions and try to repeat as Grey Cup champion,” Dan Vertlieb, Lulay’s agent, told sportsnet.ca. “There’s no intrigue around that, and all the other stuff will sort itself out in time in our thinking.”
The only issue is that almost without exception, CFL quarterbacks who took a shot in the NFL ended up collecting gobs of cash but at best became a backup or relegated to the practice roster. Henry Burris, Ricky Ray, Casey Printers and Dave Dickenson are clear examples.
Jeff Garcia became one of the lone exceptions. Doug Flutie had already been a starter briefly in the NFL, so when he returned and became a starter again his situation didn’t necessarily compare to the others.
So this will be an ongoing interesting story with the Lions, specifically Buono, Lulay and Vertlieb.
Buono will need to use every bit of his powers of persuasion — and this goes beyond just offering Lulay a contract that could potentially make him one of the highest-paid players in the CFL. If Lulay’s value is high, the NFL will offer him a contract that will reward him, but does he potentially sacrifice playing time as a backup or third-stringer?
CFL Hall of Famer Damon Allen stretched out a playing career over two decades in Canada because he didn’t want to try the NFL and become a backup. He just wanted to play.
So Buono, who has been around enough good quarterbacks, several of whom have tried the NFL, won’t be going into this situation without a firm grasp of the situation. Buono’s has been incredibly successful in his ability to recognize the importance of a solid starting quarterback. Having watched Lulay develop into one of the best quarterbacks in the league, he clearly will not want to lose him. So it will take some savvy negotiation and persuasion to convince Lulay that his future is best served staying in the CFL.
Lulay’s contract isn’t a major issue now, but it will start to develop into one as the season progresses. Certainly, if Lulay plays at a high level again, the NFL will make it extremely tempting for him.
If the Lions can’t re-sign their quarterback, they will have to turn to an unproven successor. They recently allowed veteran Jarious Jackson to become a free agent, and he signed with the Toronto Argonauts.
Jackson, at his best, is a situational quarterback, capable of going into the game in short-yardage situations. Currently behind Lulay are unproven backups such as Corey Leonard and Mike Reilly. You have to think that Buono will be adding at least one more quarterback in time for training camp.
Buono has always understtod the value of having a backup that’s ready to step into the starting role. Lulay’s rapid climb to the top accelerated those plans, and losing him will almost certainly create a rebuild.
This should be an interesting year for Lulay, the Lions and Buono.
