Hall: Pending FAs Thurman, Amos using off-season to reflect and refocus
12/19/2024 04:00 PM
Jameer Thurman realizes free agency might appear, from the outside, as an exciting, adrenaline-fuelled opportunity for players to cash in on their past performance.
In reality, the Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker describes free agency as a time of uncertainty with no guarantees — even for big-name players with gawdy stats.
"It’s tough, honestly, because you don’t know where you will be," Thurman says from his off-season home in Chicago. "You don’t know the guys you’ll be playing with next year.
"So it's a season of uncertainty right now for a lot of guys. But I also feel it's a time for us to reflect and refocus."
The CFL Free Agency period opens on Feb. 11, 2025, at noon ET. And this year's crop of pending free agents includes many of the best in the land on both sides of the ball.
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Looking at adding speed and explosiveness to your favourite team's receiving corps? Well, Justin McInnis is eligible to test the open market. The BC Lions pass-catching sensation led the CFL in 2024 with 1,469 receiving yards.
Ottawa's Justin Hardy is another potential free agent. He led the CFL with 97 receptions in 2024. Eugene Lewis (Edmonton), Kenny Lawler (Winnipeg) and Jalen Philpot (Calgary) are among the other intriguing names on the list.
Want to bolster the defence? Well, Wynton McManis — the game-breaking Toronto linebacker – would make any team exponentially better. The same goes for Winnipeg defensive lineman Willie Jefferson, an absolute force in the 111th Grey Cup with six tackles, one interception, two sacks and a forced fumble.
And then there's Thurman, a locker-room leader who amassed 76 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and a forced fumble in his first season as a Roughrider.
"I can't speak for anyone else, but I love this game,” Thurman said. “And right now, I can't see myself doing anything outside of continuing to play."
To manage the uncertainty, Thurman focuses on catching up with family and friends. He missed his college roommate's wedding during the football season, and he doesn't want to miss out on any of those other big moments that matter so much.
Based on experience, he recommends other pending free agents do the same.
"Just enjoy life," he said. "You're blessed to still be able to play professional football. You don't take anything for granted.
"But when you have time to be around your loved ones, just make the most of it."
DaShaun Amos is following the same game plan this off-season. The Toronto cornerback is eligible for free agency in February. But he sees no sense in putting his life on hold to worry about what may or may not happen.
A three-time Grey Cup champion, Amos would rather fantasize about his mom's famous Christmas Eve seafood feast — complete with mussels, crab cakes and shrimp cocktails — than ruminate on his future. And he's already strategizing about how to beat his family members at Clue, Taboo and Uno.
"Pretty much name the game, and we have it," he said from his off-season home in Richmond, VA. "We have a big family. And I don't care who it is. I don't take it easy on anybody.
"I play to win."
Amos fully expects the topic of free agency to come up over the holidays. It's unavoidable.
"It's in the back of my mind," said Amos, who recorded 25 defensive tackles, five interceptions and one touchdown in the 2024 regular season. "People are asking, `What's the deal? What do you think is going to happen?'
"But I just try not to focus on it too much, because you can get anxious and start to question things."
His advice for others in the same situation?
"Stay patient," said Amos, 30. "Patience is a huge thing at free agency. Just because you’re not getting a call doesn’t mean that you won’t get a call — doesn’t mean that you won’t get the right call.
"After my 2022 season with Toronto, when we won the Grey Cup, I didn’t sign my two-year extension until a day before the free-agency window opened."
And inking a contract is not something to take lightly from any angle.
"Make sure that the team that you sign with is a great fit for you, somewhere you’re going to enjoy," Amos said. "And make sure the amount that you sign for is something that you feel is worth it, and it’s going to satisfy what you’re looking for.
"Because at the end of the day, when it’s time to head to training camp in May, you don’t want to question where you are. You don’t want to question your role, and you don’t want to say that you’re getting underpaid. Because those are things that can be distractions and can definitely lead you off the path of playing winning football"
Thurman echoes those sentiments.
"In the business that we're in, there really isn't a lot of stability," he said. "So you try to get that as much as possible – financially or as a person, for what you personally want in life.
"Take your time. Don't rush. Know your value."
