Lucky Whitehead - Free Agent (no longer)

[theaardvark]

So, we won't see Lucky until the last game of the year....

As a STH 3 rows behind the visitors bench, it will be interesting to "talk" to Lucky.  If BC has a great year, and makes the playoffs, well, good on him.  But, should they meet expectations and suck, I can imagine the taunts about him earning his $200k... might not happen as he is genuinely a nice guy, and affable.  But still, the opportunity will present for "Well, at least YOU got paid" taunts... can see him now, smiling and shrugging his shoulders...

[Jesse]

Nothing but love for Lucky.

Hope he earns every dollar (except against us).

[theaardvark]

Nothing but love for Lucky.

Hope he earns every dollar (except against us).

Noted:  Last game at home is against BC... hopefully too late for him to earn it then

[GCn19]

Hope Lucky earns his contract mostly against Saskatchewan. I would be cool with that.

[TecnoGenius]

If he hadn?t broken his wrist, he would have been the leading CFL receiver.  I like Lawlers game more, but when you add in Lucky?s return ability, for a franchise looking to get fans excited, it?s probably fair value.

If I was a GM, I don?t think I would have gone as high as $200k, but he is going to be the face of the franchise for the next couple of years, and maybe paying a bit of a marketing premium isn?t such bad business.

Yes, how much of this is the "fan favorite" premium?  Lucky is such a perfect fit for BC... very flamboyant, always happy and smiling.  That's what the Lions want as the face of the franchise.  Burnham is a positive stick in the mud compared to Lucky.

However, even with that, they could have gotten him cheaper.  Bad bad GM moves here.

If BC had a choice-lose burnham or whitehead, they chose the wrong guy!! Grotesquely overpaid for a bubble screen, throw it in his gut so he can catch it receiver. He caught teams flat footed and burned them, that won?t happen now. Bc now has the reciever version of mike Reilly- he?s grossly overpaid and will lay an egg this year.

You nailed it.  Lucky is a great player, but they just paid $200k for a receiver who cannot catch with his hands!  What's up with that?  When has that ever happened before?  Worst hands out of all "franchise receivers", by miles, and he gets paid the most?  Yikes.

Hey, since these numbers are always "whisper" or "leaked" and not "official", what's to keep BC's GM from making up any number he wants, leaking that, to force other GMs to match those offers with their FA re-signings??  If that was possible, it would be an amazing ploy to bankrupt other teams...

[dd]

Hope Lucky earns his contract mostly against Saskatchewan. I would be cool with that.

Well he won?t get any against our D, we put him in his place last year and he was a total non factor.

[Cool Spot]

Lucky is a great player, but they just paid $200k for a receiver who cannot catch with his hands!  What's up with that?

Doesn't he also return kicks? He's pretty valuable in that position, too.

But agree that spending a lot of money in one position means you can't spend it elsewhere. I think that BC spending so much at the QB position (for Reilly) had already impacted their ability to spend in other places to create a more well-rounded supporting cast, and this will make things that much more difficult unless the combination of Reilly/Lucky/Burnham deliver so much value that they can afford to underspend in other positions.

[dd]

I don?t think Reilly?s coming back this year but if he does, whiteheads contract guarantees it will be for less money

[pjrocksmb]

Way overpaid plus he likes to go to Blue Bomber home games. LOL

Injury prone liability

Overstated homer bias

[ModAdmin]

Overstated homer bias

$200K is overpaying no matter how you look at it.  2 years in the CFL, 4th in league receiving stats.  $150K - $160K would be a decent salary for his production.

[GCn19]

$200K is overpaying no matter how you look at it.  2 years in the CFL, 4th in league receiving stats.  $150K - $160K would be a decent salary for his production.

Lucky can be an electric player and is worth upper CFL receiver money. Unfortunately it seems BC still thinks it's pre-pandemic receiver rates and it will end up costing other teams a few more dollars than they were willing to spend now. How does BC management look at Begelton at 160k and then offer Lucky 200k? Baffling.

[Blue In BC]

It's going to cost us more to retain Lawler if in fact he remains in the CFL.

[3rdand1.5]

I agree it seems he is 30-40k overpayed based on what we have seen so far based on other players. Good for him unfortunately I think we may have to be close to retain Lawler.. C'est La vie...

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Yes, how much of this is the "fan favorite" premium?  Lucky is such a perfect fit for BC... very flamboyant, always happy and smiling.  That's what the Lions want as the face of the franchise.  Burnham is a positive stick in the mud compared to Lucky.

However, even with that, they could have gotten him cheaper.  Bad bad GM moves here.

You nailed it.  Lucky is a great player, but they just paid $200k for a receiver who cannot catch with his hands!  What's up with that?  When has that ever happened before?  Worst hands out of all "franchise receivers", by miles, and he gets paid the most?  Yikes.

Hey, since these numbers are always "whisper" or "leaked" and not "official", what's to keep BC's GM from making up any number he wants, leaking that, to force other GMs to match those offers with their FA re-signings??  If that was possible, it would be an amazing ploy to bankrupt other teams...

Contract is registered with the league, I believe GM's and player agents have access to that information even if the media does not.

[theaardvark]

I think that BC is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and have the next "Speedy B".  Ham sold a lot of tickets and merch off of Banks, and Lucky has that weird personality to go with it. 

I get that idea, and I hope that every GM makes sure they use that in their negotiations with guys looking for "Lucky money".