Breaking down Eric Tillman's first off-season as the general manager of the Edmonton Eskimos.
"We're in a production-based business."
-- Eric Tillman, August 24, 2008, following a trade with Toronto for Michael Bishop
Some things really don't change.
Eric Tillman, the general manager of the Edmonton Eskimos, was active during the recent Canadian Football League free-agency period, but it's what's happened since that explains what he is best known for, in particular trades, when building teams.
Tillman, who is in his first full season as the Eskimos' GM, has retooled the lineup with enough moves and transactions to keep the team's media relations department and the media busy - and that says nothing of the equipment staff which has to remove player names from jerseys and apply new ones.
Tillman was quoted in the Edmonton Journal last week as saying close to 30 of the 60 players on the roster at the end of last season will not be back.
It's not unusual for any team to make changes, even ones that have won the Grey Cup. Legendary Eskimos' GM/head coach Hugh Campbell was fond of saying every team should have a change in at least 25 percent of its content from the year before to add news faces, new personality and new energy, otherwise it will stagnate.
Campbell should know: He built the teams that won a record five Grey Cups in a row from 1978-82 and inculcated that theory to one of his assistants, Don Matthews, who would go on to win five championships as a head coach with a total of four teams. As an aside, Tillman worked with Matthews on one of those teams.
It's been a busy seven days on the trade front for Trader Tillman, who savours a deal as much as some people like drinking a fine wine. On Monday, Tillman and Hamilton counterpart, Bob O'Billovich, hooked up on a deal that sent import punter/field goal kicker Justin Medlock, who was on the Eskimos' roster for four games last year but didn't see any game action; import defensive back Carlos Thomas; a 2011 third-round pick and a fifth-rounder in exchange for the Ticats' second-round selection in the 2011 draft and the rights to non-import defensive back Dalin Tollestrup, currently at Brigham Young.
The key for the Ticats is Medlock, who proved in Toronto in 2009 he could punt and kick field goals with equal success. The Ticats' overall kicking situation has been a mess the last couple seasons. So the Ticats acquire a proven dual-purpose player, who is actually better at field-goal kicking. The Ticats already have non-import field-goal kicker Sandro DeAngelis, who signed as a free agent last year from Calgary for some serious coin. He was an All-Star in Calgary and key to their last Grey Cup win, but had a nightmarish season in Steeltown.
"We're pleased to complete this trade as it provides our team with depth at kicker and defensive back as well as an additional pick in this year's draft," O'Billovich said in a media release. Tillman, it should be noted, started the practice of using an American to punt and/or kick, because previous to that it was considered a job primarily for Canadians.
Tillman's moves to trade Medlock happened as part of a move to acquire free-agent import kicker/punter Louie Sakoda. He had been signed and played for Tillman in Saskatchewan. The Eskimos also have Canadian punter/kicker Derek Schiavone under contract.
"It's never easy trading an elite player like Justin Medlock, but by adding Louie Sakoda we felt justified in making this deal and moving up five valuable spots in the upcoming CFL draft," Tillman said in a media release. "Combine that with gaining the future rights to Alberta native Dalin Tollestrup for a third round and a fifth rounder, and Carlos Thomas, and we feel our club has taken more important steps in upgrading our Canadian nucleus. We'll have to wait on Dalin a couple of years, but believe he'll be well worth it."
Last Friday, Tillman sent two draft picks to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, for long snapper Taylor Inglis. He happened to be with the Eskimos from 2005 until shipped to the Blue Bombers by the Edmonton regime at the time.
Tillman also dispatched returner Tristan Jackson, once one of the best at his specific position in the CFL, to Saskatchewan for a defensive back, LaDarius Key, who was on the Riders' practice roster all last season. The Eskimos are currently without an identified return specialist, which might suggest Tillman will go to camp with several rookies vying for the position, or will trade for a proven one sometime soon.
Last Tuesday, Tillman acquired Canadian cornerback Delroy Clarke from the Toronto Argonauts for a draft pick in 2012.
In between making deals last week, Tillman was cutting various veterans from the previous year's roster, many of them acquired by the previous management.
In 2008, when he was managing the Roughriders, Tillman traded quarterback Kerry Joseph, the Most Outstanding Player in the CFL in 2007, to the Argos in a mega deal that clearly benefited Saskatchewan more than Toronto. Some five months later, Tillman acquired Joseph's backup, Michael Bishop, for a conditional draft pick. Bishop didn't really pan out in the long run for Saskatchewan, but the investment was minimal.
In 1994, while managing B.C., he acquired quarterback Kent Austin from Saskatchewan in a trade and it contributed to the team winning the Grey Cup that year. And even though Roughrider fans took it personally when Austin asked to be shipped out of Saskatchewan, five years after leading the team to a Grey Cup win, it didn't prevent Tillman from hiring Austin as the team's head coach in 2007. For those keeping score, the Riders won the Grey Cup that season.
This is the Tillman way: sign free agents, cut players and make trades. When he signed various CFL players leading up to or on the day of the free agency period, he began what would become a chain of events. Several players would need to go to accommodate for the inflated budget, which resulted in some interesting cuts. That, in turn, would lead to trades to fill gaps. In this respect, Tillman gives new meaning to the sports term gap cancellation.
