The Edmonton Eskimos didn’t get the star offensive lineman of free agency, but they’re making moves.
After Montreal Alouettes tackle Josh Bourke re-signed with his team in the opening hour of CFL free agency, the Eskimos went out and got a pair of linemen in his place, in Andrew Jones and Justin Sorensen.
Sorensen’s signing was announced just after 3 p.m. Tuesday. In three years with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2011 to 2013), he spent the 2012 season as their starting centre, which is where he could see an opportunity in Edmonton. The Eskimos lost Alexander Krausnick at that spot to Ottawa in the CFL expansion draft in December. Sorensen is 27 and is a towering six-foot-eight and 314 pounds. He was with the B.C. Lions in 2009 and 2010 and was the fifth-overall selection in the 2008 CFL Canadian draft.
Jones is a 33-year-old with five years’ experience in the league. He spent the past two years in Toronto, where Edmonton head coach Chris Jones was the team’s defensive co-ordinator over the same time. Prior to that he played three years with the B.C. Lions. The six-foot-four, 315-pounder was a political science major at McMaster University and earned his way onto the Marauders’ all-decade team, though he did that playing on the defensive line.
In a Skype interview with Esks.com, he said that he was excited to play for Chris Jones.
“He’s very intense. He’s motivated, he wants to win and I think he brings a lot to the table defensively and I know we’re going to do well,” he said.
Andrew Jones and Sorensen come to Edmonton with their new team not yet having hired its offensive line coach.
The Eskimos released the info on Jones’ signing at 11:26 a.m., much later than their announcement of last year’s signing of Odell Willis, which came minutes into the market opening. The team’s eagerness a year ago landed them a $10,000 tampering fine from the league.
Even Steven: Mitchell to Argos
The Eskimos have lost their first free agent of 2014, in offensive lineman Scott Mitchell. The No. 2 pick in the 2011 CFL draft has signed with the Toronto Argonauts.
“Scott is a talented, young Canadian lineman who was a very good collegiate prospect coming out of a large U.S. football program (Rice University),” Argos GM Jim Barker said in a team release. “He now has three years of professional experience in our league and we look forward to seeing him develop with us in Toronto.”
At best, Mitchell’s time in Edmonton was a limited glimpse. He was injured in training camp last year and missed the season, started six of 12 games in 2012 and missed seven games to injury in his rookie year, playing in four. He’ll reunite with quarterback Ricky Ray in Toronto.
“I have been to two Grey Cup games as a CFL fan and Toronto won both, in 2004 and 2012. While watching those games I experienced first-hand the passion of Argos fans,” Mitchell said in the release. “I’m excited for the opportunity to play in Toronto and to learn from the coaching staff, and couldn’t be happier to join an offensive line that blocks for Ricky Ray.”
