With the dust settled on the 2022 Canadian Football League (CFL) season, there are three words that will dominate the CFL free agency market this winter, Bo Levi Mitchell.
Despite being relegated to backup status, the veteran quarterback will be biggest target when teams are allowed to speak to free agents, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, among others expected to be interested in Mitchell’s services.
On Wednesday, the most talked about name in the CFL this offseason joined Michael Ball on the SportsCage to discuss a number of topics.
In 2022, Mitchell ended up with 2,010 passing yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. A far cry from a stretch between 2015-18 where he averaged 4,940 yards passing and 29 passing touchdowns.
Even though he last played for the Stampeders, the Tiger-Cats currently own the playing right rights for the quarterback after acquiring them on November 14 in a trade that saw Calgary acquire Hamilton’s third round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft, a fifth round draft pick in 2024 and future considerations in exchange for the rights of Mitchell’s contract that expires in February.
Despite Hamilton now having the ability to sign the two time Most Outstanding Player Award before free agency begins, the quarterback is planning to take his time before choosing his next destination. Mitchell says that money will not be the deciding factor on where he plays next year.
“I’m not going to free agency to see who will pay me the highest.” He added. “For me on the back half of my career, I want to continue to win, continue to push the envelope as far as Grey Cups.”
By waiting until free agency, the Katy, Texas native feels that he can properly gauge on exactly what teams can offer him. He adds that he will have better idea of what the landscape of the league will look like in February and that is the time when he would prefer to make his commitment for 2023 as opposed to signing with the Ti-Cats right now.
That said, representatives of Hamilton have attempted to sway the quarterback’s decision over the last couple of weeks with Mitchell saying that the Tiger-Cats have been very understanding of his decision to wait for free agency before he makes a decision.
According to the two time Grey Cup champion one thing that he will be looking for in his new team, is a quality offensive coordinator.
“I think coordinator is that one position that I want to see when I get to free agency, that’s the reason I want to be there. ”
The 32 year old want his coordinator to have a strong relationship with himself and the team’s other quarterbacks.
“I’m not the only guy who can think of a play, I don’t think because a guy is a third string quarterback that he has no ability to create a football play that could possibly work against certain defences.” Mitchell added. “The more collaboration like that can happen like that within a room man, the more belief there is and confidence you have in the plays you are running and calling. ”
The offensive coordinator position is a huge question mark that is about to be filled in Saskatchewan. Among the rumoured candidates for the position with the Roughriders are Hamilton Ti-Cats offensive consultant Khari Jones and Riders running backs coach, Kelly Jeffrey.
A popular candidate for the vacant position in Regina is local product Marc Mueller. Along with his pedigree of being the grandson of CFL legend Ron Lancaster, the former University of Regina Ram has built up a solid coaching resume with the Stampeders. Mueller joined Calgary in 2015 originally as the running backs coach before moving on to become the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2020.
The veteran quarterback had nothing but good things to say about his old position coach in Calgary. Even with CFL success in Mueller’s DNA, Mitchell believes that the Stamps quarterbacks coach has a bright future ahead of himself in the coaching ranks.
“Mueller puts in the time, he puts in the work and he is the smartest guy in the room. ”
He thinks that the former Ram has a good grasp on how to develop a solid relationship with the quarterbacks on the team.
“My mind is on 70 plays for the game and I think Mueller is always trying to nitpick at those and find out okay, how does Bo want to read it? How does doe Jake (Maier) wants to read it? How does Tommy (Stevens) wants to read it?”
The quarterback thinks that if Mueller is given the opportunity to call the plays for a CFL offence in 2023, it will show that he is capable of not only being an offensive coordinator, but a future head coach.
“He’s young, he’s hungry, I think he’s a guy that if somebody does takes a chance on him, they’re going to be very happy and very satisfied what that guy brings to the table.”
February would be the earliest that a team like Saskatchewan can begin making their pitch to showcase what they have to offer the quarterback, but the Roughrider fanbase had the chance to give Mitchell a little taste of what football fever looks like in the heartland of the prairies recently with the Roughriders hosting the 2022 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium.
The former Stampeder had a opportunity to be in the Queen City since he was working as an analyst with TSN as apart of their Grey Cup Week coverage. He said the atmosphere in Regina was electric and he enjoyed his visit, even though it was mainly a work trip.
Next season will be the first time Mitchell will be wearing different colours than red and white in the CFL. His final season in Calgary saw the quarterback began the season as the starter for the Stampeders. The year got off to a good start as the team stormed out to a 4-0 start, but then they fell into a 2-3 stretch, which saw head coach Dave Dickenson make a change at quarterback on August 25 with Jake Maier being named the team’s starting quarterback.
Mitchell’s fate for next season seemed to be sealed when the Stampeders announced a two year contract extension with Maier on September 27. After being demoted to the role of backup quarterback, Mitchell did not appear again in Calgary’s lineup until the Western Semi-Final on November 6 against the BC Lions.
The ten year veteran came in relief of Maier in the fourth quarter with the Stamps trailing the Lions 20-6. Mitchell said despite that the fact that he didn’t see any action on the field since August, he was preparing himself during that time that he could be stepping back on the field at any time. During the West Semi-Final, he knew there was a possibility of a change at quarterback for the Stamps.
“I was anxious, I was excited, I knew that once I went in, I was going to light it up.”
The Eastern Washington product went 8/11 for 147 passing yards against the Lions but was unable to complete the fourth quarter comeback for Calgary.
Mitchell will be 33 when the CFL season starts in 2023, the quarterback noted that the style of play in the CFL has evolved into more of a college like style offence with shorter passes and more extended running plays. But no matter where he is playing next season, Mitchell plans to on continuing on being the aggressive play caller that he has always been.
“I play the game in a certain way, and hey man listen I’ll live and die by that sword, I understand there’s definitely some negatives of how much I push the ball down the field, but you know I think it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s the CFL, you know that’s what you want to do.”
Whoever signs the veteran this offseason shouldn’t expect a short term commitment as Mitchell says that he plans on playing for at least three to four more seasons.
