Lions exhibit patient wait and see the return of Michael Reilly

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Michael Reilly was not on the BC Lions year-end Zoom call with the media on Monday. Still, the conversation about him prevailed.

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Due to family obligations, the veteran quarterback did not meet with the press to discuss the Lions’ 5-9 season and miss the Canadian Football League playoffs for the second consecutive season. On the call, co-general managers Neil McEvoy and Rick Campbell were asked several times about Reilly’s future with the club and both did their best to preach a wait-and-see approach.

Reilly, who will turn 37 in January, could retire. McEvoy said Reilly needed to talk to his family about the future even before signing with the Lions before the 2019 season as a free agent.

Reilly is also one of the highest paid players in the league. He is expected to make $ 575,000 next season, according to a report by TSN’s Farhan Lalji last December when Reilly signed a restructured two-year contract with the Lions.

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The Lions could choose to part ways with Reilly in some way and use that money on a cheaper veteran quarterback to pair up with 23-year-old Nathan Rourke, while they have money left over that they could use to help out in another position. Or they could easily bring Reilly back and continue with a succession plan regarding Rourke, their second-round pick from Ohio University’s 2020 CFL Draft Draft.

“These are all the discussions we’re going to have,” said Campbell, who is also BC’s head coach. “What I do know for sure today is that it is better to operate from a position of strength. With Nathan coming in and seeing what he can do and Mike, you’re talking about quality people and quality quarterbacks, and that’s good for the BC Lions.

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“That will be the work that we will have to do over the next few days, weeks and months, putting together all those pieces of a salary cap and where you are allocating the money.”

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For his part, McEvoy “did not want to speculate” about Reilly’s return, explaining that “I’m going to let him talk to us.”

“It is unfair to all of us,” he continued. “I’m not sure what the future holds. All of us who participate in this call have family problems and obligations and future family members. “

Campbell said at one point Monday that “I certainly hope Mike comes back … I really enjoyed working with him.”

Despite early elbow injury problems and no play in the Lions’ final game, Reilly led the league in passing yards (3,283) and finished tied for second in passing touchdowns (14).

Also, Campbell labeled himself a “Nathan Rourke fan from the start.” When asked if Rourke could handle being BC’s No. 1 center to start next season, Campbell said: “We’ll see what happens. … he’s not going to back down from anything. “

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Rourke had the season finale opener against the Edmonton Elks on Friday at BC Place Stadium and completed 23 of 34 for 359 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed seven times for 34 yards, including three touchdowns.

Campbell said he thinks the Lions don’t require a full lineup overhaul, instead they should target “two, three, four, five guys that can hit the ground running in free agency.

“I think we have a lot of the pieces to the puzzle,” Campbell said. “If we can add some proven artists, I think it can point us in the right direction.”

He walked away from precise positions, opting instead to keep an eye out for “playmakers.”

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Free agency opens on February 8 and the Lions have several key free agents pending, including wide receivers Bryan Burnham and Lucky Whitehead. Burnham (965 yards) and Whitehead (932) finished second and fourth in the CFL in receiving yards this season.

Burnham, 31, who has been with the Lions since 2014, was on the call Monday. He is “still licking my wounds a bit, trying to get rid of this bad taste in my mouth” regarding this season, but will soon begin to look at his future. He re-signed a one-year contract with the Lions just before the opening of free agency last February.

“I’ll sit down when I get home. It’s something my wife has a big part of, too, ”said Burnham, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the offseason. “I’ll sit down and talk to her and see where we are.

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“At the end of the day, I want to win. We’ll see what happens. I would love to win in BC I would love to win a Gray Cup here. The fans deserve it. We deserve it as players. We’ll see.”

Burnham said Monday he broke his hand in a Nov. 5 game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and missed only two practices. He had two receptions for 34 yards the following week against the Calgary Stampeders before recording four receptions for 69 yards against Edmonton in the season finale.

“We had a ton of fighters, man. In the receiving body, they beat us all season, but we went every week and we fought, “said Burnham.

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