This week, I was posed a question by a CFL source inquiring if former Toronto Argonauts defensive back, Lin-J Shell was on the Montreal Alouettes radar?
At first, I was caught off guard, but the more I pondered if this development could become reality, it started to make sense.
For starters, a few weeks ago as reported by Herb Zurkowsky of The Montreal Gazette, that cornerback Mark Estelle was most likely going to retire. If he does move on from the Alouettes, the team will have a big void to fill in their secondary losing one of the premier shutdown players at his position prior to his 2011 season ending knee injury.
The good news is with the return to health of Etienne Boulay, and Jerald Brown to their defensive backfield. The Alouettes would get two key parts that were instrumental during their Grey Cup championship runs and were sorely missed last season. Thus, it could facilitate the move of Billy Parker being a flex player in the secondary.
However, in-regards to Dwight Anderson who was sent home towards the end of season due to some internal team issues, to date, nothing has been clear of his future with Alouettes. Now, could the team bring him back? That remains to be seen, since we have yet to hear or see one of the parties initiate a first step to resolve the situation.
That is why the potential signing of Shell looks feasible for the Alouettes. He was known to be a thorn when matched up with the Montreal receivers. Furthermore, not only would it add depth to the secondary, it would weaken their division rival. Going into the 2012 season, he would be carrying a chip on his shoulder after surprisingly being released because according to reports he didn’t fit well in new defensive coordinator Chris Jones schemes.
In 2011, even though his former teammate, Byron Parker had received all the accolades, attention, and highlights. Shell was arguably the best underrated defensive player coming up with key tackles, and had five fumble recoveries.
Let’s not forget that Parker is also a free agent, however, Shell could be had at a cheaper price, and his production value would be just as great.
Whether or not Shell ends up signing with the Alouettes, whoever does get his signature on a contract would be receiving a hard nose player who plays the full 60 minutes.
You can follow me on Twitter @MoeKhan19
Listen to me every Friday morning from midnight-2am on The Midnight Snack, on Tuesday nights on Gamepoints, and various shows on TSN 990.
Photo Credit: slam.canoe.ca
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