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Brandon Banks and Luke Tasker, two players who seemed NFL-bound, are both staying in Hamilton
There's been a remarkable wave of CFL players heading to the NFL this offseason, but some of the players initially thought likely to be in that wave have elected to not just stay north of the border, but to sign new deals with their current team and not even test CFL free agency. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have been beneficiaries of that recently, managing to bring back two players who once looked destined for the NFL. They officially locked up receiver Luke Tasker last week (although Drew Edwards reported back on Jan. 14 that the deal had been done), and they signed returner/receiver Brandon Banks to a three-year contract Thursday. Both players received substantial NFL interest this offseason; how was Hamilton able to convince them to stay in the CFL, and what do these returns mean for the Ticats?
We don't know Banks' exact motivation for staying in town, but there are a few potential factors. For one thing, while he was contacted by several NFL teams (but substantially less than former teammate Delvin Breaux, who wound up signing with the New Orleans Saints after working out for most of the NFL), we don't know how serious that interest actually was. Banks' size (he's listed at 5'7'', 153 pounds, making him the CFL's smallest player) may have posed a red flag for some NFL teams, and in particular, they may have been inclined to only use him as a returner.
Moreover, Banks already had a substantial NFL stint from 2010-2012, which adds a couple of notable elements to the situation. Much of the NFL interest in CFL players is about guys who were overlooked for one reason or another and never really got much of a shot in the NFL out of college; teams already have NFL footage of Banks, so he's not as much of an unknown. At 27, he's also older than your typical new NFLer. Perhaps even more importantly, though, Banks' NFL experience means he couldn't be placed on a practice squad. That could be a deterrent for both sides; NFL teams might be less inclined to bring someone in who gives them less roster flexibility, while Banks would know that if he was cut by whoever he signed with, he wouldn't have the practice-roster option many other players have.
Banks is certainly going to be paid well here by CFL standards, but that money can't compete with even the NFL minimum for an active-roster player ($435,000 in 2015). However, he may wind up pulling in more money thanks to this move. If he keeps performing well and sticks with the Ticats, he'll make a substantial salary for the next three years; that could wind up working out better than if he tried the NFL and was quickly cut (and if that happened, he'd have much less leverage to come back to the CFL in the middle of a season). It is interesting that Banks didn't elect to test the CFL free agency waters and see what the market would bear (there were reports of several teams being interested in him, including B.C.), but perhaps Hamilton made him an impressive offer to get their roster set in advance of free agency.
Of course, not everything's about money, and there are likely some non-financial factors here for Banks too. He seems to like the town and the team, and the Tiger-Cats certainly value him. He might also have a desire to do more in Hamilton, given how his potential Grey Cup-winning return this year was nullified by a penalty. Beyond just the dollars, stability, consistency and emotion can all be important for retaining players. That appears to have been a big part of the case with Tasker, too, but geography also factored into his decision to choose Hamilton over Green Bay (where he apparently did have a firm contract offer waiting). Here's a key part of what Edwards wrote about him:
It wasn't just about a football decision. Both Tasker and wife, Jenna, are from upstate New York and have plenty of family in the area. She's hoping to begin graduate school in the fall and they are renovating a house just south of Buffalo. Even his father, Steve, who was a seven-time Pro Bowler with the Bills and now works as analyst for CBS, was in favour of the Hamilton option.
"My Dad wanted me to come here so bad," Tasker said. "He's a family guy, first and foremost and for what my wife and I are doing, for what we want in the future, he felt this made the most sense."
All in all, this offseason has worked out very well for the Ticats so far. Yes, they lost Breaux, and he'll certainly be missed. Both Banks and Tasker appeared destined for the NFL (or other CFL teams), too, though, and keeping even one of them would have looked like a coup at the start of this offseason. Keeping both? Now that's impressive, and it means Hamilton will still have two of their key figures when the 2015 season rolls around.
