Burke Dales crosses lines in Battle of Alberta: what does his signing mean for Edmonton?

He's not one of the biggest names out there, but free agent Canadian punter Burke Dales leaving Calgary to head to Edmonton might be one of the more interesting moves of the CFL's free agency period. For one thing, Dales is a player whose track record suggests he can tangibly improve a team in a key area. For another, despite that, he may not even be able to win a starting spot with the Eskimos.

There isn't much question that Dales is the league's top punter at the moment. Over the last four years in Calgary, he's put up incredible punting averages of 46.1, 46.0, 45.6 and 47.2 yards per punt. For reference, the Eskimos' recently-released Damon Duval was the only other player to average above 43.3 yards last season. Dales has been extremely consistent, and he's been able to punt with accuracy as well as distance, frequently pinning opponents near their goal line with perfectly-executed drives. He was selected as a league-all star in both 2010 and 2011, and deservedly so. Plus, he's Canadian (oddly enough, he's the brother of former WNBA player/current NFL Network host Stacey Dales and a cousin of the St. Louis Blues' Jason Arnott), so his passport helps with a team's import ratio. If you're looking for someone just to handle punting, Dales is about the perfect candidate.

The issue is that these days in the CFL, it's pretty rare to see a player who just handles punting. Most teams prefer to use one player to handle punts, field goals and kickoffs, freeing up roster spots elsewhere. That explains why, despite his resume, Dales is far from the only kicker and punter who will be competing for a job in Edmonton this spring. The Eskimos also have Canadians Grant Shaw (acquired in the Ricky Ray trade) and Derek Schiavone, as well as import Eric Wilbur (recently signed as a free agent, formerly with Hamilton). It's improbable any of them will consistently outpunt Dales (although Wilbur, who was a punting specialist in college at Florida and in various NFL stints, might give him a run for his money), but all of those guys will presumably be trying to catch on as both punters and kickers. If any of them can do both jobs well enough in the estimation of the team. That might leave Dales on the outside looking in.

From this corner, that would be the wrong move for the Eskimos, though. With the signing of Dales, they have the league's top punter, and they'd be foolish not to use him. Keep Dales and start him and whichever of the kickers proves best at field goals. Sure, that takes away a roster spot, and in a league with a 46-man active roster and 42 players dressed for each game, that's not insignificant. However, if we look at 2011, Dales would give you about four extra yards of field position over the typical CFL punter on each punt (keeping all other factors equal). That can add up; four yards doesn't sound like a lot, but it's further for the opposition to drive for a touchdown, and it means you're likely to get the ball back in better scoring position.

Moreover, when you consider that the extra roster slot is often used on players whose primary roles are as blockers or tacklers on special teams (and thus, are primarily assigned to helping gain or prevent extra yards in that aspect of the game), using it instead on a guy who can consistently drive the ball further than your typical punter with more accuracy might add up to a larger net gain. It's Edmonton's choice to make, of course, but it's ridiculous to consider that a 35-year-old Canadian who's the best at his position in the league and is coming off a career season might not be able to make it out of training camp. If someone's smart enough to regularly utilize Dales, the view from this corner is that they'll be better off than if they obsess over having a dual-role kicker who can't punt as effectively just so they can add one more forgettable special-teams player.