Waiting on Chris Jones: dominoes could fall if Esks' HC takes Riders' HC/GM job

Something is happening here, and the only one who does know what it is is Mr. Jones. That would be Chris Jones, the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos who won a Grey Cup with them this week, but who's currently in talks with the Saskatchewan Roughriders to become their head coach and general manager. All indications are that Jones is the Roughriders' top choice, and that they're prepared to throw a lot of money (perhaps $750,000) at him, so the key question is if Jones wants to completely take over the rebuilding project in Saskatchewan (where the Roughriders went a CFL-worst 3-15 this year) or continue as just a head coach with an Edmonton team that just went 14-4 and won the Grey Cup. As TSN's Gary Lawless tweeted Friday, much of the league is waiting to see what Jones decides:

What are the possible outcomes in each situation? Well, first off, if Jones leaves, the Eskimos will need a new head coach. Exactly who Edmonton GM Ed Hervey would grab isn't clear; he could promote from within (an interesting possibility there might be offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo, Edmonton's OC for the past two years and a guy who's been coaching in the CFL since 2003), or seek out some rumoured current CFL candidates such as Ottawa offensive coordinator Jason Maas, Hamilton defensive coordinator Orlondo Steinauer, or current TSN analysts (and former CFL head coaches) Paul LaPolice and Mike Benevides, or go off the board with a less-expected CFL hire or a hire from the States. What's particularly notable here is that Edmonton's job would become the best-available one on the market, though; that's going to have an impact elsewhere for teams looking for coordinators, such as Winnipeg. (They've expressed interest in LaPolice and B.C. quarterbacks coach Khari Jones for that role, but LaPolice in particular may be waiting to see if anyone wants him as a head coach.) Moreover, if any current CFL coaches leave for the Eskimos' job, they'd then need to be replaced.

If Jones does decide to stay with Edmonton, though, Saskatchewan will still need a head coach and general manager. It's possible that they could stick with interim GM Jeremy O'Day, and possible (but less likely) they could keep interim head coach Bob Dyce as well, but there are plenty of other interesting candidates in the mix, including Calgary assistant GM John Murphy and Ottawa assistant GM Brock Sunderland, plus the aforementioned batch of head-coaching candidates. If Jones does stick with the Eskimos, the Riders' positions become the biggest ones on the market, and if they hire current CFL figures, then the dominoes start to fall from there. Either way, it's all going to depend on what Jones does. The bet is that he goes (while Edmonton has substantial financial resources of their own, they're unlikely to offer him a similar salary as Saskatchewan's HC/GM offer to be just a head coach under Hervey), but it may depend on his comfort level with the Riders' organization (which, it should be noted, fired a coach and general manager who won a Grey Cup two years ago this year) and with the rebuild required there. Jones' decision is going to determine a lot of what happens this offseason, and the whole CFL will be watching.