Will the Stampeders' release of Juwan Simpson prove apt, or too soon?

The Calgary Stampeders made one of this CFL offseason's most surprising moves Monday, releasing veteran linebacker Juwan Simpson. The 31-year-old Simpson had been with the Stampeders for eight seasons, his entire CFL career (following an impressive college career at Alabama and a short stint with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent), and he'd won Grey Cups with them in 2008 and 2014. He'd been long been a key part of their defence, and a well-respected leader on the team. Simpson was also not a pending free agent, so this decision came as a surprise to many. Calgary general manager John Hufnagel cited salary-cap concerns in a release:

Simpson told Ian Busby the decision didn't particularly surprise him, but he thinks he can still contribute and plans to look for other CFL landing spots:

Those stats aren't great, but it is notable that the Stamps' defence this year wasn't always focused on giving the middle linebacker a lot of stats; outside linebackers like Keon Raymond and Deron Mayo often had more chances to make plays. Moreover, it speaks well for Simpson's performance that the team kept starting him this year and was willing to release younger disgruntled LB Jasper Simmons (who primarily played Simpson's MLB role when he was in Ottawa) in August rather than bench Simpson to make room for him. Of course, that may have been about not giving into players' demands, too, but that move suggests that either Simpson was still in the team's future plans at that point or that they already had another non-Simmons replacement in mind.

It should also be kept in mind that Calgary's undergoing significant change on the coaching side this offseason, with Hufnagel (previously the head coach as well) becoming just the general manager, Dave Dickenson moving from offensive coordinator to head coach, defensive coordinator Rich Stubler leaving for Toronto and defensive line coach DeVone Claybrooks taking over as DC. Claybrooks undoubtedly has his own plans in mind for how he'll run the Stampeders' defence, and he may want something different from the MLB position. That's not necessarily a slight against Simpson; different schemes require different personnel.

It will be interesting to see if Simpson's able to get another CFL job, if he's able to start, and how he's able to do. He did find a lot of success in Calgary, including two divisional all-star nods, a league all-star nod and two Grey Cup rings, and 31 isn't terribly old in this league, where experience can often be valuable. However, Hufnagel does have a pretty good track record of knowing when to let veteran players go and focus on developing youth. Whether this move's a good one or not depends both on what Simpson does from here and how the Stampeders replace him, but even less than his production may be okay if they get it at a cheaper price. If he goes on to shine elsewhere and their defence struggles without him, though, this may be a move they regret. This is one of the most notable and surprising releases of this offseason, and it will be well worth watching how it unfolds in 2016.