Argos acquire Copeland from the Stamps

TORONTO — Jim Barker and Jeremaine Copeland are together again.

The Toronto Argonauts acquired slotback Copeland from the Calgary Stampeders on Wednesday for receiver P.K. Sam. The move reunited Barker and Copeland for the fourth time, and the good news for Argos fans is the two were part of championship-winning squads all three previous times together (2001 Los Angeles, XFL; 2002 Grey Cup, Montreal Alouettes; 2008 Grey Cup, Calgary Stampeders).

“It’s always good to reunite with Coach B,” Copeland said via telephone from Calgary. “Three times we’ve been together we’ve created championship teams and I don’t see why anything can change now going out to Toronto, so I’m looking forward to the change.”

The Argos hired Barker as their head coach earlier this month, giving him the immense task of rebuilding a franchise that posted a CFL-worst 3-15 record last year. The team also missed the playoffs the last two seasons.

Barker, who came to Toronto after five seasons in Calgary’s front office, said adding a veteran of Copeland’s stature will make the Double Blue better.

“I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t think he could help deliver a championship,” said Barker. “That’s what we’re here to do.

“We’re here to win and Jeremaine Copeland epitomizes that.”

The Copeland trade was part of a busy Wednesday for the Argos.

The team learned that special-teams ace Dominique Dorsey had signed as a free agent with Saskatchewan, while starting defensive backs Will Poole and Jason Shivers both joined arch-rival Hamilton. The Argos also parted way with assistant GM Greg Mohns and Canadian scouting co-ordinator Miles Gorrell.

These are indeed busy times for the Argos. Since hiring Barker two weeks ago, the club has dealt veteran receiver Andre Talbot to Edmonton, released cornerback Jordan Younger, shored up its offensive line with free-agent lineman Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, and re-signed cornerback Byron Parker, who left town early last year after getting in first-year head coach Bart Andrus’s doghouse.

At first glance, the beehive of activity gives the impression Barker is putting his stamp on the franchise. But Barker said that’s not the case at all.

“That has nothing to do with me,” he said. “I deal with the coaches and players.

“That sort of stuff (personnel and front-office moves) happens above me. I have input and we are working co-operatively together … but I’m just the head coach.”

Barker added he doesn’t have the authority to make personnel decisions.

“That’s Adam Rita,” he said. “He’s the general manager.”

As for Copeland, he said there’s a simple reason why he and Barker have excelled wherever they’ve been.

“It has worked because he knows me real well,” Copeland said. “He knows what type of player I am and has a lot of confidence in me when I step on to the field to 1) be a great leader and 2) make plays the way I’ve been blessed to make plays.

“All I ask is to give me the opportunity to make plays and that’s what he does best.”

But Copeland also said Barker’s unpredictable play-calling makes his offence very difficult to defend.

“His offence is a high-powered, take-a-chance offence,” he said. “There’s never any holding back, he’s going to shake up everything.

“He’s not afraid to be patient and slowly move the ball downfield and then all of a sudden take a shot. Or he will go vice versa. You never really know what to expect from him.”

On paper, the deal looks very much in Toronto’s favour.

Last season, the six-foot-two, 202-pound Copeland was a CFL all-star after finishing fifth overall in receiving with 81 catches for 1,235 yards and 12 TDs for Calgary. Over nine seasons in Canada, Copeland has surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving plateau five times and has 72 career TD catches.

The six-foot-three, 210-pound Sam has spent the last two seasons with Toronto. He rejoined the squad midway through the year after being released by the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and recorded 27 catches 385 yards and two TDs for the Argos, who missed the CFL playoffs last season for the second straight year.

However, Sam is only 26, six years Copeland’s junior.

“There’s a tradeoff,” Barker said. “For what our team needed, Jeremaine is it.

“For what their team needed, P.K. is it. It’s a win-win trade. It’s not a trade I think anybody wins.”

Copeland enjoyed a successful five-year stint in Calgary, helping the team win a Grey Cup while being named a CFL all-star three times. He also combined with Nik Lewis and Ken-Yon Rambo to form a stellar receiving corps, Copeland but said he didn’t always feel appreciated while with the Stampeders.

“It’s been hard here in Calgary,” he said. “It seems like I’ve had to prove myself every year and I’ve definitely proved myself every time I’ve stepped out on the field.

“It gets rough whenever you feel like you’re one of the top receivers but you’re not really getting the respect you deserve. I really feel and truly think that it’s going to be the best for me to be traded to Toronto. I was down just a little bit because of the family-type ship we have in the locker room and I have with my best friends Ken-Yon and Nik … outside of that I think it’s going to be a good change.”

The loss of Dorsey is a big one for Toronto. Dorsey missed much of last season after attending the Washington Redskins camp and then getting injured upon his return to the CFL.

But in 2008, the five-foot-seven, 173-pound dynamo was the CFL’s top special-teams player. Dorsey began his career in Canada with Saskatchewan in 2005 and spent two seasons with the Riders before signing as a free agent with Toronto following the 2006 campaign.

“You don’t replace Dominique Dorsey,” Barker said. “You make your best offer, your best pitch and players choose where to go and that’s the beauty of free agency.

“We’re going to miss having him here.”

Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS