This looks to be one very active off-season for the Toronto Argonauts and not one that will be devoid of tumult.

As poor as the 2016 season was, as steep as the competitive climb appears to be for a team that lost seven in a row to close out the year tied for dead last in the CFL (solely in last when you figure in a tiebreaker between them and the Saskatchewan Roughriders), at least there is good news to begin a winter of plentiful manoeuvres.

With rush end Shawn Lemon back in the fold – signing an extension through the 2018 season – the rebuild can begin with a superstar defensive key in place. With fourteen sacks in sixteen games – and a handful of forced fumbles, too – Lemon was Toronto’s brightest star this past season after arriving via trade with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 2nd.

In a campaign where very little went right for the 5-13 Argonauts, the man they call “The Lemonator” performed just as advertised and at age 28, is still smack dab in the middle of his prime performing years. His signing, alone, does not guarantee good things ahead but at least it’s something that gut-punched fans of the Toronto Argonauts can be pleased about.

There will be very few safe spots in Toronto. After a season such as this past one, very few people – on the field or off – can be considered immune from the possibilities of change.

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The good news is that there is another crop of superb free agents poised to hit the open market in February, save for the ones that will avoid the fray by re-signing with their present teams in the interim. However, even with that consideration, a number of top-flight names will be free and ready to be pilfered when general managers across the league pick up the phone on February 14th, asking them to be their Valentines.

Even though the Argos spiralled badly in 2016, they have some key pending free agents of their own and a few of them would be considered priorities in a rebuild; They’d also be players that other teams in the CFL would covet.

Receivers Kenny Shaw and Diontae Spencer, and offensive linemen Tyler Holmes would be such players, and you can throw kicker Lirim Hajrullahu into the group as well.

Shaw emerged in 2016, with 1,004 receiving yards on 77 catches, with seven majors to his credit. Spencer was a known commodity when he turned heads in 2015, and after he shook off early season injury this past season, he re-established himself by showcasing his speed and agility and is a prototypical YAC receiver, something every team needs in this day and age. Holmes is a quiet gem on the offensive line. The 28-year-old has played all eighteen games in each of the last three seasons and was an East division all-star left guard in 2016. He’ll likely have many suitors if the Argos cannot sign him prior to free agency. Hajrullahu had a tremendous comeback season in 2016 and Argos’placekicking was a strength.

There are decisions to be made on players such as Anthony Coombs, Brandon Whitaker and Greg Van Roten.

Van Roten has been a jack of all trades on the Argos’ offensive line, having played both on the right side and left as well as centre when need be. He’s just 26-years-old and did a nice job at left tackle over the second half of the season. Versatile linemen are very nice to have and if the Argos don’t agree with that, someone else will.

Running back Brandon Whitaker has been a stalwart in the backfield, providing pass protection bliss at the position and, last season, running through lots of bumps, bruises and thumps to get to the thousand yard mark in rushing. He’s 31, however, and that’s an age when many start wondering how much longer a tailback can continue. If the Argonauts decide to let Whitaker walk, they will need a rebuild at the position, as the team did not illustrate depth there in 2016.

It’s quite possible that they see Coombs, a first round pick in 2014, as the future at running back, although he has been utilized, largely, as a slotback so far in his career, with a few touches out of the backfield as gravy. Without a first round pick in the 2017 draft (sent to Winnipeg in the Drew Willy trade), the Argos might be very keen on keeping an established, yet young, Canadian such as Coombs on the roster.

There are many veterans who could find there way into free agency simply because the Argonauts see their time as being up. Even valued, loyal soldiers like Andre Durie, Chris Van Zeyl, Matt Black and James Yurichuk – fan favourites and exceptionally productive over the courses of their careers – could be looking for new horizons simply because a season such as 2016 has the franchise poised for sweeping changes. Veterans like Bryan Hall, Justin Hickman and Brandon Isaac are free agents as well, and if a new regime comes into play at BMO Field, all bets are off as the Argos move forward.

All in all, this promises to be a very active off-season for the Toronto Argonauts. Their first move – extending Shawn Lemon – is a good one.

Fans of the team will hope that is a harbinger of things to come.