They were popular guys around town and a couple of them had become strongly embedded in Hamilton community activities.

But now running back Alex Green and defensive linemen Jason Capicciotti and Nikita Whitlock are no longer Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Victims of numbers - both on the roster and the balance sheet - a partial turnover in the coaching staff, and the results of last week's CFL draft.

They were the significant trio, especially to a certain core of appreciative fans, in the team's 14-player culling late Monday afternoon. In one way or another, all of them had earned local approval. Green has an uncommon nose for the goal-line and played like a classic Ticat running back. Whitlock, a former New York Giant who could work both sides of the ball, spent the off-season in Hamilton. The personable Capicciotti came out of Toronto's Central Tech. identified strongly with the city's feet-on-the-ground ethos and was always available for local appearances.

The staff and front office also liked them all but, in cold objectivity, not enough to retain them. This is not unusual for a CFL team heading into training camp, which is now less than two weeks away. Off-season signings which alter the salary cap, mini-camps like the one the Ticats held in Buffalo last week, and the draft haul can gang up to rearrange the potential depth chart.

So can having a new defensive co-ordinator, which the Ticats have in Mark Washington. He brings a different philosophy and pair of eyes than Jerry Glanville, who brought a different philosophy and pair of eyes than the other two men who had the job since now-head-coach Orlondo Steinauer held that portfolio.

Capicciotti, a 29-year-old veteran of eight CFL seasons, the past two-and-a-bit of those with Hamilton, was a big part of the rotation at defensive end. He played 35 games over the past two seasons with a total of 10 sacks for a team that struggled to pressure the quarterback last year.

But Canadian Jamaal Westerman, who arrived in the Johnny Manziel deal, likely returns to start the regular season, if not before, after missing the final two months of 2018 with injury. He makes big money and will be a de facto starter at defensive end. With Canadian Connor McGough, a good special teams player, also able to contribute regular playing time and with three new draft choices, veteran Adrian Tracy, sophomore International Julian Howsare and primo free agent signee Ja'Gared Davis, all at defensive end, the team felt there wasn't any room there, or on the pay grid, for Capicciotti. A very, very difficult decision to make, management will tell you in its unguarded moments.

Green took over when CJ Gable was traded in late 2017. Injury restricted him to only eight games last season, but he scored seven touchdowns and rushed for 604 yards in that limited time. Over two years, he had 12 touchdowns in 14 games.

But the Ticats have signed a number of running backs, including the younger Cameron Marshall who, like Green, is a June Jones kind of big back and scored 11 touchdowns in two combined seasons (2015, '17) with Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, four of those on pass receptions. Hamilton also drafted running back Maleek Irons out of Ohio last week. He's often been touted as a potential starter, and with Sean Thomas Erlington showing his value out of the backfield the past two years, the Ticats might look at rotating ratio spots to include a Canadian running back much more often.

The versatile Whitlock, a low-centre-of-gravity defensive lineman, could also play a little offence as a running back/tight end. He had 33 defensive tackles and six sacks in his 28 games here and carried the ball six times and caught three passes last season.

Also released on Monday were wide receivers Cameron Echols-Luper and Keyarris Garrett, defensive backs John Green, Robert Porter and Jarrod Harper, defensive linemen Tobenna Okeke and Jamal Marcus, linebackers Dillon Grondin and Terrance Plummer, and running backs DariusVictor and Rajion Neal.

Notes: The CFL and CFLPA are meeting this week on a new collective bargaining agreement, with the old one set to expire on May 18. They have reportedly moved into discussion "money." The union says it will update the media Wednesday afternoon.

smilton@thespec.com

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