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This article was published 5/3/2018 (931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

With the announcement over the weekend, that star player, and disgruntled running back James Wilder Jr. had signed a two-year pact with the Toronto Argonauts, it’s fair to say that General Manager Jim Popp authored one of the most impressive personnel flips the league has seen in some time.

While it’s not easy to upstage the whole "take the reins of a new football team, and win the Grey Cup in year one," opening act we saw from Popp, the way he took a volatile public-relations disaster and reversed it into a contract extension is nothing less than miraculous. Just when you thought Wilder Jr. would never again play for the Argonauts, let alone in the CFL, the complete opposite went down.

The story began in January, with some very valid points raised, and some social media shaming by James Wilder Jr., regarding his season as an American player signing an entry-level deal in the CFL. After playing only a year north of the border, Wilder won rookie of the year, and a Grey Cup for good measure, but was stupefied by the lack of compensation, and apparently the U.S. exchange rate, for his efforts. While the financial terms he shared with the Twitter-verse didn’t include the numbers that would have accompanied his achievements, his point of under-appreciation and exploitation was made.

With the NFL showing interest shortly after the season ended, he announced that the numbers coming out of Toronto wouldn't give his family security, and he had no protection from a career-ending injury. Considering the entry-level deals for American players, and the lack of long-term disability coverage for CFL players, it was hard not to sympathize with him. Especially given that the Argos wouldn’t let him out of his remaining contract to take a shot at the NFL, a practice utilized by many teams.

So how did this all come to a head this past Saturday? Was he released by a sympathetic GM, Jim Popp, to go explore those NFL options? Did the CFLPA secure disability insurance during their latest AGM to protect all CFL players from career-ending injuries? Nope. Somehow, someway, Popp signed James Wilder Jr. to a two-year extension with the Argonauts. That will have him playing for the football club through 2019.

According to Justin Dunk at 3downnation.com, the new contract from the Argonauts will pay Wilder around $100,000, or approximately double the amount he was making in his original, entry-level deal — though none of it is guaranteed. While increasing your pay by roughly 100 per cent is a good deal for anybody, this still doesn’t make a lot of sense, according to what Wilder Jr. said he was going after.

While the above money is significant for six months' work — let alone what he would make if the Argos went on another Grey Cup run — it hardly puts him in the position of security that a few years in the NFL would. In fact, the only option that would provide Wilder Jr. with the kind of financial comfort and disability protection from career-ending injuries would have been getting into the NFL as soon as possible. The Argos, in Popp, also have reportedly one of only three GMs in the CFL who want to restore that one-year NFL option window.

To summarize: Wilder was playing for a sympathetic GM who believed he should be able to go to the NFL after a single year of service in the CFL. Wilder reportedly had interest from multiple NFL teams. And he said his priority was providing financial security for his family while covering himself with disability insurance. All these aspirations were attainable in the NFL, and all of the shortcomings with his existing contract were in Toronto.

Wilder Jr. somehow signed with the CFL, for more money — but no bonuses — and put himself even further away from the NFL. This is the stuff of legendary general managing; a virtual master class of athlete manoeuvring and negotiation. Whether Wilder Jr. was posturing or bluffing with this NFL interest, only he and Popp know for sure. Yet for Wilder to publicly blast his team and clearly outline what he wants from his football career, and essentially get none of it, while extending for another year, has to be one of several reasons why Popp has appeared in 11 Grey Cup games over his career, and won five of them.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97