Kerry Joseph's days with the Argonauts are over.
The quarterback confirmed on his Twitter account that he is no longer an Argo, saying that he "will resurface elsewhere."
"I am thankful to the fans of Toronto," Joseph said on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.
The Argos then announced it officially, saying Joseph, fellow quarterback Cody Pickett and linebacker Zeke Moreno have been released.
Joseph said he was somewhat surprised that the Argos let him go.
“But I had a funny feeling because of all the changes going on and because I hadn’t spoken to anybody,” the quarterback told TSN. “As players it is not what you want to hear, but at the same time it is part of this business.”
The Argos were 3-15 in 2009 and had the worst offence in the Canadian Football League. Head coach Bart Andrus, as a result, was fired in December. Neither Joseph nor Cody Pickett, who also was released, could get into a rhythm.
“There were a lot of things that structure-wise were not good and the results showed on the field,” Joseph said. “As quarterbacks we weren’t in good situations there and I felt we had to take the good with the good and the bad with the bad.
“I feel I am a starting quarterback. I know what I am capable of doing ... what has transpired in Toronto, I am a better football player than that.”
Joseph was acquired amid much fanfare two years ago, and was expected to help turn the Toronto offence around after he was the CFL's most outstanding player with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007. But he was never able to get untracked in Toronto, and it did not help that he had to play for three head coaches.
“After assessing what we required to run our offence in 2010, we felt we needed to go in a different direction at the quarterback position," Argos head coach Jim Barker said. "Kerry and Cody have contributed a lot to this team and we thank them for their past efforts. We understand that it seems bold to release these quarterbacks before announcing the additions of new quarterbacks to the roster but we wanted to make this move immediately so these players could try to catch on with other teams. We have a plan in place and will be making those announcements over the course of the next month."
There could be several quarterback options for Barker. Adrian McPherson wants to be a starter but will not get that chance playing behind Anthony Calvillo in Montreal, and the B.C. Lions have a glut of quarterbacks and one of Jarious Jackson or Buck Pierce could become available. Calgary's Barrick Nealy could be an option as well.
General manager Adam Rita said during the winter the Argos were interested in Buffalo Bills quarterback Gibran Hamdan, who is unlikely to be re-signed by the NFL club. Hamdan met with Bart Andrus in Toronto before Andrus was fired in mid-December.
Of Moreno, Barker said: “We would like to thank Zeke for all of his efforts. Our defence is also heading in a different direction and he was not part of the plan. We wanted to act swiftly to give Zeke a chance to find another opportunity.”
terry.koshan@sunmedia.ca
