Saskatchewan Roughriders colour commentator Luc Mullinder believes Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance needs to be on the field playing.
"He'll probably bounce around. The CFL game is going to move on, if you know what I mean. The less you're on the field, the more someone else is on the field," Mullinder explained on The SportsCage.
"That was good for the Riders to get him on their negotiation list because if he had decided he wanted to continue his football career in a different league, then we would have had a chance to look at him first. That's the approach you need to take in the Canadian Football League. If there's an athlete out there that hasn't necessarily worked out for whatever reason in the league, throw him on your negotiation list, give him a shot and see if you can work with them."
CFL teams can have 45 players on their negotiation list which allows exclusive negotiating rights if players decide to come north. The Riders made headlines when the team added Lance to their negotiation list on March 26. Lance's father, Carlton, spent time in the CFL and played 13 games for the Green and White in 1993.
Former Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant believes the CFL game is "tailored-made" for Lance. Mullinder shares the same view as Durant in his assessment for Lance and his ability to play in the CFL.
"I do agree with Doubles that he could be a quarterback in the CFL. I also revert back to you needing to be a pocket passer at some stage to win a Grey Cup championship," Mullinder said.
"Zach Collaros, even Nick Arbuckle, who quarterbacked the Argos to a championship -- he's a pocket quarterback. You've gotta be a guy who can navigate the pocket."
There is one player that Mullinder believes resembles Lance, who used to play in the CFL.
"We've seen guys like that. Unfortunately, they don't always work out right. Casey Printers was the same type of guy," Mullinder said. "The flaw of not being able to sit in the pocket and pass the ball accurately got to Casey Printers."
Printers started his career with the B.C. Lions and played there from 2003 through 2005. Then he spent one season in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006. He returned to the CFL and played with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2007-2008 and rejoined the Lions from 2009-2010. Printers last played for the Allen Wranglers in the Indoor Football League in 2012.
Even though Mullinder thinks Lance should go to the CFL, he understands why Lance chose to remain in the NFL.
"That athletic skill set is going to keep him employed as a backup, but again, that's not a bad thing in the NFL," Mullinder explained.
"Look at guys like Brian Hoyer and Chase Daniel, these guys are set for the rest of their lives. Their families are set for generations being a backup quarterback. That's nothing to shake a stick at. You've still got to be an amazing athlete and amazing football player to be in the one percent that is the NFL."
