The annual year-end negotiation lists unveiled by the Toronto Argonauts and eight other CFL teams can be categorized as wishlists. A fitting exercise during the winter holiday season. Often, players on these lists never make their way up north. But once in a while, a select few are lured to Canada and become difference-makers in the Canadian Football League.

In recent years, the Argos, in particular, have garnered great rewards from the CFL’s negotiation list. Toronto has utilized the hopeful CFL player process to land superstars like quarterback Chad Kelly through trade and dynamic kick returner Javon Leake.

Sometimes negotiation lists for CFL teams can be very revealing. Especially as it pertains to the number of players clubs plan to or are already courting at a particular position. Toronto’s ten-player list submitted to the league office has some intriguing tells.

TOR

ONTO ARGONAUTS 2023 WINTER NEGOTIATION LIST

• Jason Bean | QB | Kansas
• Isaiah Bowser | RB | Central Florida
• Nolan Henderson | QB | Delaware
• Leonard Johnson | DB | Duke
• Xavier Malone | WR | Henderson State
• John Matocha | QB | Colorado School of Mines
• Derek Parish | DL | Houston
• John Rhys Plumlee | QB | Central Florida
• Jason Poe | OL | Mercer
• Matt Sluka | QB | Holy Cross
ul>

The Argos have targeted five specific quarterbacks on their winter negotiation list. Jason Bean (Kansas), Nolan Henderson (Delaware), John Matocha (Colorado School of Mines), John Rhys Plumlee (UCF), and Matt Sluka (Holy Cross).

Although Toronto saw growth last season from an inexperienced signal-caller in Cameron Dukes (Lindsey Wilson College), who saw plenty of action, the football club is still in search mode for competition behind Chad Kelly on the pivot.

CFL teams, especially the Argonauts i

n recent times, have had a ton of success finding small-school standouts. The team has even hit on players with no college experience, such as 2023 CFL Rookie of the Year DB Qwan’tez Stiggers.

So it should not be surprising to see a collection of hidden gems from all walks of football life on Toronto’s negotiation list. The Boatmen are going back into the clear creek of the Colorado School Of Mines with D2 Harlon Hill Trophy winner QB John Matocha. And you can’t blame them after undrafted rookie defensive back Mason Pierce was Pro Football Focus’s second highest graded player at his position this past season.



The 5’11, 180-pound Matocha from the Colorado Mines Orediggers’ program was named first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the conference’s Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2019 after passing for 2,825 yards with 29 touchdown passes and five interceptions while also rushing for 598 yards and 11 touchdowns.

After his sophomore season was cancel

ed in 2020 due to COVID-19, In 2021, the Texas native Matocha passed for 3,105 yards and 38 touchdowns and was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year. He repeated as the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year and won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in NCAA Division II in 2022. John Matocha finished the season with 4,778 passing yards and 52 touchdown passes.

Nolan Henderson is another undersized yet productive collegiate quarterback at 5’11. However, unlike John Matocha, Henderson experienced quite a bit of adversity at the start and end of his five-year college career, which began back in 2017. It took a while for Henderson to break through as an All-CAA player in 2020 and 2021.

The small-town Delaware product, Henderson became a full-time starter in the 2020–21 season, being named team captain and throwing for 1,482 yards and ten touchdowns in eight games. He led the Blue Hens to a 7–1 mark and set the school record with a 70.7 completion percentage helping them reach the NCAA semifinals. His completion percentage ranked first in the CAA and third in the FCS.

In 2021, Henderson started the first

four games before suffering a season-ending abdominal injury. In four games, he went 47-of-80 passing for 646 yards and four touchdowns.

 He posted his best year as a senior in 2022, setting the single-season school record for passing touchdowns set by Delaware legend Joe Flacco, with 32 while completing 285-of-442 passes for 3,216 yards, the latter of which was the third-best mark in school history. Henderson was named second-team All-CAA and led Delaware to the playoffs, where they lost to eventual national champion South Dakota State 42–6 in a game that saw Henderson break his fibula.

Although Henderson had one year of eligibility remaining coming into 2023, he opted to declare for the NFL Draft. He finished his college career second all-time in Delaware history for touchdown passes (56) and completed 550-of-850 pass attempts for 6,429 yards. Additionally, he ran for 418 yards, scoring eight times. At his pro day, Henderson ran a 4.55 in the 40-yard dash, which landed him a brief roster spot with the Baltimore Ravens this past spring.