Bauman planning to tackle the free-agent market

Opinion

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This article was published 24/12/2010 (5383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chris Bauman delivered an early Christmas present to his fiancee and hopes to wrap one up for himself in the new year.

The 26-year-old Brandon-born receiver with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats gave his fiancee Katie Mitchell an engagement ring last month in Florida, where he will be spending what promises to be an intriguing off-season for the former first overall pick in the 2007 CFL draft.

After four up-and-down seasons with the Tiger-Cats, Bauman becomes a free agent on Feb. 16 when he is expected to have plenty of teams bearing gifts, offering up shiny new contracts for him to consider.

"I just have to figure out the best possible place for me to go," said Bauman, who was back in Brandon last week while his father Dave Bauman — a former Brandon University star in football and basketball — underwent a medical procedure. "I will talk it over with my family and my agent and decide from there. I’ve got some time, so I am not going to rush into anything."

You can’t blame Bauman for testing the free agent market for the first time in his career, especially after being shuffled in-and-out of the lineup with the Tiger-Cats over the past four seasons. While he has battled inconsistency and nagging injuries at times, the former Vincent Massey Vikings high school standout has also been handcuffed by his role with the Tiger-Cats, moving from starter to backup, from wide-out to slotback over the years.

"It was extremely frustrating," said Bauman, who finished the season with 17 catches for 298 yards and three touchdowns for an improving Tiger-Cats team that finished with a 9-9 record.

"The first game of the year went well and I thought I played well and showed I could do everything as a starter and they had other plans and I got kind of put on the backburner for a bit. But I just kept practising as hard as I could and tried to get better … and when my opportunity came up I had to make the best of it and I think I did that."

Indeed. Bauman excelled in games in which he received regular reps in the offence, earning Canadian player of the week honours after hauling in five catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-3 thrashing of the eventual Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes on Oct. 22.

Bauman also finished strong, racking up 108 yards on five catches in Hamilton’s final game of the season, a 16-13 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division final on Nov. 14.

"It was a lot of fun playing in those last few weeks," Bauman said. "So I just can’t wait to do that full-time next year."

Where that will be is the question. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos, in particular, are believed to be interested in Bauman, who possesses speed to go along with an imposing6-foot-4, 212-pound frame.

Bauman’s Montreal-based agent Darren Gill confirms that Hamilton has already made a contract offer to his client, but expects to wait until Feb. 16 when other CFL clubs can officially table an offer.

"Absolutely, with the way he performed late in the season, it would be hard to think that other teams won’t be interested," Gill said. "Certainly he’s playing in the right position and I think he’s done some good things and proven that he can play at a pretty high level."

For his part, Bauman doesn’t rule out re-signing with Hamilton, but makes it clear he wants to play a bigger role.

"It just depends on what they show with the contract and how I feel going into another season there," Bauman said. "They are going to have a new (offensive) coordinator and I heard it might be Khari (Jones) and I would love to play for him. But both sides have to agree (on contract terms), so we will see what happens."

IZZY WATCH: While Bauman finished the season strong, fellow Vikings graduate Israel Idonije, 30, is enjoying a career year south of the border. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive end from Brandon is tied for 20th in the NFL with eight sacks this season, to go along with 45 tackles and three forced fumbles for the Chicago Bears. Idonije’s efforts have helped the Bears clinch a playoff spot after they locked up the NFC’s North Division title.

YEAR-END AWARDS: The Sun has made its list and checked it twice, and in Sunday’s paper we will profile our dozen finalists for the H.L. (Krug) Crawford Memorial Award for sports excellence in southwestern Manitoba, as well as the top 12 teams vying for the Mike Jones Team of the Year Award. The winners will be announced in the Jan. 2 edition.

While the likes of Bauman, Idonije (the 2002 Krug winner) and Olympic skeleton gold medallist Jon Montgomery of Russell aren’t eligible for the award anymore due to residency rules — athletes must live in Westman either during the season or return home to spend their off-seasons here — their achievements in the sporting spotlight were impressive to say the least. Monty’s beer-guzzling celebratory stroll through Whistler was one of the most memorable moments of 2010.