Calgary Stampeders fans let out a collective sigh of relief Tuesday, February 12, after quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell signed a new four year, $2.8 million deal that'll keep him in Calgary.

Mitchell says it was a tough choice after both the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts pulled out their chequebooks for him, but in the end he wanted to stay here.

He was also offered a handful of deals in the NFL, but none to his liking as he would have been holding a clipboard south of the border, with no guarantee of ever getting a shot as a starter.

However the Stamps did lose some big names to free agency, with receiver DaVaris Daniels signing with the Eskimos.

Receiver Lamar Durant went to B.C.

In what is a big blow to the Stamps defence, lineman Micah Johnson jumped to the Riders.

While both offensive lineman Spencer Wilson and linebacker Patrick Levels went to the Montreal Alouettes.

The Stamps also lost Canadian free safety Tunde Adeleke to the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

There were some other big moves on what turned out to be a frenzied first day of free agency in the CFL.

As expected the B.C. Lions picked up former Eskimos QB Mike Reilly, but the Eskimos didn't lose too much as they were able to snag both quarterback Trevor Harris and sure handed receiver Greg Ellingson from Ottawa.

The Montreal Alouettes also improved grabbing a few players from other teams.

The one team that stayed pretty quiet in free agency were the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who didn't move or pick up a whole bunch of players.

The CFL gets rolling with their first pre-season games at the end of May.