The BC Lions will be looking for a new middle linebacker in 2012, as the agent for Solomon Elimimian announced on Twitter Wednesday that his client had signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Lowell Ullrich of The Province reported that the Lions may have had the chance to make an offer on Wednesday to the all-star linebacker but no offer was made. If that was the case, one has to wonder how good the NFL offers were.  According to the Ullrich report, the Lions say no official request for an offer was made.

The off-season loss is the second in as many seasons to the Vikings, who plucked wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux from the black and orange last year.

Elimimian recorded 175 tackles and 9 sacks over his two seasons with the Lions and in 2010 was named the leagues defensive player of the year.

Found this pregame report on Vikings.com, the official website of the Minnesota Vikings, who play the Dallas Cowboys in preseason action today. According to the writer, former Lions receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux is among the third tier of receivers trying to make the team:

“One of the position battles still raging is at WR, where the top 3 are set (Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin and Michael Jenkins) but the next two or three are still open. I’m not sure if the Vikings will keep five or six WRs, but either way there are jobs still available. We won’t count anyone out, but the guys I’ll be watching tonight are Devin Aromashodu, Greg Camarillo, Juaquin Iglesias and Jaymar Johnson. The next tier of guys are Manny Arceneaux, Stephen Burton and Andre Holmes. Aside from performance in the offense, another factor in determining which players will earn roster spots is special teams. Johnson can increase his value by proving effective in the punt return game, while Aromashodu has increased his value by making a pair of special teams tackles.”

Wishing the best of luck to Manny today and hope he gets a shot to show his stuff.

As we told you the other day, it was just a matter of time before we heard that Emmanuel Arceneaux would be leaving the BC Lions.

Reports today are surfacing that the talented young Lions receiver has signed a 3 year $1.8 million deaL with the Minnesota Vikings. Arceneaux himself tweeted confirmation of the signing. Despite the Vikings not confirming the deal, reports are surfacing that Arceneaux will receive a $70,000 to $75,000 signing bonus. According to Sportsnet’s Arash Madani, Arceneaux turned down a $120,000 offer to remain in the CFL with the Lions.

The Lions had hoped that Arceneaux would remain in the CFL for at least another year or two, to both help them in their quest for a Grey Cup and to hone his skills a little more before making the jumP to the NFL.  Like the Lions, Arceneaux started last season a little slowly before coming on the second part of the season, and becoming the Lions most dangerous receiver down the stretch, culminating with a thrilling last second catch in last season’s playoff game in Regina to send the game to overtime.

With the possibility of the NFL locking out it’s players in March it’s not an issue that Arceneaux is focusing on as he chases his NFL dream as he recently told Mark Masters of the National Post.

For more on the Arceneaux signing, be sure to check out this fine post by Andrew Bucholtz on his 55 Yard Line column over at Yahoo Sports as well as Lions beat writer Lowell Ullrich’s blog, The Fifth Quarter.

In the meantime, enjoy some his finest work as Lion with this video montage of Arceneaux’s time as a Lion:

There have to be a few less NFL fans west of the Canadian Rockies of late. Once again the Lions have lost a top player to the lures of the NFL. As we posted a couple days ago, Martell Mallett was given an opportunity by Wally Buono to test the NFL waters and Tuesday the CFL rookie of the year signed a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.

It marks the third player this off-season the Lions have lost to the NFL but make no mistake, this loss will be the toughest.

Mallett rushed for 1,280 yards and six touchdowns on 214 carries and an average of 5.8-yards per carry. He added 43 receptions for 342 yards and two touchdowns. Mallett was also named to the West Division All-Star team and also earned the 2009 CFL Most Outstanding Rookie award.

He joins Rolly Lumbala and Ryan Grice-Mullen as Lion losses  to the NFL this off-season. Of course Lions fans also felt the sting last year losing both defensive end Cameron Wake and running back Stefan Logan to the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers respectively.

For the second straight off-season the Miami Dolhins of the NFL have plucked a player from the roster of the BC Lions. CTV Sports is reporting on Twitter that fullback and special teams player Rolly Lumbala has signed a contract with the club.

Lumbala had just completed his second season with the Lions and is in his option year. His role with the Lions has been mostly on special teams, and no doubt this is where he will attempt to stick with the Dolphins. It will be Lumbala’s second try at making the Dolphins. He was cut by Miami before joining the Lions two years ago.

The option-year signing period began Monday and outstanding Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie defensive back Jonathan Hefney wasted little time signing with the Detroit Lions.