It was, at times, puzzling — a three-ring circus without the tent — for players wearing the Double Blue in 2016.

For some members of the Toronto Argos, the puzzles turned into chaos early in 2017. First, GM Jim Barker was shoved out the door on Jan. 24. Three days later, head coach Scott Milanovich quit to become the quarterbacks coach with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

With plenty of moving parts and not much certainty in either the football ops department or in the coaching staff, potential free agents lined up to get out the door. Three Argos – defensive back A.J. Jefferson, along with receivers Kenny Shaw and Diontae Spencer — landed with the Ottawa Redblacks.

“I would have loved to stay in Toronto, but our coach left, our GM left … I didn’t know what was going on,” explained Jefferson on Thursday. “I decided I should see what was going on in free agency. It was one of those things where it was just time for a change.”

It was a weird 2016 season for the Argos. In early October, after a 38-11 thumping at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes, the Argos dumped their three best receivers – Kevin Elliott, Vidal Hazelton and Tori Gurley. A couple of weeks before that, the Argos dealt for quarterback Drew Willy – but they paid dearly, giving up popular defensive back T.J. Heath along with first- and third-round draft picks.

“We lost some guys during the season, that was kind of upsetting to me,” said Jefferson. “It was surprising. It was the last thing I would have expected them to do. When they traded T.J., everybody was kind of, ‘It’s OK, they have a plan, they have a plan.’ In the end, I just wondered, ‘Where is this all going?’ ”

So when it came time to test the free-agent waters, on Feb. 14, Jefferson got a good feeling about the Redblacks after talking to the team’s coaches. He signed a one-year contract and is excited to be part of RNation.

“They play my kind of football,” he said. “I wanted to go to the best place where I could have success. I think I excel in man (to man pass coverage) and press man, we kind of got away from that last year in Toronto. My first year, that’s pretty much all I did. (The Redblacks) said they would give me an opportunity to showcase my talent.”

It’s been a learning curve for Jefferson since he joined the Argos in 2015 after spending time on the NFL rosters of the Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. In his two CFL seasons, the 28-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif. has 91 tackles, five sacks and six interceptions.

One of those interceptions came last July 31 (in a 23-20 Argos win over Ottawa) on a gimmick play by the Redblacks, who initially lined up for a field goal attempt, but instead had quarterback Henry Burris run up behind centre Jon Gott and lob a pass intended for Zack Evans. Even with a defensive lineman as the intended target, the Argos weren’t tricked.

“They lined up in a field goal formation, then everybody split,” said Jefferson. “So they left me on the backside. I knew I had to watch the guy. But it was kind of 2-on-1. My teammate and I had the guy dealt with. He went out for a pass, it wasn’t a nice pass. It was fairly easy to get underneath it.”

A multi-sport athlete – soccer, basketball, running track, football and T-ball (“I think I played it one year — I was bored, kicking the grass”) – Jefferson said he puts plenty of work into improving what he does.

“Football was one of those things that kind of translated over from every other sport I played – catch the ball and run with it,” he said. “I look at my film from last year. Typically, I watch the games I don’t think I played well in – try to see what I can improve on. Everybody’s different. People learn differently. The things I do well, I don’t tend to work on those. The things I don’t do well, I want to get to the point where I can do everything pretty good. Then I can start working on things that I’m really good at. I’m like my own biggest critic. So I’d rather see what I’m doing wrong and correct it.”

He believes his arrow is still pointing up as he drives himself to get better.

“I’ve always been wanting to be the best at whatever I’m doing,” said Jefferson. “It’s kind of the way I grew up around my family and friends – being very competitive. Being a professional, it’s one of those things you have to do to keep your job.

Redblacks could be done spending

While there’s still a pretty impressive list of CFL free agents looking for work, it’s possible, maybe even likely, that the Ottawa Redblacks have closed their wallet.

Free-agent season, for them, may already be over.

Defensive linemen like Alan-Michael Cash, Bryan Hall, Justin Hickman, Euclid Cummings and both Moton Hopkins and Cleyon Laing from Ottawa’s Grey Cup team of 2016 are still looking for work.

Another former Redblack, offensive lineman J’Michael Deane, is still a free agent. Then there are defensive backs like Patrick Watkins, John Ojo and Cauchy Muamba.

Some of the players mentioned are looking for an NFL opportunity, for others it’ll be a matter of time. But when asked if Ottawa might get back into the free-agent fray, Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins said: “I don’t anticipate us doing anything.”

As they say, it is what it is.