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Pretty polarized opinions on WJ. It'll be interesting to see how he does.

I think if the salary was disclosed this would clear a lot of those opinions up. If they are paying him top dollar - Vast majority of people on here would be unhappy. If they are paying him the same - Most folks would think it's an over pay because he's not in his prime. Some folks wouldn't mind it and would assume that his reduction of sacks is a result of the system. If he is taking a pay cut - Most folks would be happy with a few who think he should be outright cut. The ideal situation is him taking a bit of a pay cut and his play time reduced with the team bringing in fresh blood to rotate him.

Sure, to a certain degree. But when the Bombers were at their best in 19-21 it was the result of several years of big game hunting in free agency for studs like Andrew Harris, Bighill, WJ, Winston Rose, and Stanley Bryant, at the time those guys weren't just veteran leadership, they were the most talented players on the team. I look at the current roster and there isn't any position where we have the most talented player in the league. Maybe Brady. But the veteran leadership for the most part is washed up. It sure looks like they are bringing back 80-90% of the same players (unless MOS cuts them in camp LOL). It's hard for vets to be leaders when they can't bring it on the field anymore. If the Bombers aren't active in free agency and bring in a top name or two AND some impact rookies, it's just going to be even worse than last season.

I dunno...it's probably just a really difficult transition for some guys. They've spent their entire life doing this one thing and then whether they like it or not...it's over. Then they realize they have anywhere from 60-80 yrs of life left and don't know what to do.

My 2 cents.... I am OK with brining back Willie, I also would have understood if we moved on.....Like many here I feel is not an every down player...but we shall see..... I believe getting rid of the Jackson/Hogan offence is a really big upgrade, nothing against either guy, but everyone who follows the team saw something was not cohesive within our offence...... I have been very happy with our signings, and happy to see a few of our older and possibly lower end talent guys being moved on from.... I am actually not incredibly concerned with our O-line....Hopefully a bit of focus in this and the next couple drafts, fill our cupboards again... Receiver and D-line are our biggest needs.....We need one good import and one good CDN receiver, not sure who will be left in FA but we need IMO at least one of each....DL, Vaughters was fine, but we don't need fine, we need better, again not sure who makes it to FA, but I would like to see a CDN rotational piece and at least one at minimum semi proven import to compete outta FA....

I’m meh on Willie. I personally think he’s the laziest football player I’ve ever seen play football in my life. Dude literally gives up on plays and does nothing the past couple of years, now that could be a result of scheme or who he has been playing beside but nah, it’s not. I’m ok with one of Willie or Vaughters and guess they decided Willie. If both are brought back then I’m gonna prob think they didn’t learn anything. Seems like maybe kolo and Jake getting the blame for last year and they were only 2 of the problems. Willie was another. Willie at 130 150k I could live with. Willie close to 200 I’d be concerned. Battle eh. Any relation to Greg? Doesn’t appear to be but good last name.

couple of new dudes

Usually, but not always, your best leaders are also the ones who can also demonstrate their prowess on the playing field. I'm not going to name names because my therapist told me to move on.

I agree....reciever and dline are huge priorities and we should do all we can to get the best available at each spot....National or Import and work the ratio accordingly....lose the rigid mindset I as well am not too concerned with the oline and the expunging of Kolo alone will havea huge effect and ripple it's way right out to each tackle I fully expect Bryant back as his farewell season and a Bryant/Wallace/Eli/Neuf/Randolph group as starters breaking camp with Vibert as the 6th alone is more than just fine We also have Vanterpool who could factor into the mix, and a couple nice prospects coming to camp...Thats not even counting FA and the Draft where maybe we strike gold...if so even better and pretty sure a real OC this yr will rectify most if mot all the confusion and turnstile looking things we saw last yr

If the system changes to allow him to play more of a traditional role and he flourishes, there should be hell to pay for the last 2 years.

I certainly agree that we need to do some big game hunting in FA.

I hate the f****** shootout. Jets suck in them. Another point at least, but we really need 2 .

TGIF thank god it's Florida tonight

Yep and it worked for many years.

Haven't we tried this already?

I love Tait, but that article is insanely disjointed from reality. WJ hasn't been that guy since JJ last played here. If you include his sacks, he made 1 stop per game last year. This includes not recording a stat for 4 weeks in a row and 6 weeks in total. Despite that, he still didn't put up more than 2 tackles in a game. In the last 3 seasons, he has 4 games with 3 tackles or more, and 17 games without a stat recorded. It's not just that he disappears in the run game; he is actively attacked and exploited by other teams in read option plays. He isn't a force, and hasn't been for a long time. Sacks are down, yes, but everything is in the toilet for wj outside of pkds. His "Highly Decorated" achievements are all from years ago. He hasn't been close to that level of play or accomplishment since then. He isn't that leader. That was always the other guys. Look at the continual errors and poor discipline on the DL. It's not just that he isn't correcting it in others; he is a big part of that issue himself. The entertainer? It's just clowning around when you continually underachieve as a team, unit, and player. We didn't use the 30 front remotely as much as we used it in 24. And front alignment is separate from pressure. The most disruptive teams in football use fronts interchangeably. They break the play down by front alignment, pressure package, and cover package. And teams don't sit there and double wj a lot any more. They don't have to. He is going to coast and play for the PKD. PKDs, are the only consistent direct value he brings to the field. He does it at the expense of not just his pressure but the entire line's ability to disrupt. When you line up in a 40, and 1 guy is going to play rover looking for knockdowns, you aren't going to get pressure. Nichols was 2nd in the league in PKDs, with 13. While still doing his primary job of covering as well as anyone in the league, and playing a gap in the run fits. Our Defence saw 574 passing attempts. 357 of those were completed. That means 217 plays where the pass was not completed; of those 217 plays, WJ had 16 knockdowns. That means 7% of our pass incompletion success came from WJ. Tait mentions Betts in and the drop in sack production. Lets compare impact but instead, lets compare with Hicks. And lets say Hicks only won 10% snaps than WJ, lets ignore sacks, and count PKDs but only WJs. WJ had more snaps than hicks, so lets also give him that and reduce hicks effectiveness by going by WJs 529 passing snaps. If WJ won 10% of his snaps, that would be 52 disruptions, plus 16 PKDs, for 68. If Hicks won 20%, thats 104 disruptions. But then, if we go back to reality, Hicks had 28 tackles with 12 sacks in 465 passing plays. On a 20% win rate he is having a significant impact on 93 plays. Vs 15 tackles and 3 sacks in 529 passing plays. In reality, with PKDs we are lucky if WJ impact 10% total of all passing plays against us last year. Significantly more snaps, significantly less total impact. 30 alignment doesn't mean we only rushed 3. Jones and Kyrie tied WJ for sacks, plus another lber and db with a sack.

This is going to be a thoroughly unpopular take here, but I think that Elgersma may even be lucky to be a CFL starter and that may never happen. I want to sign him, but for the life of me I don't think anyone should be thinking he's a shoe in for anything. He will need a ton of development. When I used to coach I went to several coaching clinics down in Texas and California. I got to see the QB factories up close. The kids at these "factories" begin development at age 8. By the time they are in high school they are technically better than any QB in the CIS. They get top notch development by ex pro coaches and players and even their schooling is formatted around their QB development. It's a different world of football in the US compared to Canada. Not comparable in any way. That was just one of many 'QB factories" around the USA

What people don't realize is that a whole new class of graduating qbs are coming to training camp for 2026. Elgersma has worked out for probably 10 teams, so a third of the teams. These new kids have been drafted, are regarded higher & aren't free agents. Teams are prepared to invest in their development. Elgersma can sign with an NFL team, play better than the New Kid In Town & still get cut. Being a second year Canadian FA QB who has never had a home isn't the most enviable position to be in.

I have no problem with Elgersma chasing and NFL dream but sooner or later he’ll be in the CFL if he wants a pro career at QB. I may be biased but I think the sooner he comes to that conclusion the better off he’ll be.

How about, if Nathan Rourke can't make it then Elgersma will never get an NFL pension. Rourke showed signs of brilliance in the exhibition season when he got his chance to play to no avail & he was a starter in the NCAA. All I'm saying that no Canadian & U Sport trained qb has ever started in the NFL. We don't have the competition or coaching needed to play in the nFL up up here. Most Canadian qbs can't even play in the CFL. We aren't a country that churns out qbs for both leagues. The difference between Elgersma & Rourke is that he knew he had a financial payday waiting with the Lions as he had already played 2 years in the CFL before he went south. His rookie deal was finished. Elgersma has an $85000 rookie Canadian payday waiting for him up here. Not as much incentive to sign with us.

I think a lot of CFL fans don't realize that the CFL is viewed as league with a very high level of play by the NFL. It's a league where guys who have slipped through the cracks can get a legit 2nd chance. The UFL just isn't at that level of play because they are usually a rag tag bunch of whoever will show up so it's just really ugly football.

All of that, coming up mid-way through last year, would've been great for him. Could've still looked at the NFL window this year for camp invites. The NFL wants to see guys like that produce in the pros, like Stiggers and Alford. They will kick the tires and use you in camp/ps, but breaking into the AR is very different. Even Rourke didn't do enough up here and in camp/ps down there to lock in a spot. And he really earned it. If Elgersma is really smart, he is using this as an opportunity to accelerate his growth and speed up his adjustment to higher levels of play.

No kidding. The guy is 23 years old. One opportunity down south could be life changing money. He hasn't said a negative word about the CFL or the Bombers and he's just exhausting his options.

Vaval has good representation and a in tune Agent who agreed with him to make the smart decision for this yr and just commit....and add to his tape...More guys need to find that type of governance in their career...Hello Elgersma