Colin Unger

That’s a lot of money for a guy who I thought was washed up after watching the Grey Cup.

Can’t imagine Ottawa is going after Schoen after re-signing Hardy. Already have Hardy, Ryhmes, Acklin, and Addison under contract.

Id spent up on Ouellete over Kadeem Carey personally. I like Ouellete's style. He would make us even more physical than we were with Brady and Carey has a significant injury history. After Brady and Ouellete that's when id be looking for bargains like Carey.

Exactly. You can't give him the best money that's out there. Not when so many other have taken discounts to help the team. He's going to have to accept at the very least slightly less then whats being offered.

That wasn’t my understanding of it. I thought the rules were changed a few years back to provide a roster benefit to utilizing a Canadian qb.

I don’t view him as a backup qb. I think he will be a significant part of the offence. If Brady leaves I think we will sign a pretty good replacement. I’m looking at our last two Grey Cup losses and thinking that an added element like Streveler could have made the difference in either of those games. Games where we had access to Brady and Schoen. If we lose them we are still going to be good at receiver and running back.

The issue for Streveler was that Dru Brown was graduating to being a starter MBT came back to the cfl. Tre Ford is available in a trade to teams as well and he offers a cheaper price point and Canadian status. Bombers probably the only team with full confidence they know how to use Streveler. Things would be different if Paul Lapolice was still head coach in Ottawa.

This is the biggest signing to me. Brady and Schoen more replaceable than Streveler. This will extend Collaros career IMO.

That name better comes with a revenue boost. Definitely less classy than IG Field or Canad Inns Stadium.

A lot of that has to do with CFL becoming ever more inclusive on what the definition of a Canadian is.

One thing working again Wolitsarsky is half the time when he makes I catch I thought it was Schoen who was targeted

Emilus had over a 1000 yards last season. There's quite a few Canadian receivers last year who put up some good numbers who flew a little bit under my radar.

Where do Samuel Emulis, Jovon Cottoy, Justin Mcinnis, Kiondre Smith rank?

Chances are by now they have a pretty good idea of where things are going with Schoen and Brady. We are so close now that is hard to imagine these players not seeing whats out there in the tampering window before decided whether or not to come back.

So im not sure why you're acting like the bombers are so hidden on their offseason strategy. Basically they big-ticket elite guys like Brady, Schoen, Jefferson, Bryant ect.. These guys are top priority and they aren't going to hand out a bunch of raises to mid-level guys like Gray before they have some clarity on the big-ticket players.

Id like that too but how do we actually pull that if considering there's likely other teams out there willing to offer him a starting job and a pay rise?

Basing it a lot of an article on CFL.ca. https://www.cfl.ca/2024/01/16/landry-bombers-ready-to-navigate-free-agency/ Running back Brady Oliveira, the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 2023, tops that list but he is by no means alone in the category of key veteran players whose decisions set the tumblers on everything else clicking. Receiver Dalton Schoen’s contract is about to expire. So are the contracts of offensive line stalwarts Jermarcus Hardrick and Stanley Bryant. And defensive lineman Jackson Jeffcoat. To name a few. The Bombers have a big list of primetime players on the potential free agents list. “There is a delay while we sift through all of that,” explained Walters. “But once one or two, three of those guys get locked in and we have a ‘here’s the direction we’re going,’ then I think the rest of things will move fairly quickly.” “Once your highest price point guys get slotted in, or you realize you can’t get them, then the ball can get moving on everything else.”

Any player who's a pen Right but you have to ask yourself why some of these guys haven't re-signed yet? The strategy clearly seems to be to get the top players to commit first and then with what money is left you try and sign the players of lower value. If Gray was untouchable he'd be signed already.

Im not taking any of this lightly. But im also looking at two elite players who played for scratch last year and need to get paid. I wouldn't let an elite player go just to keep our 5th best offensive lineman when we have Dobsen, Tui and 3 high draft picks. If we have to make some significant salary cuts this might very well be a good way to go about doing it. Exactly! I don't want to lose anyone either. I want to keep him but i think he's probably going to make a heck of a lot more than the 9th pick in the draft this year and that could be a way to Brady or Scheon. My preference is for Kyle to work magic again and keep everyone we had last year. I just don't know if thats going to be possible.

I never said that. Do you think twisting what I said for your purposes makes you a strong man? The replacements are the guys we already have on the roster. Like Tui, Dobsen, and Jeremy Murphy. The draft picks are to rebuild the depth after elevating some younger players. That was made clear in my original post. Looking at the roster now what's the drop off from Gray to Tui vs the drop off from Schoen to Ontaria Wilson? The drop off to Tui is nothing. He's probably better than Gray.

He's very replaceable with guys like Tui and Dobsen ready at any moment. There's a reason he's currently unsigned and not mentioned as first priority when they talk about guys like Brady and Schoen. I don't think that Gray grades out that well in pass protection. He seems to get tricked on what his assignment is too often.

The extra second could really come up big the way the bombers might have to manage their cap this season. Should be able to get 3 quality backups from the draft and a bunch of developmental and special teams guys. If we end up letting O’Leary Orange and Wolitarsky go for example with a plan to start the receiver we drafted last year to save money we can draft a receiver to backup at rookie salary as well. Ditto for the offensive line if we let Gray go we’d be in scenario where we’d likely draft one or two backup offensive lineman. Might really have to get creative this season to get all the top players we want signed.

Sign them all and let god sort it out. Personally id be fine with going over the cap and losing a 1st round pick to keep them all around this year. Is a low 1st round pick worth losing Brady over when we are in win now mode.

I think that what I was saying was missed a little bit based on these responses. I think he's a top-caliber receiver. We know that. The bombers know that. But I'm not sure that outsiders know it. In the same way he's not getting NFL interest the way a taller or faster receiver would I think other teams in the CFL aren't going to offer him Lawler or Lewis type of money. I don't think he's going to be holding some kind of grudge against Winnipeg for not giving him a raise last season. He's spent a year on a team with a guy like Lawler who almost ruined his career and long-term health by taking top dollar in free agency. He'd be wise to consider playoff money and his health before deciding to take top dollar. Typically in the CFL the worst sitatuion will pay you the most money and the best situation will pay you the least.

I would assume that Acklin would be released if they signed Schoen. I don't think Schoen is going to get anything near 300k as top receivers have got in past years. That market had been driven up considerably by teams like Edmonton who were so lacking in talent they could afford to overpay for Lawler then Lewis. I also think that Schoen doesn't have the athletic skillset that makes teams salivate at the prospect of adding a guy like Lawler, Lewis, or even Ryhmes. He's a quality receiver but he doesn't fly off the page and part of his success is based on the team he plays for and his connection with Zack.