Pete

never said Thomas should be a starter in fact I think his main role is in a back up rotational role as most of our back-ups are. My only point really is that we don't have a backup cdn lineman that is a better option right now. And we need one in order to roster an adequate amount of dline men in a game. (assuming Lawton to be a starter). I do hope we find a better option but its not there right now.

thus far we haven't seen Kelly, Eli or even Wallace perform well enough yet to say they are starters and if a cdn went down on defense we wouldn't start 3 cdn receivers. The other issue is that most teams have 7 dlinemen on game rosters, If we start Jefferson/Lawson/Woods/new de we'd need three backups. Two might be DI , but the third would likely have to be cdn. right now our choices are Thomas, Smeckle, or Samson. Let the best man win and the other two on practice roster.

Certainly we dont need/want Thomas to take 85% of reps, Hopefully Lawton proves to be an option. However our starting cdn depth could be tested esp if ford doesn't return or we decide we need to go import at guard on OLIne. Some who say Smeckel is a better option must be watching different games. Samson I would like to see get a chance. but who knows if hes a viable candidate I hope we do have a strong option at the draft for a starting cdn, If we can get a cdn safety then the need for a cdn dlineman is reduced as well Signing thomas gives us options hopefully we are able to upgrade but it all depends on whos available.

re Thomas - just who is a more suited candidate? If we are going with Lawton as a regular you need to have another national as a backup dt. Just look at the free agent listing, there are at most 4 national dt available and only one of which (ACHEAMPONG Samuel) has more than 2 tackles (Acheampong has 8 and can't stay healthy) Thomas had 23 tackles ly. . You think Smeckle should have his spot with 6 tackles last year?. The anti Thomas sentiment around here is unbelievable given his record and effort every game Unl;ess we are able to draft a strong talent Thomas is the best option right now.

Thomas may not be an everyday. Dlineman but he certainly can get the job done as a backup. At least until we find someone better ) Besides if we really thought OShea wasn't going to not reup him in a home grey cup year we were dreaming If we draft a better dt then perhaps we relook at it

One qb that may be of interest is Matt Schiltz, LY wasnt in a good situation with the gong show that was Calgary. He could be a legitimate option

they moved Orimoade who was the highest paid dlineman last year, and Dejon Allen who was one of the highest paid import olineman. and added two canadians Judge and Varga to lock down a cdn linebacker position. Which should freee up enough cash to sign Mcmanus. They seem to have a stable of olinemen and have always seemed to find dlinemen ,,,maybe we should have gone after their scouting guys!

your right, I don't see him as our primary returner but he gives us an adequate back up we can slot in , in case of an injury, something we've lacked in recent years. i.e. whitehead was hurt for the last qtr of season yet we didnt have a strong enough option to replace him. And I do see him as a number 2 receiver, we likely can't afford both Schoen and Lawler. I know we hope we can afford them but history tells us some team will offer them more than what they are worth. Even last year we overpaid to keep the two of them because of that.

See that Kongbo has signed with the Elks, were ee too busy with hiring the three new scouts?

And Ly most pundits had bc in the grey cup, how did that turn out.

Would like to see if a player leaves to go to nfl that if he returns to cfl within the duration of his former contract that he must return to the cfl team and fulfill it. I can 't see Wilson lasting in the nfl but can't blame him for taking a shot

did the salary cap go up a lot? cause some of these signings in terms of $'s are head scratching. Calgarys Philpot ly 659 yds , prior to that was injured for the previous two years.. If I'm BC's Mckinnis I'm asking for 220k minimum.

wonder if this means McInnis ends up going to Calgary to join Adams? Hes bound to get a decent paycheck.. meanwhile in bomberland all is eerily quier

Mtrl has only gotten the rights to sign MBT prior to free agency,,, MBT might be better served to wait til a better opportunity arises with an injury to another starter. He could end up making a lot more even on a shorter season for him. Also Fajardo in Edm is not a sure thing unless they pay his bonus.

It seems with the nfl they look more at the stats like 40 time bench press, size etc than performance on a cfl team. There are lots of cfl lbs that are better than ayers and recievers better than ajou

That we' ve not signed any key players other than Bryant may be an indicator that Walters is not going to overspend the cap to any significant amount

He was already under contract for 2 yrs, he just took about 40k less in 24, so it did give stamps a break

You' d think that Adams would have had enough of team friendly deals given how he got shown the door in BC despite his efforts You could argue that Collaros is the most overpaid qb in the league but I doubt if he does this

MBT, Fajardo etc. aren't even on our radar, with what we are paying Collaros no way can we afford either of those two and neither will sign elsewhere for under 250k. As far as mbt goes he would be smart to just wait til a starter goes down and he'd likely be paid a lot more.

I could see him in Edmonton

During training camp we bring in a ton of dbs to work with qbs and recievers a number of which have little chance of making it. Perhaps these fall into that category. Rather than bring in all new these players at least know the drill and scouts can focus in on fewer but more talented options

i agree about Tre even if hes not going as a clear 1, theres a number of teams that have a lot less money tied up in starting qb than us and can afford him. Montreal if they cut Fajardo, Hamilton, Ottawa, and even Sask likely, I wouldnt be surprised if both Fords end up in Hamilton which is close to home. I do rhink we may sign Holm prior to free agency as we likely wont wait on Tyrell

Neufeld wasn't even close to being a reason that we lost the grey cup. The offensive line was fine that game

Can see that, but he'd have that conversation with the agent before discussing it in a presser

Did you expect him to say we're moving on from those players at this press conference? A lot of negotiations still have to take place