Rich

TSN1290 reporting that SK offered the most money, but he chose Winnipeg.

No

This is right. Was looking at his first year in the league, turns out he was in Toronto for 2 years before coming to Winnipeg.

I think the point is that neither of those guys were scouted by Walters and his crew. Adams was brought in by the previous regime and Dressler a FA. If this club continues its winning ways, there will be more and more churn and had decisions on players that can't be re-signed because of the cap (as we are seeing this season with Westerman, Heath, etc) As opposed to Walters first few seasons as GM, he could spend like mad in FA because there weren't a lot of established players eating up salary. As we now have a core to go forward with, scouting and bringing in quality rookies on cheap contracts is going to be paramount to continued success.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2017/01/27/number-55-2/

Turns out the Olympics start this weekend! These sure seemed to sneak up, didn't seem to be a lot of press or play time leading up to them.

Free agency is 6 days away. 24 pages to go. need to add 4 pages a day........ So here is my contribution.

The problem with those guys is their deals include more RFA years than Trouba's will. They may be comparable in terms of player, but the contract they are signing is not comparable. Those contracts include two more RFA years than Trouba would be signing for. Have to pay more if you are extending further into UFA years is typically the trend on how it goes.

Who are you using as comparables?

http://3downnation.com/2018/02/05/esks-release-receiver-adarius-bowman-report/

Since Kyle Connor is no longer the future but now playing for the Jets, I’ve rename the topic here to Jets Prospects

Courtesy of Ed Tait on Twitter. Going to keep this pinned at least until the season starts. February 13 - CFL Free Agency Opens (Noon ET) March 7 - Eastern Regional Combine (Montreal) March 9 - Ontario Regional Combine (Toronto) March 20 - 22 - Rules Committee and Competition Committee Meetings March 21 - 25 - Mark's CFL Week (Winnipeg) March 22 - Western Regional Combine (Winnipeg) March 23 - 25 - National CFL Combine April 30 - CFL Rosters Reduced to 75 May 3- CFL Draft May 16 - Rookie Camp Opens May 20 - Training Camp Opens May 27 - Preseason Begins June 9 - Training Camp Cutdown Day (10PM ET) June 14 - Regular Season Kickoff October 10 - Trade Deadline (4PM ET) November 11 - East and West Semi Finals November 18 - East and West Finals November 25- Grey Cup

If the evidence and awareness of concussions continues on its current trajectory, I wonder if it is really a smart thing to invest in a new football league. What happens over the next 10+ years if enough parents decide to just stop enrolling their kids in football? Are you coming into the game too late, (on its downtrend) or can you find a way to innovate and change the game to be safer and use that as a selling point. Might be too early if it is the latter.

CFL contracts aren’t registered to the NFL . They don’t know what’s in them or what date they are signed to. It is the agents through which all of this occurs. They are the ones who know the CFL and the contracts that have been signed there. Of course an agent is going to do what he has to for his client. And do whatever he can to get him to the NFZl. Because that gets him future clients and future revenue. But I would put this far more on the agents then the NFL.

First CFL contract so he has the 2 year minimum, just like Wilder. The problem is options don't exist in the CFL anymore. So this was a "verbal option" with an administration who is no longer in charge. Which comes back to the old rule unfortunately .... get it in writing. Or, even more likely, his agent did a poor job explaining what this option agreement actually meant.

I've seen this implied a couple of times that it is implied as a negative that Helle paying to go to a goal tending coach is a failing of the team and / or coach. Yet when it comes to Scheifele, he is applauded and celebrated for doing all the work and training he does in the off season outside of the Jets organization. I just don't get the double standard of why one is perceived as a negative and the other is a positive. These players are playing for their careers and millions of dollars are on the line in future contracts. Damn right each and every one of them should be doing whatever they can to better themselves for their career. Would like to see what this quote actually said, but Maurice is always careful what he says to not disparage a player in the media.

Some interesting things in this article which would contradict what some people are claiming the subsidies the players get. Like food ... Apparently the Argos had to fight to get breakfast provided, but once it was, the cost was deducted from their pay check. Housing subsidies, apparently that is only $1,000 CDN a month. Yep, that goes a long way in Toronto. Taking this back to Wilder, yes he signed a contract .... I don't think people should criticize the player for deciding not to play another year if the monetary value is no longer worth it for them. The salary is meaningless until you really understand and see hard numbers on expenses, especially having to often pay for two households. So the argument becomes don't like it, don't play. That is exactly what Wilder is doing. And that should be his choice.

What does Helle going to goaltending school have to do with a failing of Maurice?

What kind of increase do you want? What kind of increase can the Toronto's and BCs of the CFL handle? Then you need to convince the CFLPA, which is run by veteran players, to negotiate to have that cap increase applied to the minimum contract amount, which is typically for rookies. Good luck.

Even if the CFL could afford a significant cap increase, look to the NHL, NBA, and NFL to see that as the cap increases in sporting leagues, a high percentage of the increases ends up going to the elite players, and the pay gap between players increases. Once that happens there will still only be dinky little incremental increases left over for everyone else.