GCn20

Really? The guy is gone you don't have to drag him into every conversation. Let it go man...jeebus.

The Liberals are floundering and O'Toole can't build any momentum, they might as well turf him and get it right and bring in Peter MacKay.

Not surprised Rasheed re-signed, I was honestly shocked it took this long. Probably was because of Lawler holding things up more than anything. I ran into him in the Bomber store last year and had a short conversation with him. He told me straight up, and I know all players say crap like this but it seemed very genuine, that he will either retire after a long and illustrious NFL career or he will retire a Bomber.

These Regina guys just don't get it. Regina you have to overpay because you are a glorified gopher hole whose idea of fine dining is Denny's and bingo rules the entertainment scene. Young twenty something players from the US will want to be paid to be there. How does Winnipeg retain....easy it's called winning and a 100x more recreation...something you four stripers just don't know much about. I honestly hope they do break the bank for Duke. He is way over rated. I can't understand how completely out to lunch the Riders and Lions are. Neither team seems to be bothered to fix what is making them losers and are instead like Shmeegle, chasing after shiny baubles.

I was honestly hoping they would re-sign him. Besides getting burned once a game deep, he was one of the poison pills in their locker room imo. They absolutely had to get rid of the Purifoy-Marshall-Gainey clique in that locker room and it appears they are doing so. Rider fans losing their minds but getting rid of these attitudes will make them better.

I think some of the players not being re-signed were on purpose. Their locker room was littered with me first losers. Talented sure...but time to move on.

The Riders might wish they never bothered with that signing bonus.

I am more interested in how much up front Faj is getting. That's as important as the total season hit. I would rather have a qb at 550 with 87k upfront than a 475k Qb with 200k up front for instance.

We don't necessarily have to match, nor does Lawler have to sign with us if we did. Lawler could stay for less, or even go even if we offered more. One name that might resurface? Bryant Mitchell? I wonder.

From what i read in the past Lions alumni and boosters provide cheap rental apartments to the players. Not free but affordable. Toronto, Montreal, Calgary also have similar arrangements with real estate companies. Winnipeg used to as well, not sure if they still do. Player has the option to accept the offer after the 48 hr window and its a binding contract. Lions could cut him the next day and terminate but would lose any signing bonus.

The only way we even talk to Burnham is if we lose Lawler...and he would have to take a shave. I guess if we lost Bailey and Adams but kept Lawler we could take a run at Burnham and go rookie at the other IMP receiver. Might work but it would mean Burnham would need to take a shave for a chance at being a champion.

I will not deny that a ton of talent walks away from the gridiron every year due to life getting in the way or they simply lose their passion for the game. Playing football beyond Pop Warner and HS takes a commitment level that some guys just don't have, can't commit too, or are just too immature to handle. That happens in every sport at every position. However, looking for these guys and hoping that something has changed in them or for them would not bear much fruit for a pro franchise. These are the guys that have to bring themselves back to the game or be recruited by the JUCOs and DIV 3s of the football world. The CFL can't turn over those rocks. and the NFL won't. That being said, I stand by my declaration that these needle in a haystack big men with blazing speed and hands TE types just aren't readily available to the CFL and that's why we don't use TE packages much. NFL snaps them up. I don't think there is a team in the league that wouldn't grab a 6'5/250 lb receiver who can run a mid 4/40 and use him in TE like role out of the slot. We don't do it because they just aren't out there. Hamilton drafted a TE at number one last year because he was actually available. there is no bias away from these guys in the CFL, they are just super hard to find. Any of them that can play even at a CFL level are sitting on NFL PRs being hoarded like gold.

That was your metric, not mine. I simply said that based on your metric it would be near impossible to find that guy. You argued it wouldn't be and that you saw a **** ton of them in high school ball.

The only plausible reason I can think of for the Bowman, Arceneaux signings is bringing them in as mentors for a short period and to build a new locker room culture. Surely, they won't be playing. The Elks could use a big dose of vet leadership all around that room. Not sure I would have went over the retired list to get it done but I'm thinking that's got to be the reason. Jones can't seriously think either guy has any game left.

Dude, I coached high school football for 23 years too. I am yet to see a 6'5/250 lb that can run a 4.5/40 with great hands kid that got overlooked by anyone. We had a Bomber scout come and look at one in his senior year but within five minutes he told us he needs a ton of work on his route running and his speed needs work. Gave him some contacts for developmental guys that could help him with these things. He went on to Div 3 ball in the US and never saw the field. In 23 years of WHS school football...one guy....that's as close as he got....and WHS yielded many great CFLers. There are NOT a ton of these guys around. 6'5/250 with 4.5 speed is not an easy find either north/south of the border. To find them with great hands, route running and a head on their shoulders even tougher. There is a reason the NFL snaps them all up. Sure, tons of kids that got away. I saw some of the best football natural talents walk away instead of playing HS ball as well. That doesn't change the fact that TE types just aren't readily available at the pro level.

There are not many 6'5/250 receivers that run a 4.5/40 and can run routes. Here in Canada it never happens for the reasons you have listed and in the US they can't even find enough to supply the NFL so don't tell me there are all kinds of hidden gems. If the NFL can't find enough of them you know that there is a shortage of these type of athletes.

Bonus guarantees you are coming to camp and will get a fair shot at making the team. Futures are picked up and dropped like hot potatoes prior to camp. Every year there are a couple CFLer who sign futures contracts that are released from them long before camp starts. Most of them happen after the first OTA. Guys on futures have to really shine to be kept past first cuts in the NFL. It's a big risk for guys like Desjarlais because there is zero signing bonus except in extremely rare circumstances so he could lose a half season of CFL pay without earning a dime. It's why most guys on their 2nd go round opt not to sign futures deals. (see Adam Bighill)

If you can find a 6'5"/250 guy that can run a 4.5/40 and run good routes, catch the ball and not be a basket case please call me I have a job for them. Signed: EVERY NFL GM past and present. ....and that is why we don't see them up here. The NFL passing game is a TE game. Teams stockpile them. Nope and yes. A future's contract is much more of a low risk contract though. Teams can sign players to regular contracts in the offseason to count up to their offseason player limit. However, futures don't count against that limit and are generally given to players who are seen as long shots and do not come with any signing bonus of any sort. This allows teams to bring in guys and pay them per diem for all of TC. They get a real contract when they win a job on the active or PR.

I am surprised he took a futures too with all that interest in him. That being said, he likely kicks around the PR for a season at least.

With Desjarlais all but gone we will get Couture back. The money is freed up to give him a small but reasonable bump and then bring in Dobson on a rookie contract to be our 6th or better.

Lenius is on a futures contract. Basically an invite to maybe come to camp if we can't find someone better beforehand. Guys like Lawler on their 2nd go round in THE LEAGUE don't tend to jump at futures contracts. It's quite possible they offered him one and he is trying to get some some form of actual money instead. You gotta have the right guy, and those guys are in big demand in the NFL. Just hard to find really. I mean a team took a flyer on Lenius for cripes sakes, and I would bet big dollars they told him to get back to TE weight.

A team only needs to be cap compliant once the accounting goes to the league at year end. The league has stepped in, in the past, when they believed a team might go significantly over and warned them they must get compliant by year end (Mtl in 2018) but they can't really do much else. Teams can sign over the SMS then become compliant after.

Really sorry to hear that. Taynted was a great member here and will be missed.

1. Collaros 2. Bryant 3. Couture 4. Lawler 5 Winston Rose 6. Castillo 7. Richardson 8 Alexander I don't see us having any issues with Benson at all so I'm not even going to rank him, LS are not the highest paid dudes so it doesn't really come down to a choice really. I see Collaros as an obvious choice. Bryant is easily 2nd imo. GOAT blind side tackle. Don't care about age...he plays the most important position on the OL better than anyone. The rest just kind of follow in order of how I feel they enhance our chances of winning coupled with our ability to replace them. Not putting Harris up either, he either comes at a big home town discount or we move on imo. He might have a championship but they never won it. All I have to say on that matter, and they had no sustained success there.

It is pretty safe to assume that neither Luc or Chris ever experienced anything like it in their time with the Riders. It's just a franchise that doesn't know how to succeed.