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Might be he has a business agent for things outside football like endorsements etc. Guess I heard wrong, not sure where I heard they had the same agent but I know I heard it somewhere. Maybe, it was Jeffcoat and someone else.

I agree. However, there are many reasons why players leave teams and why teams leave players and it's not always about money. Harris says it wasn't about the money. That's why we are discussing it. If anyone here felt it was strictly about the money this conversation would not be taking place. Harris went to the media, said it wasn't about the money. Are you calling him a liar?

We have a locker room chock full of leaders. The void left by Harris will be closed very easily. I am not worried about that in the least.

I don't think anyone in the locker room will view it as anything other than Andrew looking after Andrew and the Bombers looking after the Bombers but the fans will definitely view it as Andrew putting himself ahead of the team because that's what he did. However, it should be stated that going to Toronto for more money is totally his right and we should bear no ill will towards him for that. Players have to look out for themselves in contract time. What's most disappointing is how and why we had to make him an offer that he felt he had to walk away from. It didn't need to go down like that, and most of the responsibility for this falls on Harris himself. I don't think that is entirely true, in fact, Harris himself has said that is not entirely true. It was not about the money according to Harris. He said he was willing to play for the offer the Bombers made him. If we are to believe him, and we have no reason not to, the reason he left is because he felt disrespected. A lot of the fans here not agreeing with that perspective is not pulling him off his pedestal. It is discussing whether we think his viewpoint on this is correct or not.

Weird because I thought Walters said that he was able to do the Jeffs negotiations at the same time because they had the same agent.

The number on Augustine is rumored to be somewhere in the 130k range. That alone should tell you all you need to know about your viewpoint. lol

I don't think the fact he left for more money is what is of concern to most around here. The very public airing of laundry is the issue at hand as well as the validity of the request by the Bombers for Harris to undergo a physical and the fact that Harris deems this as being an act of disrespect to him and most of us are failing to understand why he feels that way.

I would hope we do this with every player coming off a season with multiple non contact injuries.

You are clearly confusing the forum agreeing with the decision to move on from Harris based on new information that came from Harris himself, with us crapping on him. Not the same thing. Not a single person here minimized his contribution to the team. Disappointment with the way he handled the exit? Absolutely and deservedly but that's 100% on Harris not on the fans. If that offends you or makes you feel gross well I don't know what you would expect from any fan base in the same situation. Harris opened up this can of worms, he went public, when he did so he opened himself up to an evaluation of his story.

First of all, many players re-signed this year did so well below market value. That's just an undeniable fact. You think Biggie couldn't have got more than 160k on the open market? Secondly, Harris himself admitted to these deep issues. They are HIS words not ours, we are simply discussing them. Look, obviously you are a massive Harris fan, and that's fine, but comparing us to Riderfans is ludicrous and over the top and quite frankly makes you look bad...not the rest of us.

I feel bad for Andrew that he didn't get the opportunity to end his career here. I do not for one second think that he didn't play a big role in that though. If we had not won the Grey Cup last year, how steamed would we all be at him right now after learning he didn't show up in shape or focused last year. We had a good enough team to overcome that, thank goodness.

At the risk of being called a Riderfan, I will suggest there is only one plausible reason for not doing the workout. Ego. I never really thought of that, but yea, it takes a crap load for MOS to lose trust in his players.

Sure....but that's not always the right thing for all players. Harris is an emotional guy, and might have been better served with an agent to buffer those discussions. Not that special? They ended a 30 year Grey Cup drought and became the first team in the league in 20 years to repeat, Not sure what your definition of special is but that qualifies in my books. There were great stories about culture written before Collaros was signed. We might not be discussing back to back Grey Cups but certainly the culture of the team would still be looked on as being very favorable. Also, saying something like that is kinda strange, you could literally go back to any team of any era even the most special and say if they didn't sign player X would we be even talking about them. If the Bulls didn't have Jordan, if the Patriots hadn't drafted Brady, if the Als didn't sign Calvillo...etc etc. It makes no sense to play what if we didn't have this player or that player. The fact each of these teams had these types of players is part of what made them special.

That is quite probable that being his own agent worked against him. Also, he criticizes the team for signing Johnny and Brady without contacting him while saying in the same sentence he was on a beach in Mexico on an extended vacation at that time. Makes it a little tougher for the Bombers to conduct business with him when he's half a world away. I mean honestly, Brady and Johnny were signed fairly recently before the start of FA. It may be just me but if the team I really wanted to play for had not started contract talks with me a couple of weeks before FA I might reach out to them instead of waiting for my phone to ring.

Up until Harris chose to go to the media no one was dumping on him. However, he went public with what should have stayed behind closed doors and now fans are responding to it. There is nothing Riderfans about that. FACT: Andrew Harris, by his own admission, came into camp out of shape and unfocused last year. Saying that is not dumping on him it's a matter of public record now. FACT: Andrew Harris chose to go to Toronto for more money. That too is public record. FACT: No one in the Bomber organization commented on this in anything but a very positive manner. Harris chose to go to the media about his departure. FACT: When a prominent player signs elsewhere in FA, talks to the media about it, there is going to be discussion that arises from that amongst the fans. Doesn't matter what fan base you belong too. FACT: Long before Harris left people were wondering what his role should/would be with the Bombers with most suggesting it was a year for him to pass the torch. This is not new. FACT: Not a single person here, unlike RIderfans, is minimizing Harris's past contributions or role with the team.

I agree. Both sides went into contract negotiations with completely opposite expectations of what they should look like. Both sides had their reasons for their belief. This was simply a matter of two sides of a business deal being unable to come to terms. It happens all the time and there is no real blame to be laid for it. Yea....I think running backs kind of suffer from an even split of reps all game but definitely I foresee both guys getting their chances to carry the rock.

I believe that coming out of camp both men will see a lot of reps and then we will roll with the hot hand.

I personally feel that 5'8" is too short to play wide out in the CFL, however, others have done it. I think he is far more suited for the slot as he is explosive out of breaks and is a great route runner. He is not a take the top off the defence type player. His YAC was not great in college but he is a twitchy type runner. I think a far more apt comparable for him is Kyran Moore over Duke Williams. He literally has nothing in common with Duke other than an average 40 time. Personally, I think he could develop this year into someone who knocks on the door for a receiving spot but I don't realistically think he would make a particularly effective wideout. I could be wrong though. He did play KR/PR in college and had decent numbers but I'm not sure he is a Grant replacement at the pro level.

I think it is OK to be a little disappointed with the airing of dirty laundry.

Harris is showing a complete lack of class. OShea lost trust in him..that speaks volumes. Farhan was on Pederson today and said Harris was not in physical condition coming to camp last year and that even Harris would admit that led to at least his first injury last year and probably second as well. Bomber brass and possibly members of the locker room were pretty upset with his lack of physical conditioning. Said Harris was dealing with personal problems and wasnt fully committed.

The surest way to get fleeced in FA by the agents is to admit you have cash to spend. Walters has a few dollars kicking around still.

I think he is or at least was on our suspended list. However I think he ended the season on the PR which would make him a FA.

He played football growing up in the Ottawa area.

As always it comes down to cost though. If there was no SMS definitely you bring Harris back but realistically of all our big ticket signings is there a single one more risky and more likely to backfire than Harris? Who would you have the Bombers not re-signing to free up Harris money and don't say no one because we know full well given the amount of all stars we had to re-sign that was not an option. You're angry, I get it, no one wants to lose a Harris but seriously Jeffcoat, Jefferson, Biggie, Oliveira or Augustine and a medium priced vet, who....who you picking? Explain how it would be better and why you think Oliveira and Augustine can't get the job done when they have demonstrated their ability to do so.

Never heard of it but sounds interesting. Glad to see these guys giving back and anytime you get some coaching from ex-pros it's going to be a positive experience for the players I would think.