GCn20

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.

Fact: YOU are the one moving the goal posts. No one said that pre-Collaros we were dominant. What was stated is we were better than mediocre. Fact: We were well above mediocre (1st place) until a season ending injury to our starting QB. We struggled, AS ANY TEAM WILL, behind our backup. Once Collaros came we went back to being above average. Fact: Our defence was the main reason we won both the 2019 cup. Collaros just game managed because he had very limited time in our system up to that point. Fact: No one is suggesting we were dominant at any point prior to 2021. The argument was about your use of the term mediocre to describe the pre-Collaros 2019 Bombers. An assessment that NO ONE seems to have but you and one that is most certainly nothing more than opinion on your part. Ours too, but we will man up and at least admit it's our OPINION and it vastly differs from yours. I will take solace in the fact that the overwhelming majority reject your opinion as a clue as to how accurate it might be. Fact: Our pre-Collaros TEAM was well above mediocre even after Nichols went down. I will cede that our QBing after Nichols injury and prior to Collaros left a lot to be desired but that's not the same as thing as calling the entire team mediocre. We were a very good team needing an upgrade at QB after injuries to both our starter and backup. It's that simple really.

Don't sweat it, As long as we are in the ballpark in negotiations he will be back. Unless the Argos go full on crazy and offer him 800k or something dumb like that he will be back. I don't see that happening anywhere in the CFL right now. There has been a market correction happening at the QB position. Everyone is taking shaves. The days of the 700k QB are over for now, CFL teams have learned that success does not follow those contracts.

Unless we low ball him he will be back. He couldn't possibly be dumb enough to leave the situation he's in right now over a little bit of salary. We won't blow our brains out because Walters is smarter than that, but our bid will be competitive. If our bid is competitive and he chooses to leave then I will have to do a re-evaluation of my thoughts on his intelligence level. Not wishing for anything. I strongly want the Zac Attack back. Just not in panic mode about it. I want the best team we can possibly field. QB play is helpful but it is NOT the best determinate on record. The scoreboard is the best determinate and there is more than one way to get that stat in your favor. In the past 6 years the team with the top rated passer in the CFL has won the Grey Cup once. Last year. In that time frame 3 Grey Cups were won by QBs outside the top 3 rating in the league.

As long as our defence continues to hold teams to 12 pts a game we will be just fine if Collaros leaves. I want to go 18-0 next season and that won't happen without Collaros, but if I have to settle for 15-3 without him I can live with it. I love Collaros and what he brings to the table, but I honestly believe that their are a few QBs that can lead our team to the promised land if necessary.

A truth is something that is based on facts. Your opinion is not necessarily the truth because often it is not based in facts. Being consistently wrong does not strengthen your argument or make it any truer. Just because YOU believe something to be true, does not make it so. It's called having an opinion and you're entitled to one but when people don't agree with it they are not necessarily wrong.

Every year is different. At the time Nichols went down and we turned to Streveler we were the best team in the league. We lost a couple games playing with our backup...happens to even really good teams...and then we traded for a veteran when that backup got injured and quickly went back to our best team in the league play. What happened in seasons prior is completely irrelevant no matter how much you would like it to be part of the narrative. Were we mediocre in 2018...not really...we went to the West final. In 2017 and prior...yea maybe a touch better than mediocre but thats year's before and as I stated earlier...COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT. At the time we got Zac we were the best team in the league but needed a QB. The proof is in the pudding. I'm not trying to discredit anything that Zac did, but realistically in 2019 we won because we were the best team...not because we had the best QB. In 2021, it was little bit of both. I agree that this crap on Lapo narrative is getting a little over the top. He did not hold us back from winning and his Grey Cup ring is the proof of that. One can disagree with his style etc, but it doesn't have to be exaggerated to suggest that his offence held anyone back from winning more.