mbrg

I'm pretty sure every GM I've heard interviewed has said they'll be "very aggressive" in free agency. It is mathematically possible to have several highly compensated players fit under the salary cap. People in Winnipeg have gotten used to the QB and one other guy making good coin, but other teams have realized there's room for more than that. Probably some theories about cups won/lost can be drawn from that, but I'll have to check with my robot army first.

Romby Bryant is a pending free agent. And yes, so is Aaron Kelly. Thanks to Kuale for his contributions to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Football Club (established 1930), and best of luck in all his future endeavours.

There will be a deal or two out there for us that will make this team better, and I think Walters will get something like that done, but getting a guy like Rogers just doesn't have the same fist-pumping reaction as a Holmes or Heenan. For obvious reasons.

How's about this, maybe the "report" (rumour) that he wanted to be out to be closer to home just means he wants to be closer to home? Probably for a personal reason. Rather than creating your long list of his hypothetical personal failings. I know, it's a long standing tradition to denigrate players who are no longer here unless they leave under a very specific set of "acceptable" circumstances. Very well, have at 'er. I won't stand in your way any longer. I heard he eats puppies.

left out the H.

11 more days before I waste energy getting invested in any player. Very few of the best talents ever hit the market. The list of current FA's will be cut nearly in half before Feb 10, just like every other year. Which will remain an annual disappointment. I mean, fingers crossed.

Yay, another post where I wonder if it's even worth replying. Those are the best. He re-signed with the Bombers twice - he had 2 opportunities to leave between the time we drafted him and now and did not. Throttle back on the conspiracy theories. I guess you missed the little word IF reports are true. I'm not the one writing the bloody reports. Conspiracy...give me a break.?? It's there for you to read and you take it the way you want. Watson re-upped twice sure, but people change and so do circumstances. His latest comment about 'finally being with a 'winning' organization' (we'll see about that) says a lot. Couldn't make us a winner from the tub so things are going to be dif. We'll see. Well, conspiracy seemed more polite than lunacy, so I went with that one. Because I try to be polite. I realized the usage was incorrect, as a conspiracy requires more than one person. It was meant to be taken more figurative than literal. IF the reports he wanted out of here are true, then the conclusion you can draw is that he wanted out of here. as opposed to putting a big asterix by his name, or spending time thinking about Cory Watson in the tub - to each their own -, or insinuating he's faking/milking injuries, or implying he has a character issue. Putting IF in front of slander does not make it something else. Because, no offence, (insert something incredibly offensive here). See how that (doesn't) works?

Shoulders up....shoulders down....shrug....successful. We have successfully shrugged over here people! The weekend can begin.

Too rich for our blood. Too stupid for our blood. Not a surprise though, that was the ask 2 weeks ago; it hasn't changed. Just like a first rounder for Stewart. Which is why I was puzzled Jets fans are saying we should bring these guys in - if you are not a strong cup contender with considerable assets, and you are missing one clearly identifiable piece, and that player looks to fit it, it's a bad trade. No matter what team you are. A pending UFA for high picks? Nine and a half times out of ten, it's a terrible idea. The list of things the Capitals don't have this year: Filip Forsberg, Martin Erat, a Stanley Cup. Whomever is clamouring for our GM to make bad trades, please stop.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/01/29/bombers-deal-cory-watson-to-saskatchewan Yes very interesting. I guess Wikipedia needs to update their 2015 draft page. I'll contact Wikipedia's CFL department - I'm sure they'll get right on it.

He re-signed with the Bombers twice - he had 2 opportunities to leave between the time we drafted him and now and did not. Throttle back on the conspiracy theories.

That's a lot of decent NI receivers in Vancouver. I wouldn't mind if the Bombers convinced Buono to solve his surplus by sending us Ianuzzi. Stick that little burner over on the wide side of the field. Sadly, with Buono the price always seems to be too high. Maybe we can hire Korey Banks to life-coach Ianuzzi for a while. Buono will send him packing in no time.

He used our 4 draft picks to take Mike Morris, Adam Bestard, Peter Quinney, and Thaine Carter. If those names aren't familiar, there's a pretty good reason. They were terrible picks. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he traded some of those 2009 picks. Kelly let Gauthier, Koch, Picard and Goodspeed walk in free agency. I know Goodspeed isn't a NI, but if I don't mention him, Kelly's "I think we can re-sign all four!" doesn't quite make sense. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he could have extended these guys earlier. Kelly claimed he was going to do a better job of hanging on to our draft picks than Taman ever did. As I recall, we were still missing a pick in the 2013 draft from one of Kelly's many traded picks. None of that is shared with Taman. You'd have to do a pretty comprehensive essay to convince me Kelly added anything to this team other than bloated bombast, including the area of NI talent. I feel like when he said "Mike Kelly added to it", he means he added to the problem, not to our NI depth. But I could be wrong. Yes, thank you. The force is strong with this one...I'll be more careful next time to make sure even the obvious is spelled out for others. Still waiting on that essay, nonetheless.

He used our 4 draft picks to take Mike Morris, Adam Bestard, Peter Quinney, and Thaine Carter. If those names aren't familiar, there's a pretty good reason. They were terrible picks. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he traded some of those 2009 picks. Kelly let Gauthier, Koch, Picard and Goodspeed walk in free agency. I know Goodspeed isn't a NI, but if I don't mention him, Kelly's "I think we can re-sign all four!" doesn't quite make sense. Some of that is shared with Taman, as he could have extended these guys earlier. Kelly claimed he was going to do a better job of hanging on to our draft picks than Taman ever did. As I recall, we were still missing a pick in the 2013 draft from one of Kelly's many traded picks. None of that is shared with Taman. You'd have to do a pretty comprehensive essay to convince me Kelly added anything to this team other than bloated bombast, including the area of NI talent.

Maybe Walters is trying to extend Watson and he denied it and (1) expressed intentions to be traded close to home or (2) will walk out as FA after this year and sign on any East team. So Walters, instead of losing him for nothing, pull the trade when Taman bit the bait. I don't like to put the cart before the horse, but the "why" of this trade as far as Taman's concerned doesn't have a lot a good answers - except for one. Taman really wants to make sure he has 3 bonafide NI starters at receiver for next season because he knows they are going to have to change the ratio, because he's fairly certain Heenan won't be back. Taman has a different philosophy than I do but he's not an outright dummy. This trade doesn't make much sense unless I view it from Heenan angle, which doesn't make it a spectacular trade for him, but at least a logical one. I apologize for any hopes this may raise, I know there's a pretty good chance they'll be dashed later on. I agree with your assessment. Watson is way too expensive not to be a starter. I think they know that they are in tough with the ratio and needed to make this move. It would appear that Taman has given up hope of signing Heenan for the price tag he is willing to pay him. That could mean that Heenan ends up in the NFL as well....either way, I love watching the Riders squirm just to field 7 Nats. I have never seen a GM decimate a teams overall NAT talent so quickly. Not all of it his fault, but he must wear it, And from a Rider perspective, when boiled down what they really gave up was a PR player and dropped 11 spots in the draft to get Watson. That isn't a break out the torches and pitchforks kind of deal. The salary makes it a bit unpleasant and the injury history makes it a tougher sell to Rider fans, but I don't think I'd outright put goat horns on Taman over this one. As much fun as it is to do.

Plus he had the best tan I've ever seen on a commissioner. When the competition is Tom "highly flammable if exposed to sunlight" Wright...

Almost certainly is that simple - the Steelers changed their mind. I hope he gets another tryout with another team. He earned it.

Maybe Walters is trying to extend Watson and he denied it and (1) expressed intentions to be traded close to home or (2) will walk out as FA after this year and sign on any East team. So Walters, instead of losing him for nothing, pull the trade when Taman bit the bait. I don't like to put the cart before the horse, but the "why" of this trade as far as Taman's concerned doesn't have a lot a good answers - except for one. Taman really wants to make sure he has 3 bonafide NI starters at receiver for next season because he knows they are going to have to change the ratio, because he's fairly certain Heenan won't be back. Taman has a different philosophy than I do but he's not an outright dummy. This trade doesn't make much sense unless I view it from Heenan angle, which doesn't make it a spectacular trade for him, but at least a logical one. I apologize for any hopes this may raise, I know there's a pretty good chance they'll be dashed later on.

Harrison's play in front of his own net over the last few has made me wonder if getting him for a 6th wasn't a robbery after all. I think we have to look back at the situation we were in tho.... its not like we had one or two D in the lineup gone...they were all gone. IMO it was just something that needed to be done. My reference to the trade wasn't a complaint about it. Harrison has had a few weak games in a row, from what I've seen. Maybe a 6th was fair value after all, cause at the time it felt like we took Carolina to the cleaners. Or maybe it's just a couple of weak games in a row. Either way, I'm happy to get Stuart back in. That trade will always be a sound trade.

Harrison's play in front of his own net over the last few has made me wonder if getting him for a 6th wasn't a robbery after all.

If Walters' already has a framework of how his roster is going to shape up and where money is likely to be allocated to, why wait to put a plan into action? And why wait when a decent pick is on the table, when that same return is probably not going to be there later?

An intriguing thought, but there is no freaking way Heenan is leaving Regina. How often do you get a hometown athlete who is dominant? And totally unnecessary. The only reason Heenan wouldn't be aware of the Bombers interest by now is if the Bombers actually weren't interested. Heenan will already know who the interested parties are going to be in FA. His agent will also rep other players around the league and have regular communications with all the GMs, and all the hypothetical terms and salaries for Heenan will have been discussed. Tampering is a constant in the CFL, and no one really cares. You just have to be not so stupid as to register your contract with the player 4 minutes after the start of free agency - ie Odell Willis. All that's needed is the appearance of things possibly being done on the up-and-up, and that's good enough for the CFL to wash it's hands of investigating or even caring about tampering. I agree Heenan leaving seems unlikely given all the reasons he has to stay, but if there is any GM who knows which way Heenan is leaning right now it's Taman, and a lot of his recent moves have a certain we're-moving-on nature to them.

If he was going to do that, I would think this would have ended up being a three way trade. My suspicion is that there were no takers out East....well none that were willing to pay what Taman paid. Seems unlikely that Taman could turn Watson into more than what he gave up to get him. I like Watson. This is a good trade for us.

Ooh, a surprise ending.

I was cautiously enthused about the Walters hire when we made it 4 years ago, a resume that felt very right for the CFL, and this feels very similar. I hope it goes as well as Walters has.