Free Agency Frenzy

[sweep the leg]

John Hodge of 3downnation says the extension of Chungh is the only thing that kept FA from being a "disaster" for the Bombers. That seems strong...

[GCn20]

7 minutes ago, Kluchk said:

They signed another Canadian RB. Obviously a position they intend to go Canadian at.

LOL...the list of FA's that Chris Jones signs then doesn't utilize correctly and then tosses away is getting to be pretty long and illustrious. They were going NAT at DE last year if I recall correctly. How'd that work out. No one has a worse track record in FA than Jones. Best thing that could happen to the RIders is if he stopped signing FA's.

[Mike]

11 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

John Hodge of 3downnation says the extension of Chungh is the only thing that kept FA from being a "disaster" for the Bombers. That seems strong...

Things didn't go his way, so he's losing his mind.

They've made a decision to go to a more traditional middle linebacker instead of two WIL specialists, so Bass is gone. He's a great player, not a good fit for what they're trying to do. I respect their decision to go in a different direction and the reality is, it's going to give us some savings as well.

Burnett is solid, he should be a great player but he also reminds me of a guy like Alex Hoffman-Ellis in the sense that he's a great teams guy with potential to fit into a starting job - still has to get there and he wasn't going to get it here.

Those are the two big losses.

Now you look at what we added and the big one for me is Drake Nevis. I've been a huge fan of this guy ever since he started terrorizing offensive lines last year. Just so that there's no accusations of that "he's a Bomber now so you think he's great" bias coming from any Rider fans, here's what I said about Nevis last July:

Quote

The funny thing about all this arguing re: Sewell vs Laurent is that Drake Nevis is better than both of them.

And I believe it. He's got the ability to be an elite defensive tackle in the CFL. If you had asked me prior to free agency who I'd want between Micah Johnson and Drake Nevis, it's Nevis all day every day and we got him for 35k less than Micah Johnson. Hodge thinks we overpaid? On what basis?

Nevis' impact on our D can't be overstated. Cummings, while a very good player, was not an every down defensive tackle for us. Nevis will play a heavy majority of the snaps. He's a dominant run stopper and for a defensive tackle, he's got some serious pass rushing abilities. There was a club move he laid on Chungh last year that was one of the most dominant snaps from a DT I saw all year. And he'll do that all game. We're going to be a much tougher team in the trenches. High energy, high motor, wear-you-down kind of guy. Exactly what we needed.

Then there's Okpalaugo. Solid, solid rush end. If he can come back without skipping a beat, he's going to be exactly what we need on the other side opposite Westerman, because now all of a sudden, you can't just scheme away from our strength. 25 sacks in two seasons tells you all you need to know, this guy is going to get after the quarterback.

---

I'm happy with what we've done so far.

[Atomic]

23 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

John Hodge of 3downnation says the extension of Chungh is the only thing that kept FA from being a "disaster" for the Bombers. That seems strong...

That neckbeard doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground

[Kluchk]

9 minutes ago, gcn11 said:

LOL...the list of FA's that Chris Jones signs then doesn't utilize correctly and then tosses away is getting to be pretty long and illustrious. They were going NAT at DE last year if I recall correctly. How'd that work out. No one has a worse track record in FA than Jones. Best thing that could happen to the RIders is if he stopped signing FA's.

What are you talking about? National at DE? Shawn Lemon is American, Willie Jefferson was is American, AC Leonard is American, Jonathan Newsome is American.

Don't know where you got that we wanted to go National there???

[Bigblue204]

I thought he made some points. Like keeping Wild over Bass. I tend to agree with him on that one. Good chance Wild goes down at some point this season. And then what?

But why he choose to ignore the role Knox will likely play and how that played into letting Burnett and Bass walk is ridiculous. Also, Padric Scott is apparently not a part of the team. Only Thomas Tenant and Butcher.

[Taynted_Fayth]

35 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

An article from 3downnation says Bryant is getting $160k per. Some guy on Riderfans said he's getting $210k this year, but didn't respond when I asked where he got that number from. So, pending further information, that number appears to have come out of his butt.

then it all makes sense,  a stamps fan I believe who had spoken with Dennis had mentioned he wanted at least what Bryant and Olafioye were making so if it's it's the 160-180 ball park then what Dennis agreed too is understandable. Admittedly I was under the assumption LT's import or not were still very high paid players (like 200K and above) so I was pretty off on my guess earlier yesterday too. I blame Adarius Bowman

[bigg jay]

22 minutes ago, Mike said:

They've made a decision to go to a more traditional middle linebacker instead of two WIL specialists, so Bass is gone. He's a great player, not a good fit for what they're trying to do. I respect their decision to go in a different direction and the reality is, it's going to give us some savings as well.

Burnett is solid, he should be a great player but he also reminds me of a guy like Alex Hoffman-Ellis in the sense that he's a great teams guy with potential to fit into a starting job - still has to get there and he wasn't going to get it here.

 

Burnett apparently took less money to go to BC to get that opportunity too.   Hodge was freaking out that they let him walk for such a low amount but if I'm reading this tweet right, there wasn't going to be much the Bombers could do.

 

[17to85]

21 minutes ago, Kluchk said:

What are you talking about? National at DE? Shawn Lemon is American, Willie Jefferson was is American, AC Leonard is American, Jonathan Newsome is American.

Don't know where you got that we wanted to go National there???

Justin Capicciotti

 

also they signed Walter last year trying to get a canadian at running back too, how'd that work out? Jones is being ******** trying to change the ratio before he has the players in place or available to do it. 

[JCon]

On ‎2017‎-‎02‎-‎14 at 7:59 AM, JCon said:

I wonder which Canadian hockey team will make a move today and totally steal the limelight?

To answer my own question: Montreal Canadiens.

---------------------

Saskatchewan spent big yesterday. That's not Jones' MO. It will be interesting to see how those moves work out for them.

[coach17]

All in all the first day went pretty good for the Bombers. We didn't make a lot of big splashes and kept our key pieces. Losing Bass and Burnett was inevitable. But our front seven was no great shakes last year even with their talent. Signing big name free agents is a crap shoot, for every Harris there is a  Shologan.

[voodoochylde]

 

[Tehedra]

50 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Burnett apparently took less money to go to BC to get that opportunity too.   Hodge was freaking out that they let him walk for such a low amount but if I'm reading this tweet right, there wasn't going to be much the Bombers could do.

 

Interestingly; this is contrary to the belief that people want to be in Winnipeg... he took less to leave the fine city of Winnipeg and our team.  Is kind of disappointing.  Any reason why he wouldn't want to be in Winnipeg?  I mean I thought O'Shea was fair to all the players but to take less to live in BC, which is more expensive to live; it's already less even at equal pay cheques.

[Noeller]

Just now, Tehedra said:

Interestingly; this is contrary to the belief that people want to be in Winnipeg... he took less to leave the fine city of Winnipeg and our team.  Is kind of disappointing.  Any reason why he wouldn't want to be in Winnipeg?  I mean I thought O'Shea was fair to all the players but to take less to live in BC, which is more expensive to live; it's already less even at equal pay cheques.

Work. He wasn't going to start here... He will in BC, as he's taking Bighills job 

[Bigblue204]

4 minutes ago, Tehedra said:

Interestingly; this is contrary to the belief that people want to be in Winnipeg... he took less to leave the fine city of Winnipeg and our team.  Is kind of disappointing.  Any reason why he wouldn't want to be in Winnipeg?  I mean I thought O'Shea was fair to all the players but to take less to live in BC, which is more expensive to live; it's already less even at equal pay cheques.

He took less to get a chance to start. Not to leave Winnipeg.

Also see Nevis and why he choose WPG. It wasn't just the money (though I'm sure that played a bigger role)

Edited February 15, 2017 by Bigblue204

[sweep the leg]

Just now, Tehedra said:

Interestingly; this is contrary to the belief that people want to be in Winnipeg... he took less to leave the fine city of Winnipeg and our team.  Is kind of disappointing.  Any reason why he wouldn't want to be in Winnipeg?  I mean I thought O'Shea was fair to all the players but to take less to live in BC, which is more expensive to live; it's already less even at equal pay cheques.

It doesn't say he took less than the Bombers offered. Other teams also made him offers. Regardless, he's from California and will have a real chance to start out there.

[bigg jay]

He was also very complimentary to the Bombers on twitter after signing with BC.  Strictly a business decision IMO.  If he can reach his potential in BC, his next contract will reflect that I'm sure.  He wasn't going to get that same chance here based on the system they want to run.

[Fred C Dobbs]

Here's his parting tweet:

 

[sweep the leg]

30 minutes ago, voodoochylde said:

 

I find it funny that "all-star" is such a big deal for him. He was a divisional all-star. Who did he have to beat out in the East? Stephen missed a big chunk of the season in Hamilton and Ottawa switched safeties half way through the season. He got the award b/c he managed to play an entire season.

[mbrg]

1 hour ago, sweep the leg said:

John Hodge of 3downnation says the extension of Chungh is the only thing that kept FA from being a "disaster" for the Bombers. That seems strong...

There wasn't a lot for the Bombers to accomplish in FA.  For the same reason that the Stamps aren't making a bunch of signings (wish it was we're already the best team in the league, but no) - most of the spots on our 2017 roster are full.  We decided we didn't want Bass, so what one person considers a disaster the Bombers consider it as going exactly according to what they intended.

Okpolaugo filled a spot.  Nevis fills a spot.  Darvin Adams was re-signed a month ago.  Nichols was extended a month ago.  Our entire starting Oline under contract, with our two starting NI's Chungh and Goossen both extended.  Bryant and Medlock shuffled around and still under contract.  Harris here for two more years.  Hurl and Briggs re-signed.

Other than Nevis, free agency was about some depth.  We still take runs at a few guys like LaFrance and Westerman but both have a $$ limit on how aggressive we can be,

So what's left?  I assume we will continue to try and figure something out with Denmark, but if the Argos plop a big bag of money in front of him he's gone.  Middle linebacker?  Is there one on the market who suits our needs?  Oline depth?  With Couture, Indzandt and Neufeld as depth and two first round picks in the upcoming draft, I don't see a need that justifies the money.

So a NI DT and #2 RB would still be nice, and we still have room for a QB on the roster.

With Fantuz injured there aren't any NI receivers that are a big deal other than Durie and Getzlaf,  After that the biggest name out there is Kohlert.  Maybe Bailey can be picked up economically, but nothing happens economically on day one of free agency, so if Bailey is the guy people want to see here there will have to be some amount of patience.

Not really a freak-out day from my perspective.  We have a draft and about 20 NCAA signings to come before this roster is ready for camp.

[Atomic]

I don't like seeing Sask adding all this talent.

[sweep the leg]

Just now, Atomic said:

I don't like seeing Sask adding all this talent.

They signed a bunch of talented players in fa last year too and it blew up in their faces, so I'm taking the wait and see approach with them. Dennis should really help them, but Lafrance & their new safety both get mehs from me.

[Jimmy Pop]

I guess what I'm wondering - and yeah, yeah I get it's February - are we better now than we were at the end of last season?  Does Nevis & Okpalaugo improve the pass rush enough and how do they fit Hall's scheme?  Seems like we still need some help at LB.  Defence in general got picked on a lot last year, often made to look better than they were because of TO's generated, IMO. 

Our offence seems to me to be a game-managing type unit over one that'll go toe-to-toe with the league's elite. Receivers are good, but not great. QB is good, but not great. LaPo is Lapo. We need another monster year from Harris, and hope he stays healthy. 

It is nice to have a cohesive team for a change, though.  We should be able to come out of the gate strong given we'll have less new pieces to work in. 

[Goalie]

Anyone have any updates on the Matt black and Cory greenwood rumors? 

[TBURGESS]

The LaFrance situation reminds me a lot of the the Hurl situation when he signed with us. Paid like a starter and using him as a ratio breaker before he's proved he can be a starter. Could go either way for the Riders.