Free Agency Performance: GM Walters

[BigBlue]

I for one am feeling like we have a real GM that is building the long term future of our Blue. I think we filled a couple of our biggest holes and yet didn't break the bank and hamstring us over one player. Could we  have done better? Yes possibly but we didn't do half bad either.

[wbbfan]

Grade A off season in my books. The draft could change that up or down a bit. 

[Taynted_Fayth]

I voted somewhat satisfied, need to pull that trigger on Laing or Cash and complete our D line. Thomas starting just doesnt cut it for me.  If he signs either i'd bump my vote up to happily satisfied

[Jesse]

6 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I voted somewhat satisfied, need to pull that trigger on Laing or Cash and complete our D line. Thomas starting just doesnt cut it for me.  If he signs either i'd bump my vote up to happily satisfied

Can't pay big money on all 4 positions.

that would be nuts.

[Taynted_Fayth]

25 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Can't pay big money on all 4 positions.

that would be nuts.

would offering him similar to Nevis (125K) be considered too much?

[JuranBoldenRules]

52 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I voted somewhat satisfied, need to pull that trigger on Laing or Cash and complete our D line. Thomas starting just doesnt cut it for me.  If he signs either i'd bump my vote up to happily satisfied

Not sure why Laing is so coveted personally.  Clearly the CFL teams aren't beating down his doors with offers that are that great. 

In the end Thomas won't be playing more than he ever has.  You'll have a rotation of a few Canadians on D to make the ratio work along with the spots that are every down, and depending on the draft those reps could be shared more between DL or LB or dime.

Edited February 18, 2017 by JuranBoldenRules

[Taynted_Fayth]

4 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Not sure why Laing is so coveted personally.  Clearly the CFL teams aren't beating down his doors with offers that are that great. 

In the end Thomas won't be playing more than he ever has.  You'll have a rotation of a few Canadians on D to make the ratio work along with the spots that are every down, and depending on the draft those reps could be shared more between DL or LB or dime.

my understanding is he has NFL interest again, also heard he's got a gentlemen's agreement with  Ottawa if it doesn't pan out,  but he is better then Thomas and wouldn't need to rotate.  I suppose we could draft Eli Ankou, but having drafted Corney already, how many projects do we need on the DL? Granted Corney is a DE, I would still rather we draft an OL and possibly the best receiver available with our 6th pick

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 minute ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

my understanding is he has NFL interest again, also heard he's got a gentlemen's agreement with  Ottawa if it doesn't pan out,  but he is better then Thomas and wouldn't need to rotate.  I suppose we could draft Eli Ankou, but having drafted Corney already, how many projects do we need on the DL? Granted Corney is a DE, I would still rather we draft an OL and possibly the best receiver available with our 6th pick

Why are they "projects?" 

There's a handful of DL and LB in this draft that could likely fill a need for us.  And guys like Waggoner, Hurl, Jones who can play a role.

I think the Bombers are in one hell of a good position to add to their Canadian crew which is already relatively strong.  There's also a dozen American guys you've never heard of who are going to come in and compete for jobs.  They might even be better than Cash or Laing.  I don't think the Bombers are in a position to need to pay the premium on those guys.  

[Taynted_Fayth]

9 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Why are they "projects?" 

There's a handful of DL and LB in this draft that could likely fill a need for us.  And guys like Waggoner, Hurl, Jones who can play a role.

I think the Bombers are in one hell of a good position to add to their Canadian crew which is already relatively strong.  There's also a dozen American guys you've never heard of who are going to come in and compete for jobs.  They might even be better than Cash or Laing.  I don't think the Bombers are in a position to need to pay the premium on those guys.  

Well with Laing he is a NI and a proven commodity (had a great year in 2015 with TO before testing the NFL) , he would be my first pick.

 I consider most rookies "projects" because for the most part they don't start and even if you have to start them for whatever reason,  it's much more rare to get a Loffler then it is to get a Waggoner - who really only sees the field on teams. 

I suppose we could recruit a import DT as you say, but I'm not sure if walters has a good pipeline for DL,  practically everyone he's brought in has been through FA,  even Thomas himself was a 2012 draft pick, a year before Walters took over as GM.  I like Corney and think Thomas in his current role of spelling guys off for a few downs is good, but we can certainly upgrade and make our DL something monsterous

Edited February 18, 2017 by Taynted_Fayth

[Jesse]

55 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

would offering him similar to Nevis (125K) be considered too much?

Well, yes it would.

and I'd say 125 is closer to what Thomas is making than what it would take to lure Laing into the picture.

[Goalie]

Very satisfied. 

How can't you be 

I'm including OKP and extending Chungh. I'd have been cool with just that.  But adding a run stopping DT also... solid. Adding depth with Coates and Lefevour?  That's awesome. 

What more can you really expect... I guess we could have signed everyone like Montreal and Saskatchewan did but. .. our moves actually made sense. Saskatchewan adding receivers and Montreal signing every DL possible doesn't or like Ottawa and be like hmm after every move. Ours made sense. I'd actually say us and BC made the most sensible signings. 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Goalie

[Noeller]

All the talking heads seem to think the Bombers go DL at #1...likely a big reason we don't make a play for a vet one... 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Noeller

[IC Khari]

There are 3 DL in the top ten rankings for the draft and two rec (Auclair at num 2 is a TE) so the Bombers are set up to fill some needs. Wonder if they will pass on Senior, the 6'5" OT ranked number 1? Will be very interesting ...

Edited February 18, 2017 by IC Khari

[Mark F]

Agree with Taynted.

I voted other, explanation, D line, will have to wait and see;

 

If it isn't any better, team will not do well. Our defence wasn't very good last season, and part of the reason was D line.

Have to wait because, finding someone for the D line has been a problem for this team the last few years.

Other than Westerman and Thomas, nothing has really worked out that well. It's been a few years now; not sure why it's been a rough spot for Walters and the scouts. Been through a lot of guys on the D line over the last few years, and so far, they haven't been that good, not good enough to contribute to stopping the run, or to get regular pressure on the passer.

 

But I'm hopeful about Nevis because Jason Vega said in a tweet, that Jason played with him .... and thinks he's a good player.

 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Mark F

[JuranBoldenRules]

They basically signed the best rush end and DT available on the market.  This thread is absurd.

[Mark F]

17 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

They basically signed the best rush end and DT available on the market.  This thread is absurd.

Aburd thread.... What's new about that? and I think you're being a bit harsh, most of the comments agree, all is great, so it's just an absurd comment, not thread.

I should list all of the players that they've had on the roster playing D line for the last three seasons. 

Anyway, you're probably right about the two guys they got.

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Mark F

[TBURGESS]

Any way to change your vote after you think about it for a while? I'd like to move down one to somewhat satisfied.

We signed highly ranked, highly paid DT and DE and lost 2 highly ranked, highly paid DT's. So that's even.

LeFevour < Glenn

Coates < Kohlert

Now that we've signed all of last years receivers, does Stafford even make the game day roster? If so, who does he replace?

Extending Chungh was a great move, but that doesn't make us better than last year.

Medlock and Bryant were extended to move some of their salaries from the 2016 to the 2017 SMS. I can't call that great GM'ing.

Extending the rest of the players we did doesn't make us any better.

Losing Bass, Burnett and McDuffie makes us worse.

Overall, slightly worse personal wise. A stay the course off season on a team that was just happy to make the playoffs last year then went one and done. It looks like we are counting on doing the same things and getting better results or other teams taking a step backwards this year.

[rebusrankin]

Does the loss of Bass make us worse? He's more of a WIL than a Mac and we have Wild to play Wil. Bass also missed a lot of tackles.

Ignoring rankings and basing it on recent play, going from Shologan/Cummings to Nevis/Okap is an upgrade.

Stafford gives us another big receiver (something we've lacked). He may or may not make the game day roster but if Walters stands pat, I'll bet a ton of poster ***** he did nothing.

 

Glenn's a bigger name than Lefevour but at this point is he a better player? Lefevour gives the club a more mobile, athletic option.

 

We've got 3 picks in the top 15 and hey, free agency isn't over.

[TBURGESS]

7 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Does the loss of Bass make us worse? He's more of a WIL than a Mac and we have Wild to play Wil. Bass also missed a lot of tackles.

Ignoring rankings and basing it on recent play, going from Shologan/Cummings to Nevis/Okap is an upgrade.

Stafford gives us another big receiver (something we've lacked). He may or may not make the game day roster but if Walters stands pat, I'll bet a ton of poster ***** he did nothing.

 

Glenn's a bigger name than Lefevour but at this point is he a better player? Lefevour gives the club a more mobile, athletic option.

 

We've got 3 picks in the top 15 and hey, free agency isn't over.

Look at the top guys in the missed tackle category and you'll find some very good players that get to ball carriers that lesser players can't.  

Look at Shologan/Cummings stats when they came to the Bombers. You'll find that they were way better than the stats they put up last year. I guess you can blame the players, but it's more likely the system IMO.

LeFevour is certainly more mobile and athletic, but Glenn's been the best insurance policy in the league for years. The only place that I give LeFevour the edge is on short yardage. Glenn is a starting QB again and LeFevour is fighting for the #2 or #3 spot.

The best players in FA have already been taken.

You can't give points for things that haven't happened yet.

[M.O.A.B.]

I voted "Somewhat Satisfied"

I would like the Bombers to make a run for some "high-end" players but they either have no interest or the $$$ doesn't make sense for them. Although, they've landed some free-agent to issue some need - Okpalaugo, Nevis, LeFevour and depth - Stafford, Denmark, Hurl & Coates. 

Walters, has been very vocal about imitating how Huff & Co is doing their business and I think he is very true to his word. And I realized that as this Bombers  team moves toward this direction and get more and more confident in their own scouting and drafting process the lesser we see action during free-agency. To me, that's more important. 

 

Edited February 18, 2017 by M.O.A.B.

[JuranBoldenRules]

Shologan is garbage and was garbage.  Anyone fretting about losing our DT's and a couple LB's from last year should watch what happened anytime an opposing team started running the ball us.

Stats are basically meaningless for DT's.  If a guy gets a sack every other game he has 9 and that looks great but if he gets washed out of his gap every other play (25 plays a game) you can't find that on cfl.ca.

[Floyd]

Mark Nelson's DL will always have better stats than Richie Hall's.... unless Hall's defence is on the field ALL the time

I think Nevis is a great player but so was Cummings...  Nevis and Okpo's talent better outweigh Hall's predictability

LeFevour is a good value signing

Weird how everyone shrugs because Bass was a 'WIL' linebacker but all the guys lined up to replace him are exactly the same size and style of player.

JFG and Coates...  better hope Richards steps up...  I would have spent the money on LaFrance and run two CDN backs, move LaFrance or Normand out to Kohlert's spot half the time

Edited February 18, 2017 by Floyd

[JuranBoldenRules]

25 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Mark Nelson's DL will always have better stats than Richie Hall's.... unless Hall's defence is on the field ALL the time

I think Nevis is a great player but so was Cummings...  Nevis and Okpo's talent better outweigh Hall's predictability

LeFevour is a good value signing

Weird how everyone shrugs because Bass was a 'WIL' linebacker but all the guys lined up to replace him are exactly the same size and style of player.

JFG and Coates...  better hope Richards steps up...  I would have spent the money on LaFrance and run two CDN backs, move LaFrance or Normand out to Kohlert's spot half the time

You've watched detailed film on our LB prospects?  If not don't make things up about "style of player."  We don't know.  We can't say.  Wait and see.

I do know that Bass was on the wrong shoulder a lot of the time and gave up a lot of yards because of it despite his athleticism. I watched him play for 2 seasons. He struggled to make plays coming to the LOS and relied a lot on his feet to make up for bad reads/positioning.

[Mr Dee]

I think, in a way, Walter's efforts are being short changed. After a year of a 'close to the SMS' Walters still managed to go into Free Agency with the fewest number of potential players about to leave. In the new CFL, with the new contracts, Walters has managed to tip toe on the sideline the of who to keep and who to just let go. 

We did lose players, but except for maybe Burnett, they were accounted for. And we surely lost less than many teams, who lost far more in talent. See BC. Now, Buono has done a remarkable job in singing his own and other players to fill a need. Desjardins is proving to be more astute in handling the GM position than many thought, and even Reed is signing to improve.

But the moves Walters has made cannot be simply be dismissed as minor. Replacing Shologan alone improves the team. As to re-signing Nichols, that's good. Extending Chungh was important. And the signing of Okpalaugo was an unforseen bonus equivalent to a long TD pass and run.

A few look to maneuvering Medlock and Bryant's salaries as a weakness. Why? 

Re-signing Adams was important and maintaining our Canadian depth signings (Briggs, Hurl, Remple) continues the building of NI talent that we haven't seen in years.

And yes, Glenn is the more experienced QB, but what does that matter as an insurance policy-type player? LeFervour will fill that role quite nicely and under LaPolice, may surprise.

The team didn't go for the dynamite signings this year, but still, with the Nevis signing, the moves made so far, are sound, and look to be quite good.

Each week has seen some new players added (Will Smith, LeFervour) that were unexpected, but may be quite valuable. 

Free agency can be a crapshoot and going into that week, we fans could be seen as 'anxious'. The nerves are a little more settled now, and maybe now we can realize we do have a CFL ready GM.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2017 by Mr Dee

[Noeller]

Maybe I'm a homer, but the Will Smith signing makes me completely forget about Bass and Burnett...