Former Bombers in NFL (and spring leagues) news

[Bigblue204]

16 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

We pushed him out the door. We offered him 3rd string money and told him he would have to jump through hoops to get it.

As a base contract. Incentives brought it up significantly. "Jump through hoops" to prove he's committed because his actions the year previously not only hurt the on field product but also led to a loss of trust and questions about his commitment to football. 

[Fatty Liver]

2 hours ago, Booch said:

likely not....not a Canadian anyway...but he will be replaced by a league minimum...so 50K of allotted SM can go right to Schoen...that alone will get him to 120kish and with other vets likely seeing the road, it's pretty easy for us to lump 60 to 80k more

I don't believe any receiver is worth $300k, but here we are.  Your addition comes out to around $200k for Schoen, that might not be enough to retain him if another team offers him $250k+, which he deserves.  Demski is locked in and Bailey already sacrificed salary to help pay for Lawler, Woli is getting paid journeyman wages for his contribution which is fitting.  Deleting Augustine won't do it, if they want to retain Schoen and pay Lawler another big salary player will have to go.  That means Jefferson, Jeffcoat, Biggie or Bryant, I would pick the last two as logical retirements at the end of this season.  For Stanley it's time, and for Biggie he's probably making more off the field than on at this point in his life.  The only reason for him to carry on playing another season is for the love of the game.

[Stickem]

No way we let Schoen walk.....Walters will find a way and I see us finding the cash to keep him with retirement leading the way...Also there will be a few guys heading down the road through fa that will free up money....Maybe not big monied players BUT cumulative losses of  lesser salaried guys moving on...Kyle will get it done

[Booch]

12 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

I don't believe any receiver is worth $300k, but here we are.  Your addition comes out to around $200k for Schoen, that might not be enough to retain him if another team offers him $250k+, which he deserves.  Demski is locked in and Bailey already sacrificed salary to help pay for Lawler, Woli is getting paid journeyman wages for his contribution which is fitting.  Deleting Augustine won't do it, if they want to retain Schoen and pay Lawler another big salary player will have to go.  That means Jefferson, Jeffcoat, Biggie or Bryant, I would pick the last two as logical retirements at the end of this season.  For Stanley it's time, and for Biggie he's probably making more off the field than on at this point in his life.  The only reason for him to carry on playing another season is for the love of the game.

I'm thinking it will be Neuf as we need to get Eli and Dobson in the lineup....Neuf off the books will be in the 130-140k range as well, so Neuf and JA alone frees up minimum 250k (JA budgeted 120k and Neuf assumed min of 130k) and do we keep Kolo as the extra Oline guy, as I am sure he isnt costing much....or we go with a draftee, or a FA pickup for cheaper....would assume Kola has to be around 100k

I also thinking we move on from Briggs, as it was touch and go if he came back this year so he's likely in the 100k area, and assume Lawrence and Darby are likely gone and combined I am sure thats another 170k minimum there as well, and the team I would think move on from Thomas as well, if he doesn't just retire.....he really is a pointless player now when we should be developing a young guy...so a conservative estimate is likely 100k??...he's been here for 11 yrs, so that seems likely..if not a shave higher considering he is deemed a starting CDN

so looking at those rough estimates/guess's there is a potential for around 720k to come off the books in veteran salaries 

I don't see moving away from either of Jeffcoat and WJ next yr. especially if Jeffcoat plays out the yr not getting hurt and is his dominant self....both are here on team friendly but fair contracts, and would expect the same again, 

I don't see Biggie hanging them up after this, why would/should he, and Big Stan said he likely will play until his body says he can't/shouldn't and he has said he feels just fine...that being said if we win this yr....he may go out on top....and his 190k i sure would be put to good use.

Miller tho is a guy that I could see hanging them up....not even sure what his injury even is but seems odd when you see him and nothing appears to be hindering him.

Fact of the matter, we have a likely access to all the SMS cash we need to retain who we want...bump up who needs a bump, and chase a target in free agency

[17to85]

Yeah sooner or later the long in the tooth guys will be gone. Neufeld might be the most consistent OL this year but at some point he will be done making way for eli/Dobson.  Bighill can't play forever. And on and on it goes. It falls on Kyle walters to ensure we have young cheap players ready to go when that happens.

[Booch]

yup....and you dont want to block young talent from getting that experience and getting better in their prime yrs, you need to maximize them when you can.

Walters has done a good job reloading, so expect much the same, and the fact guys will sign here for a bit less....also helps, but thats also due to the environment Walters on down has created here

[Bigblue204]

The only reason Bailey is on the team THIS year is because he took less money. That won't happen again and I don't see the bombers upping their offer. He's good as gone imo.

[blue85gold]

2 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

The only reason Bailey is on the team THIS year is because he took less money. That won't happen again and I don't see the bombers upping their offer. He's good as gone imo.

Why not? He clearly like being a Bomber

[GCn20]

15 minutes ago, Booch said:

I'm thinking it will be Neuf as we need to get Eli and Dobson in the lineup....Neuf off the books will be in the 130-140k range as well, so Neuf and JA alone frees up minimum 250k (JA budgeted 120k and Neuf assumed min of 130k) and do we keep Kolo as the extra Oline guy, as I am sure he isnt costing much....or we go with a draftee, or a FA pickup for cheaper....would assume Kola has to be around 100k

I also thinking we move on from Briggs, as it was touch and go if he came back this year so he's likely in the 100k area, and assume Lawrence and Darby are likely gone and combined I am sure thats another 170k minimum there as well, and the team I would think move on from Thomas as well, if he doesn't just retire.....he really is a pointless player now when we should be developing a young guy...so a conservative estimate is likely 100k??...he's been here for 11 yrs, so that seems likely..if not a shave higher considering he is deemed a starting CDN

so looking at those rough estimates/guess's there is a potential for around 720k to come off the books in veteran salaries 

I don't see moving away from either of Jeffcoat and WJ next yr. especially if Jeffcoat plays out the yr not getting hurt and is his dominant self....both are here on team friendly but fair contracts, and would expect the same again, 

I don't see Biggie hanging them up after this, why would/should he, and Big Stan said he likely will play until his body says he can't/shouldn't and he has said he feels just fine...that being said if we win this yr....he may go out on top....and his 190k i sure would be put to good use.

Miller tho is a guy that I could see hanging them up....not even sure what his injury even is but seems odd when you see him and nothing appears to be hindering him.

Fact of the matter, we have a likely access to all the SMS cash we need to retain who we want...bump up who needs a bump, and chase a target in free agency

For sure we can up Schoen if we want to, but it means our recruitment will need to be top notch and some vets will need to effectively moved on from.

15 minutes ago, Booch said:

I'm thinking it will be Neuf as we need to get Eli and Dobson in the lineup....Neuf off the books will be in the 130-140k range as well, so Neuf and JA alone frees up minimum 250k (JA budgeted 120k and Neuf assumed min of 130k) and do we keep Kolo as the extra Oline guy, as I am sure he isnt costing much....or we go with a draftee, or a FA pickup for cheaper....would assume Kola has to be around 100k

I also thinking we move on from Briggs, as it was touch and go if he came back this year so he's likely in the 100k area, and assume Lawrence and Darby are likely gone and combined I am sure thats another 170k minimum there as well, and the team I would think move on from Thomas as well, if he doesn't just retire.....he really is a pointless player now when we should be developing a young guy...so a conservative estimate is likely 100k??...he's been here for 11 yrs, so that seems likely..if not a shave higher considering he is deemed a starting CDN

so looking at those rough estimates/guess's there is a potential for around 720k to come off the books in veteran salaries 

I don't see moving away from either of Jeffcoat and WJ next yr. especially if Jeffcoat plays out the yr not getting hurt and is his dominant self....both are here on team friendly but fair contracts, and would expect the same again, 

I don't see Biggie hanging them up after this, why would/should he, and Big Stan said he likely will play until his body says he can't/shouldn't and he has said he feels just fine...that being said if we win this yr....he may go out on top....and his 190k i sure would be put to good use.

Miller tho is a guy that I could see hanging them up....not even sure what his injury even is but seems odd when you see him and nothing appears to be hindering him.

Fact of the matter, we have a likely access to all the SMS cash we need to retain who we want...bump up who needs a bump, and chase a target in free agency

I find a FA spend highly unlikely. You've named 8 guys. That's still 560k to replace them at rookie salary.

Edited August 31, 2023 by GCn20

[WinnipegGordo]

Good as place as any to put this:

 

[Booch]

both those leagues will disappear by next yr

[Noeller]

he had a follow up tweet saying that he's really glad the CFL never went the way of being an official development league for the NFL, and I thought to myself "That's the most pro-CFL thing Dave Naylor has ever said..." 

[bearpants]

23 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

In reference to Bailey. I fully expect this to be his last year as a Bomber. He'll get offered good $$ and likely a better role somewhere else. And I dont think he takes less to stay with us like he did this past off season.

18 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

The only reason Bailey is on the team THIS year is because he took less money. That won't happen again and I don't see the bombers upping their offer. He's good as gone imo.

If you listen to what Baily said after signing here... it almost sounds like he would do it for free... I don't know if there's a number that convinces him to leave... but it sure sounds like here's not here (or even playing football for that matter) for the money

[Jesse]

43 minutes ago, Noeller said:

he had a follow up tweet saying that he's really glad the CFL never went the way of being an official development league for the NFL, and I thought to myself "That's the most pro-CFL thing Dave Naylor has ever said..." 

Especially since he was banging the drum for us to merge with the XFL, lol.

[M.O.A.B.]

Bombers who are 30 and above, among them who will be on the retirement line? 

Offense: 
Bryant (37), Nefueled (34), Hardrick (33), Jackson (31), Kolankowski (31), Augustine (30), Bailey (30) 

Defense: 
Bighill (34), Briggs (33), Thomas (32), Jeffcoat (32), Jefferson (32), Darby (31), Gauthier (31), Wilson (30)

Special Team: 
Benson (36), Castillo (32)

Edited September 1, 2023 by M.O.A.B.

[Bigblue204]

30 minutes ago, bearpants said:

If you listen to what Baily said after signing here... it almost sounds like he would do it for free... I don't know if there's a number that convinces him to leave... but it sure sounds like here's not here (or even playing football for that matter) for the money

He's 100% not here for the money. He had offers on the table (ssk among them) that would have made him more $$. Saying that, I know it wasn't an easy or quick decision for him and he struggled to make it. 

We can keep saying "why wouldn't he keep taking less to stay here?" And the simple answer is.....time. he knows his window is closing, he will want that paycheck sooner than later and I think equally important to him is to have a shot at being "THE" guy. He's never going to get that here.

[Jesse]

11 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

He's 100% not here for the money. He had offers on the table (ssk among them) that would have made him more $$. Saying that, I know it wasn't an easy or quick decision for him and he struggled to make it. 

We can keep saying "why wouldn't he keep taking less to stay here?" And the simple answer is.....time. he knows his window is closing, he will want that paycheck sooner than later and I think equally important to him is to have a shot at being "THE" guy. He's never going to get that here.

He did say at the time, "he knows if he puts in the work, his time will come".

I don't  think he got quite the offers he was expecting, so ultimately decided to stay rather than take slightly more to leave. I also thing there's interna; pressure for some of these guys to keep this together while we're in our championship window. Guys putting off retirement/leaving for more money/opportunity.

I don't see how we keep the receiving core together with Kenny getting more money and Schoen deserving a massive raise. I think Zach gets more too. Something's gotta give.

[Bigblue204]

20 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I don't see how we keep the receiving core together with Kenny getting more money and Schoen deserving a massive raise. I think Zach gets more too. Something's gotta give.

Zach isn't getting more until after 2025. 

Schoen will need a raise and it will come at the expense of Bailey.

[Geebrr]

 

6 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Zach isn't getting more until after 2025. 

Schoen will need a raise and it will come at the expense of Bailey.

Or somewhere else. But, I’d be shocked if we let him get away. 
 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Geebrr

[Jesse]

2 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Zach isn't getting more until after 2025. 

Schoen will need a raise and it will come at the expense of Bailey.

You aren't getting Schoen money out of cutting Bailey.

We keep saying that Bailey took less to be here. How much more is he making than his replacement, even if we slot in a rookie in his place?

2 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Or somewhere else. But, I’d be shocked if we let him get away. 
 

I certainly hope so. But people were flabbergasted when receivers started getting 200k. Floored when they hit 300k.

But now we're going to afford 2 guys in that range? While paying Zach?

[Noeller]

re: Bailey.... yes he took less to be here. Said he had a hard time imagining himself playing anywhere else. There was also a quote around that time where he said that playing for the Bombers this year would help increase his value next offseason. He would have a better chance of putting up "money" stats this year that would really help him get paid next year. So he's at least thinking about being a star (or at least having a much higher profile) somewhere else... and I certainly don't blame him. I'd love to have him as a Bomber forever, but if he wants to go get paid elsewhere, that's his right for sure. 

[Wideleft]

12 minutes ago, Noeller said:

re: Bailey.... yes he took less to be here. Said he had a hard time imagining himself playing anywhere else. There was also a quote around that time where he said that playing for the Bombers this year would help increase his value next offseason. He would have a better chance of putting up "money" stats this year that would really help him get paid next year. So he's at least thinking about being a star (or at least having a much higher profile) somewhere else... and I certainly don't blame him. I'd love to have him as a Bomber forever, but if he wants to go get paid elsewhere, that's his right for sure. 

I'm a huge Bailey fan, but I honestly don't think he's the type of receiver that translates to a number 1 or 2 target for anyone in this league - especially at his age.

Darvin Adams had the attitude plus the speed, so I wasn't surprised he did well in Ottawa after leaving.

[Booch]

Bailey is making under 100k....I believe under 90k....but had over 100k offers....and not just over 100k....but he chose here

Schoen will need about a min 130k bump for next yr.....to put him over the 200k mark...he's going to be a 3rd yr guy next year and earning top wage....but wont be "the" top wage....as that woukd really throw the receiver market out of whack more than it is....tenure still matters

JA salary alone has basically the bulk of his bump covered....and yeah you can say...ya but the we need to replace him...well his spot will likely be filled by a guy already here...Murphy/Kelly who knows even Burtenshaw...it's not like we need to "find" and additional salary on top of everything...his roster spot needs to be filed...not per say his position, and if we continue to use a Mcrae type guy, or a new cheaper import to have as a backup....so be it then...Thats a salary we already are carrying

Next yr will be some transition for getting guys experience for the 2025 run, and likely Thomas...Kolo...Miller...Briggs...Lawrence...Darby...likely Neuf...Gauthier...are gone...all vet salaries.....and if Bryant does hang em up, well there is Schoen's salary right there....we always are able to retain who we feel we have to, give whoever needs a bump a bump, and still have some left to look around with, and that won't change

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

You aren't getting Schoen money out of cutting Bailey.

We keep saying that Bailey took less to be here. How much more is he making than his replacement, even if we slot in a rookie in his place?

I certainly hope so. But people were flabbergasted when receivers started getting 200k. Floored when they hit 300k.

But now we're going to afford 2 guys in that range? While paying Zach?

Oh for sure. But it will be part of it. Baileys replacement will be a younger guy/and or someone already on the roster 

[Fatty Liver]

8 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Good as place as any to put this:

 

Looks like Lucky Jackson who tried out for the Bombers in 2022 and played a few games for the Elks made the Vikings PR. If it wasn't for the arrival of Schoen he might still be a Bomber.