2023/2024 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread (BRADY’S BACK! DALTON’S BACK!)

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The issue at his position is the likelihood of injury and availability of replacements.  The guys at that position turn over in all leagues every 3ish years.  Nobody wants to commit a ton of money when most years teams need 2-3 or more guys to get through a season at that spot.

The only place I could see him be the kind of missing piece is BC.  But they will have to spend a lot to keep their D somewhat intact.

BC allowed Butler to walk away and sign with Hamilton for $116k in hard money, $133k max. value.  Dumb move but I can't see them offering Brady big bucks when a much cheaper Dedrick Mills might be on their radar.

Stanback was the highest paid RB in the league last season, and not a great value at $160k in hard money and $170k max. value.  I could see Brady shooting for $185k, just can't see any team other than the Bombers being very interested in him.  Maybe the Als if they cut Stanback, they could pair Brady with Antwi.

Edited January 11 by Fatty Liver

[Bubba Zanetti]

oops

Edited January 11 by Bubba Zanetti

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

And as we know now, it was Brady that the Argos wanted initially, but when he chose to re sign in Winnipeg, the Argos took the leftover Harris. So they definitely see value in him. Just a matter of whether they feel comfortable going with Ouellette.

Never heard this before, where did you get it from?  Find it hard to believe considering this was well before Brady "found his game" and became an effective running back.

[Piggy 1]

25 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

I would think that his recent twitter comments may rub more than a few players the wrong way too. A lot of the guys in the Bomber locker room have taken less money to come back here for the betterment of the team. Passing up more cash elsewhere to win with their brothers. And then youve got BO throwing up money bag emojis online essentially teasing about going to the highest bidder. Not great optics and bound to irritate the guys who have done the complete opposite for the better of the team.

Was quite disappointed when I saw that........

[Jesse]

30 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

I would think that his recent twitter comments may rub more than a few players the wrong way too. A lot of the guys in the Bomber locker room have taken less money to come back here for the betterment of the team. Passing up more cash elsewhere to win with their brothers. And then youve got BO throwing up money bag emojis online essentially teasing about going to the highest bidder. Not great optics and bound to irritate the guys who have done the complete opposite for the better of the team.

This isn't really true. We've consistently paid guys at the top of the pay scale to get them here and keep them here. 

[Bubba Zanetti]

56 minutes ago, Piggy 1 said:

Was quite disappointed when I saw that........

Yeah, he's really done a 180 attitude wise by the looks of it. Went from a humble guy crying in the RB coaches office, wondering if he can even be a professional football player, to a money bag emoji guy looking to go to the highest bidder. Its amazing what 1500 rushing yards will do.

50 minutes ago, Jesse said:

This isn't really true. We've consistently paid guys at the top of the pay scale to get them here and keep them here. 

Ummm, its 100% true that there are numerous Bomber players who have taken less money to come back during the current almost-dynasty.

Edited January 11 by Bubba Zanetti

[Jesse]

2 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Ummm, its 100% true that there are currently numerous Bomber players who have taken less money to come back during the current almost-dynasty.

I keep hearing that. But we had to make Zach the highest paid player in the league, we've made both Willie and Adam the highest paid defensive players at different times. Kenny left for more money and only came back when we paid him 300+ (saying he left money isn't the only thing that matters but contract saying otherwise). Everyone says Bailey came back for less money, but he went into FA and then came back so I honestly just believe the offers out there just weren't what he thought they'd be.

Who's taken less money to be here?

[bustamente]

Money makes the world go around and he wants his, can't blame everyone else would do the same, it's a short career and after football I don't think he'll have the opportunities that football gives him.

[Noeller]

20 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Never heard this before, where did you get it from?  Find it hard to believe considering this was well before Brady "found his game" and became an effective running back.

I believe it was during GC week, when there were numerous interviews with Brady O.... they approached him first, and he decided not to go, so they took Harris instead. For what it's worth, I'm 99% sure the quote is directly from Brady. 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

I think a rookie impact Imp Rb is exactly what we need. Cap friendly rookie contract locked up for 2+ years.  Disperse the savings to other areas of need. 

[Jesse]

3 minutes ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

I think a rookie impact Imp Rb is exactly what we need. Cap friendly rookie contract locked up for 2+ years.  Disperse the savings to other areas of need. 

Team building wise, that would be huge.

But it only works if you hit on the rookie. Get a Dalton Schoen at the RB position.

[GCn20]

32 minutes ago, Jesse said:

This isn't really true. We've consistently paid guys at the top of the pay scale to get them here and keep them here. 

It is true. Yes, we've paid fairly but just off the top of my head both Lawler and Jefferson took less money than they were offered elsewhere to be in Winnipeg. Both players confirmed that they had better offers on the table in FA and chose to be here. That, of course, doesn't mean we didn't pay a ton for them just that others would have paid more.

Edited January 11 by GCn20

[wbbfan]

3 hours ago, JCon said:

Go to Florida and say, you're recruiting for running backs. Take the best one (heck take three). Profit. 

You could go to Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, either Carolina, Arizona, Maryland, or Tennessee and have a free agent camp for RBs, and get 5 nfl roster quality players, 2-3 starter to star calibre cfl RBs, and 0-1 nfl star quality RBs. 
 Seriously. The main issue will be how many can cross the border, will do the work to come up here, are willing to pay the taxes and actually come up. Cut those numbers in half for those guys, and you still have 60+ available guys under 26/27 with reasonable to minimal wear. 
 Rb is that deep currently. Also in the cfl basically all style of back are viable. cut back runner, scat back, power back you name it. Sub par top gear? Not a prohibitive factor. 

 

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

I think B.O. comes back ,   three year deal that pays him a fair price.  

Probably. I wonder what fair price is though. 

[HardCoreBlue]

18 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Money makes the world go around and he wants his, can't blame everyone else would do the same, it's a short career and after football I don't think he'll have the opportunities that football gives him.

Absolutely, but in some cases like this one in particular, its not the what he's doing, its the how he's doing it. But at EOD to each their own. 

[wbbfan]

44 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

BC allowed Butler to walk away and sign with Hamilton for $116k in hard money, $133k max. value.  Dumb move but I can't see them offering Brady big bucks when a much cheaper Dedrick Mills might be on their radar.

Stanback was the highest paid RB in the league last season, and not a great value at $160k in hard money and $170k max. value.  I could see Brady shooting for $185k, just can't see any team other than the Bombers being very interested in him.  Maybe the Als if they cut Stanback, they could pair Brady with Antwi.

Teams like bc and Hamilton have been over paying and giving up on RBs back and forth. Ott, ssk, edm too. 

8 minutes ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

I think a rookie impact Imp Rb is exactly what we need. Cap friendly rookie contract locked up for 2+ years.  Disperse the savings to other areas of need. 

Yeah, honestly the home run ability of an imp rb would be nuts too. but I don’t expect it to happen. 
 

Im not on the instatwittergrams and I greatly appreciate when people post news stuffs from the reputable guys. But honestly life as a sports fan is way better removed from athletes social media. 

[Jesse]

2 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

It is true. Yes, we've paid fairly but just off the top of my head both Lawler and Jefferson took less money than they were offered elsewhere to be in Winnipeg. Both players confirmed this.

Maybe in a very literal sense some players were offered "more".

This just might be me, but if Toronto offers Kenny 310 and we offer him 305 (especially considering the cost of living between the two cities, I don't really feel as if the player accepted less to be here. Same thing with Willie. We made him the highest paid defensive player in the league when he came here. If teams ever offered more than we did, it certainly wasn't by anything significant. 

[Goalie]

1 minute ago, Jesse said:

Maybe in a very literal sense some players were offered "more".

This just might be me, but if Toronto offers Kenny 310 and we offer him 305 (especially considering the cost of living between the two cities, I don't really feel as if the player accepted less to be here. Same thing with Willie. We made him the highest paid defensive player in the league when he came here. If teams ever offered more than we did, it certainly wasn't by anything significant. 

The weird part of your analogy here. I’ll relate it to the nhl. The Jets have zero guys making 10 million plus per year. Helle and Scheif at 8.5. 
 

now look at Toronto. 3 guys maybe 4 making over 10 million per. Over 11 even. 
 

is it cost of living or is it just poor cap management 

[Bubba Zanetti]

37 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I keep hearing that. But we had to make Zach the highest paid player in the league, we've made both Willie and Adam the highest paid defensive players at different times. Kenny left for more money and only came back when we paid him 300+ (saying he left money isn't the only thing that matters but contract saying otherwise). Everyone says Bailey came back for less money, but he went into FA and then came back so I honestly just believe the offers out there just weren't what he thought they'd be.

Who's taken less money to be here?

Its pretty common knowledge that Bailey, Jefferson, and Lawler were offered more elsewhere. Hardrick as well. And im sure there are more guys who could have gotten more but didnt bother going to free agency in order to keep the dynasty alive with their brothers.

Edited January 11 by Bubba Zanetti

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

BC allowed Butler to walk away and sign with Hamilton for $116k in hard money, $133k max. value.  Dumb move but I can't see them offering Brady big bucks when a much cheaper Dedrick Mills might be on their radar.

Stanback was the highest paid RB in the league last season, and not a great value at $160k in hard money and $170k max. value.  I could see Brady shooting for $185k, just can't see any team other than the Bombers being very interested in him.  Maybe the Als if they cut Stanback, they could pair Brady with Antwi.

Oliviera is at least a couple levels above Butler and Mills.  And Canadian which is a big deal when they are struggling to fill OL.  So play another cheaper and likely better import OL on the interior and pay the Canadian back,

[Dr Zaius]

12 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Its pretty common knowledge that Bailey, Jefferson, and Lawler were offered more elsewhere. Hardrick as well. And im sure there are more guys who could have gotten more but didnt bother going to free agency in order to keep the dynasty alive with their brothers.

Yup. Lawler took a discount

https://3downnation.com/2023/04/16/bombers-kenny-lawler-took-hometown-discount-told-his-agent-i-want-to-be-in-winnipeg/

[17to85]

3 hours ago, JCon said:

Go to Florida and say, you're recruiting for running backs. Take the best one (heck take three). Profit. 

Don't steal Danny mac's gig...

[bigg jay]

 

24 minutes ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Its pretty common knowledge that Bailey, Jefferson, and Lawler were offered more elsewhere. Hardrick as well. And im sure there are more guys who could have gotten more but didnt bother going to free agency in order to keep the dynasty alive with their brothers.

Yup, Bighill (although he's very well paid) is another one who has basically said he took less to stay in Winnipeg in the past. He's never gotten to free agency since being here so we'll never know for sure what offers he could have gotten (I'm sure he does though).  Here's a quote from him about it from a couple years ago.

Quote

"As far as maximizing value, no, I don't think I maximized my value. I think the only way you can do that is by going to free agency. For me, it's not always about maximizing my value on the open market.

"There's a lot more that goes into it for me ... I do like being in Winnipeg and I love the fanbase, I love the community, I love being a big part of this franchise. I put a lot of value into those, I guess is what I am saying, as opposed to contract dollars in some respects."

 

Edited January 11 by bigg jay

[WinnipegGordo]

Talking about money and seeing a handfull of QBs around the league restructuring their deals, is there any chance Zach does so as well? 

Shaving 100k off Zach's contract would definitely help bring some of the other guys back.

 

 

[bustamente]

It's cautionary tale don't take it personally if Brady tries to land a gig in the NFL or goes to the highest bidder in the CFL happens all the time in sports.

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

The weird part of your analogy here. I’ll relate it to the nhl. The Jets have zero guys making 10 million plus per year. Helle and Scheif at 8.5. 
 

now look at Toronto. 3 guys maybe 4 making over 10 million per. Over 11 even. 
 

is it cost of living or is it just poor cap management 

Or are they far better players than anyone on the Jets who would get that money anywhere?

The Leafs haven't overpaid.  They just haven't used their assets to build the best roster.  They really needed to move Marner or Nylander to turn that into D/goalie.