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

[Bigblue204]

1 minute ago, Colin Unger said:

I would assume that Acklin would be released if they signed Schoen.

I don't think Schoen is going to get anything near 300k as top receivers have got in past years.   That market had been driven up considerably by teams like Edmonton who were so lacking in talent they could afford to overpay for Lawler then Lewis. I also think that Schoen doesn't have the athletic skillset that makes teams salivate at the prospect of adding a guy like Lawler, Lewis, or even Ryhmes.   He's a quality receiver but he doesn't fly off the page and part of his success is based on the team he plays for and his connection with Zack.

This is a bad take. A rookie leading the league in yards doesn't fly off the page? And then backing it up with another fantastic season....keep in mind in his rookie campaign, he was the guy. There was no Lawler etc taking coverage away. Schoen is top 2 rec in the league right now easily. 

[Mark H.]

1 minute ago, Colin Unger said:

I also think that Schoen doesn't have the athletic skillset that makes teams salivate at the prospect of adding a guy like Lawler, Lewis, or even Ryhmes.   He's a quality receiver but he doesn't fly off the page and part of his success is based on the team he plays for and his connection with Zack.

Gotta disagree with you there.  He is at minimum top 5 in the league - there's only a few others that run routes and make catches the way he does.

[Noeller]

Schoen and Lawler are the two best receivers in the league.... with Mack gone. You can't argue this point in good faith. 

[wbbfan]

2 minutes ago, JCon said:

I would like to see receipts on despite a few people on here insisting that Brown would get signed in Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal,  Saskatchewan and Hamilton....  

 

Idk I remember seeing ott in that discussion a lot. I don’t think many people league wide though blm would be back maybe even mbt and Harris. I for sure thought we’d see some guys dip after last year but we just haven’t. It’s rare for the qb market in the cfl to shrink. 
 

and I mean if you want to talk receipts, Brady vs Augustine, every one vs fajardo, people bad mouthing Eli before he came back, an awful lot of such receipts can be called due and every poster would all the crow to eat my self included. 

[TBURGESS]

We could have upped Schoen's salary last year to get extra year(s) on the contract and didn't so IMO he goes to the highest bidder & I don't think that's going to be us.

[HardCoreBlue]

2 hours ago, CodyT said:

He's referring to Noellers response to you, presumably. 

It would be so much cooler if we could talk in person. Messages sometimes come across as very hostile, and probably are just tongue in cheek- joking tone 

That would be Golden imho. maybe one day. 🙂

[Fatty Liver]

14 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

Is the Schoen to Ottawa narrative still intact with the D Rhymes signing? If they pay up to get Schoen as well probably a good receiver or two shake free from Ottawa in the process. We don't need to have Schoen in order to remain viable. I would argue that Streveler is more important because we can't risk a situation where the season is over if Zach gets hurt by going with a bargain-bin backup qb like Prukop. I would sooner have Streveler/Acklin then Prukop/Schoen. 

I think Ottawa jumped at the early chance to grab Rhymes at a negotiated price so they wouldn't have to take the chance of getting outbid on Schoen, I think they're done.  Rhymes, Acklin, Behar, Shaq Evans, and Justin Hardy offers Brown decent targets.

[HardCoreBlue]

9 minutes ago, JCon said:

I would like to see receipts on despite a few people on here insisting that Brown would get signed in Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal,  Saskatchewan and Hamilton....  

 

I was speculating he'd go to Calgary but don't think I was insisting. 🙂

[Brandon]

14 minutes ago, JCon said:

I would like to see receipts on despite a few people on here insisting that Brown would get signed in Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal,  Saskatchewan and Hamilton....  

 

Read old Noeller & 17to85 posts to begin!     Als were going to sign him over Fajardo 

9 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

We could have upped Schoen's salary last year to get extra year(s) on the contract and didn't so IMO he goes to the highest bidder & I don't think that's going to be us.

Maybe he pulls a Lawler and gets paid huge ... then comes back to us in 2 years where he can play on a well oiled machine.  

[Noeller]

fwiw, I said Ottawa all along for Brown...... JBR was beating the drum for Calgary being a likely option, with an outside chance of Edmonton. Lots of people had different takes on it, but all along Ottawa seemed like the most likely. 

[Colin Unger]

I think that what I was saying was missed a little bit based on these responses. I think he's a top-caliber receiver.  We know that. The bombers know that. But I'm not sure that outsiders know it. In the same way he's not getting NFL interest the way a taller or faster receiver would I think other teams in the CFL aren't going to offer him Lawler or Lewis type of money. 

I don't think he's going to be holding some kind of grudge against Winnipeg for not giving him a raise last season. He's spent a year on a team with a guy like Lawler who almost ruined his career and long-term health by taking top dollar in free agency. He'd be wise to consider playoff money and his health before deciding to take top dollar. Typically in the CFL the worst sitatuion will pay you the most money and the best situation will pay you the least. 

[17to85]

25 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Read old Noeller & 17to85 posts to begin!     Als were going to sign him over Fajardo 

SHOULD

Not sure how many times you need to be corrected on this.

[Noeller]

that's a good point... if the Als were smart, they SHOULD sign anyone other than Faj, who is 9 different kinds of useless....

[WinnipegGordo]

Bombers have signed receiver Oliver Martin. He was on the team's practice roster in September when it was expanded for 30 days. 

He's the guy that caught a few passes from Rourke during the Jaguars' pre-season.

Edited January 18 by WinnipegGordo

[Noeller]

6 minutes ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Bombers have signed receiver Oliver Martin. He was on the team's practice roster in September when it was expanded for 30 days. 

He's the guy that caught a few passes from Rouke during the Jaguars' pre-season.

from 3DN back in Sept: 

The six-foot-one, 200-pound target went unselected in the 2023 NFL Draft but signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars soon thereafter. He made three catches for 17 yards during the preseason and caught a two-point conversion from former CFL quarterback Nathan Rourke.

Martin made 25 catches for 405 yards and two touchdowns over three collegiate seasons at the University of Nebraska (2020-22). He reportedly ran a 4.53-second forty-yard dash at his pro day along with a 41-inch vertical jump and an eleven-foot, two-inch broad jump.

The 24-year-old had previous stints at Michigan and Iowa before transferring to the Cornhuskers. He caught 11 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown with the Wolverines in 2018 before making five catches for 28 yards and one touchdown with the Hawkeyes in 2019.

[bustamente]

Before Brown is anointed the next great qb lets see who the Red Blacks surround him with, he had an already great team here and was plug and play.

[Super Duper Negatron]

If we lose Brown, Brady and Schoen I think it's safe to say our days of attracting players on reputation alone are over.

[BBlink]

17 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

If we lose Brown, Brady and Schoen I think it's safe to say our days of attracting players on reputation alone are over.

 

[Super Duper Negatron]

I can't help it.

[wbbfan]

40 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

If we lose Brown, Brady and Schoen I think it's safe to say our days of attracting players on reputation alone are over.

It already has been over. Largely due to only having bargain bin money in free agency, but we’ve lost far more in fa than we’ve gained every year since 21 maybe 19. Bc has taken more from us in that time than we’ve gotten out of league free agency. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

from 3DN back in Sept: 

The six-foot-one, 200-pound target went unselected in the 2023 NFL Draft but signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars soon thereafter. He made three catches for 17 yards during the preseason and caught a two-point conversion from former CFL quarterback Nathan Rourke.

Martin made 25 catches for 405 yards and two touchdowns over three collegiate seasons at the University of Nebraska (2020-22). He reportedly ran a 4.53-second forty-yard dash at his pro day along with a 41-inch vertical jump and an eleven-foot, two-inch broad jump.

The 24-year-old had previous stints at Michigan and Iowa before transferring to the Cornhuskers. He caught 11 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown with the Wolverines in 2018 before making five catches for 28 yards and one touchdown with the Hawkeyes in 2019.

Fuuuck with that explosiveness wonder if he'd be willing to convert to rush end and start eating 8 meals a day.

[bigg jay]

2 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

It already has been over. Largely due to only having bargain bin money in free agency, but we’ve lost far more in fa than we’ve gained every year since 21 maybe 19. Bc has taken more from us in that time than we’ve gotten out of league free agency. 

We've also had less holes to fill than other teams.  Other than at DT, we haven't really had a need to go hard in FA.

[JuranBoldenRules]

48 minutes ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

If we lose Brown, Brady and Schoen I think it's safe to say our days of attracting players on reputation alone are over.

Who exactly do you think we got from reputation?

Bailey hit the market and didn't have much for offers.  For an example, a guy like Bane was already getting better offers than him last year.  A guy like Alexander has been kind of a mess with injury and diminishing returns.  Didn't have much of a market.

Everyone got paid.

Brown needs to play.

[wbbfan]

14 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

We've also had less holes to fill than other teams.  Other than at DT, we haven't really had a need to go hard in FA.

True that’s a part of it as well. 

11 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Who exactly do you think we got from reputation?

Bailey hit the market and didn't have much for offers.  For an example, a guy like Bane was already getting better offers than him last year.  A guy like Alexander has been kind of a mess with injury and diminishing returns.  Didn't have much of a market.

Everyone got paid.

Brown needs to play.

Maybe Ellingson? Clement’s? Idk. 
 

I wonder if with the rookie salary floor going up, we price into Bailey. If the difference between Bailey, and a rookie is like 15-20k or less I can’t see moving on from Bailey. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

4 hours ago, BBlink said:

This Barriere fellow sounds like the most exciting QB prospect we've signed in a while. No offense to Brown.

A lot like Vernon Adams.

Low arm talent.  Did alright in Air Raid stuff just reading pre snap where the safeties were and going to prescribed route.  Didn't play much in USFL but looked extremely overmatched when he did.

Kind of guy that could be the short-yardage specialist if he picks up the wedge play.  Ran some zone read stuff so has some ability with option.

Definitely a guy that's been on CFL radar forever.  He took over for injury as a sophomore and then junior year got Eastern Washington to the FCS Championship Game where they got stomped by NDSU.

Basically if he ends up being as good as Prukop he's done alright.  Don't expect him to be slinging it out of the pocket up here, but I guess we'll see.

8 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

True that’s a part of it as well. 

Maybe Ellingson? Clement’s? Idk. 
 

I wonder if with the rookie salary floor going up, we price into Bailey. If the difference between Bailey, and a rookie is like 15-20k or less I can’t see moving on from Bailey. 

I don't see Bailey being a guy getting a lot of calls day 1 outside of Ottawa.  Bailey was huge for Brown.  What did he have, 13 or 14 catches with Brown last season?  Like 1/3 of his season total.

But I'm not sure Ottawa will pay him either.  I think like a high 90s with some bonuses kind of deal would be the ceiling for him.  Just hasn't really stepped into that #2 type receiver role whenever it's opened up for a few games.