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

[JCon]

Just now, Mike said:

Would people feel better if we signed Ouelette, Tim White, Dolegala and Adekele?

No. We'll behave. 

Edited February 16 by JCon

[Arnold_Palmer]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

signing some of our own are huge signings....as other teams were prepared to pay a ransom for them....thats not to be understated..those were technically 2 the top free agaents on the market this yr....can't fault us that they were our own guys

As @Mike said...Strev is a huuuge pick up...and dirt cheap...trust me when you see him this spring you will be amazed at his transformation....and he is huge for locker room continuity and keeping the culture chugging.

As much as many liked Brown....he wasn't our future....and Strev this yr is gonna offer a ton...way more than Brown would have

and yup...another huge thing is Ford back...and expect him extended at some point....he offers a ton of value and ability for us to do some different things

if any other team had signed BO...Schoen and Strev for 580k...TOTAL...We would have all said they killed it in free agency....so obviouslywe must have....no?

Agreed one hundred percent. Any time you sign the two players in free agency ( arguably two of the best players in the league period) and an established NFL vet, people would be saying you won free agency, but because all three are former Bombers the perception is a little different. 

[Booch]

10 minutes ago, Mike said:

Would people feel better if we signed Ouelette, Tim White, Dolegala and Adekele?

feel ill to be honest hahahahahaha

[Pete Catan's Ghost]

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I'm just mellowing in my advanced age. I really don't want to fight with anyone here anymore but I'll still stand my ground if need be but perhaps do so in a more respectful way. I used to think I knew it all but now I find as I get older that I'm forgetful with player names & circumstances that I used to rattle off so I'm not as smart as I thought I was. 

I’m a little alarmed that you haven't mentioned Brock in the arm strength thread. 
What’s up?

[Fatty Liver]

4 hours ago, Mike said:

Because a contract is a mutual agreement and Bailey likely won’t get a huge raise but he’s going to get a raise somewhere. He took an $80,000 pay cut last year. He deserves to go out and make his money somewhere. We can’t force him to sign here.

That can't be right, it would mean Bailey was being paid $160k or more at one time, I don't think he's ever earned near that much.  It seems he's been perpetually stuck at the bottom of the pay scale his entire career.

[JCon]

Just now, Fatty Liver said:

That can't be right, it would mean Bailey was being paid $160k or more at one time, I don't think he's ever earned near that much.  It seems he's been perpetually stuck at the bottom of the pay scale his entire career.

He took that much less. He was offered more elsewhere. 

[Bigblue204]

7 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

That can't be right, it would mean Bailey was being paid $160k or more at one time, I don't think he's ever earned near that much.  It seems he's been perpetually stuck at the bottom of the pay scale his entire career.

I think Mike meant, Bailey was offered 160-170k in last year's FA, but choose the Bombers anyway which netted him 80k less than what was on the table.

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I think that signing Schoen, and BO are two pretty big fish. Yes, they played here last year but both had hit the open market at the time we re-signed them. I mean it's not too hard to figure out why we didn't go on any kind of a spending spree, look at our roster. Compare it to other teams and you will see a great deal of the high end talent was already here. The top 2-3 teams in the league rarely get better in FA, they are fending off the jackals and hyenas from picking their roster apart. Take a look at TO, and BC who have hemmoraged top end talent in comparison, and only started adding back because they were picked over. We retained the majority of our talent and thus had little need to go splashing around in the overpriced market of FA. That being said Streveler, and Ford are two very big additions as well.

Your logic is sound, but on an emotional level, it still sucks.

[GCn20]

Just now, Tracker said:

Your logic is sound, but on an emotional level, it still sucks.

I hear ya. Every year I am hoping we go raiding, even though I logically know that it's probably a bad idea for Walters to do so.

[ddanger]

19 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Both right and wrong imo. He was sub par for a fb / teams specialist no matter the passport. Taking a di spot only made it soo much worse. If he had become a strong kick cover guy and been a mike sellers blocking it’s a different story. 
 

Yep Wilson and barriere. I’d be stunned if we didn’t break camp with Eric Barriere as qb3/pr. He smashed Nichols and blms records at eastern Washington a powerhouse developmental pipe line for the cfl. He had a bunch of nfl looks and interest. Blue chip passing prospect. 
 Terry Wilson is no slouch either. 4 star recruit headed for Nebraska who flipped to Oregon. Red shirted then Oregon fired coach frost and the team wanted to go in a different direction. Went to juco then to Kentucky then COVID hit and ended in New Mexico. More raw version of stevy. Strong dual threat qb with great tools.

 We also have a qb who converted to wr for nfl looks iirc but had a great career too dont know if he’s planned for wr or qb. If not we might bring in one more camp arm but with the Canadian we will get from cis they might not be needed. 

Great thanks for the info. Streveler only signed a 1 year deal, so hopefully one or both of these guys can develop into a keeper!

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I hear ya. Every year I am hoping we go raiding, even though I logically know that it's probably a bad idea for Walters to do so.

I don’t even hope we raid. I hope we target one guy and bring in one key fa. 
 Idk any other team that doesn’t and relies entirely on internal development and rookie scouting. 
 

 

2 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

I think Mike meant, Bailey was offered 160-170k in last year's FA, but choose the Bombers anyway which netted him 80k less than what was on the table.

I love Bailey. Imo though he’s a max 125k range guy. And that might need to be with incentives. If any one wanted to give him a crazy deal he should’ve taken it. That’s not sustainable for him. I don’t think he will see 130k offer from any one this year. And Tim white is only hurting his value. 

[Fatty Liver]

8 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I don’t even hope we raid. I hope we target one guy and bring in one key fa. 
 Idk any other team that doesn’t and relies entirely on internal development and rookie scouting. 
 

 

I love Bailey. Imo though he’s a max 125k range guy. And that might need to be with incentives. If any one wanted to give him a crazy deal he should’ve taken it. That’s not sustainable for him. I don’t think he will see 130k offer from any one this year. And Tim white is only hurting his value. 

Don't really believe that offer myself, he's a gritty receiver but probably not the clean route runner most teams would be looking for at #1 or #2 receiver spot.

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Don't really believe that offer myself, he's a gritty receiver but probably not the clean route runner most teams would be looking for at #1 or #2 receiver spot.

Yea, I don't recall ever reading any type of offer in that range. I know the Riders made him an offer and he stayed instead but the difference was nowhere near that. I wanna say they offered him 125k iirc, but I could be wrong on that. However, I think if we are throwing 160k as a number I call that erroneous without a link.

[Booch]

from what I hear he turned down 135kish from the Stamps, and there was something similar out east but not sure where

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

from what I hear he turned down 135kish from the Stamps, and there was something similar out east but not sure where

Maybe it was the Stamps I'm thinking of. 135k sounds more reasonable than 160. 160 would have put him I think as the 2nd highest receiver in FA last year. Can't see him turning it down for 85k here. That doesn't sound plausible, that double the money.

[wbbfan]

I think the question is, will Bailey retire? Didn’t he have a side gig coaching hs or some thing? 

[IC Khari]

16 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I think the question is, will Bailey retire? Didn’t he have a side gig coaching hs or some thing? 

There's always the advertising world ... 

[Piggy 1]

41 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I think the question is, will Bailey retire? Didn’t he have a side gig coaching hs or some thing? 

I'm amazed he hasn't signed yet ,but his ask might be a bit much. I still maintain a sliver of hope hes back..........

Edited February 16 by Piggy 1

[Noeller]

2 minutes ago, Piggy 1 said:

I'm amazed he hasn't signed yet ,but his ask might be a bit much. I still maintain a skiver of hope hes back..........

I feel the exact same way about Gray... curious he hasn't signed and holding out a sliver of hope. But retirement might be the likely outcome, unfortunately...

[Fatty Liver]

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

I feel the exact same way about Gray... curious he hasn't signed and holding out a sliver of hope. But retirement might be the likely outcome, unfortunately...

In the 3DN article referenced here a few days ago, it said Gray was the most expensive of the interior O-linemen, kinda hard to believe he was paid higher than Neufeld, but who knows.  He has a M. Eng. so could have forced Walters on his previous contract to match his potential earnings in that field, or he wasn't playing football anymore.  He could get a job anywhere, the determining factor whether he retires from football might be salary or his attachment to Wpg.

[IC Khari]

We haven't won the last two Grey Cups. It's time to trim a bit of the fat and see what we have in the young uns and see if this can to get us over the hump to that final step. That's exactly what  our GM is doing IMO. Not panicking ...

[Stickem]

Bailey 'could' return BUT I think we'll only re-sign him at a bargain basement price....He deserves to be paid .....Could we squeeze him in ???would be tough...Now if Zack would shave a bit of his contract like Kelly in T.O. did, we might get it done......should/could we expect it.....probably not....Kind of leaves Bailey hanging in the breeze..I feel for the guy especially knowing how much he loves his team mates and the City.....tough call...very tough

[WinnipegGordo]

Bombers signed linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel today. He spent time with the 49ers and Denver.

Interesting tidbit is he replaced Barrington Wade on the Broncos' 80 man roster.

[bustamente]

Barrington Wade, high hopes dashed so quickly.

[Fatty Liver]

31 minutes ago, Stickem said:

Bailey 'could' return BUT I think we'll only re-sign him at a bargain basement price....He deserves to be paid .....Could we squeeze him in ???would be tough...Now if Zack would shave a bit of his contract like Kelly in T.O. did, we might get it done......should/could we expect it.....probably not....Kind of leaves Bailey hanging in the breeze..I feel for the guy especially knowing how much he loves his team mates and the City.....tough call...very tough

The veteran players that put their foot in Walters door and negotiated contracts early know how the game is played, the advantage of being proactive demonstrated once again.

Edited February 16 by Fatty Liver