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

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, BBlink said:

I'd consider Betts at 200k. Not anywhere near 300k. I also think he's pretty one dimensional but sometimes one dimensional players pay dividends if that's what you need

I love the talent. Idk if he’s a fifo guy, don’t have any thing to base it on, but I feel like he wouldn’t be. 
 I’d rather get benett and kongbo. 
 

16 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Both are rush ends.  Kongbo has a bit more range to play the field side if needed sometimes.

He’s also a really good run stopper at de so even if you roll small inside he can make that work and not be as much a liability in run stopping  

 

26 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

But then on O or D he only played in one spot...that he was converted to and had never played before he got here....didn't even play there in training camp or pre-season.

They liked him on special teams but his athletic limitations meant he only had utility in pretty limited spots on cover team and all return teams.

Where do you put a 6'2 295 guy on special teams?  Basically the only spot Thomas might get in is on FG team and even then that's risky.

I think they'll bring back at least one of Briggs or Gauthier.  Those guys are trying the market to see if they might slot more into someone's D than they would here.

he used to play some actually, returns two short kick offs in his career. At this point though not much he could do other than fill in for a guard. 

1 hour ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Bombers signed defensive tackle Kenneth Randall today. He was cut in training camp in 2022. Interesting that they would bring him back.

Interesting indeed. He put up good numbers last year in the usfl. Big guy too. 

[wbbfan]

20 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Really like this one^.  Hard to imagine anyone being as explosive as Grant, but this guy is a legit offensive player and has some chops on returns.  Could be the overall player they wanted Grant to be.  Wisconsin used him lots as a gadget guy, wildcat QB and Rutgers used him as a legit receiver with some of the Jet stuff too.

Yeah tough stronger than he looks north south dynamic play maker. Fairly grant like with time at grants Alma mater. A bit more twitchy and polished as a wr less as a kr imo. Tons of up side that’s a great get. 

[Booch]

47 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

They aren’t long snapping, and playing LB as far as I know.

there are several guys on the roster who can long snap....That "excuse" holds no weight

And on special teams...he did absolutely nothing....was noit key to any part of it, and he was also on a ST cover unti that sucked all yr long

And any one can play that role on offence for 6 to 7 snaps...anyone who has physicality....Again...Jackson did nothing that any Canadian...especially the fullback we had who played it all his life...and was good on teams that we dumped for no reason....Jackson was on roster soley due to Osh's boner he had for him....and we had most canadian snaps for offence and defensive plays...ST does not factor into that so again...that aspect means diddly...No team in league rosters a DA there...no one ever has...and likely no one ever will...as it's an utter waste.....except Osh...plain and simple....cut and dried.

And his reps on defence in garbage time were comical bordering on embarrasing....but I sure we gonna get that waste all yr again

, at the expense of some talent that could help us

 

[SpeedFlex27]

2 hours ago, Brandon said:

People over reacting to Thomas signing.  I'd rather they sign the guy and then bring in competition at TC and let them fight it out at that point for the depth position.    

 

Signing Thomas is like fixing a flat tire by using another flat tire. Nothing changes as we still have a flat tire. Thomas should retire so we can move on. This goes on year after year. Thomas best before date was 2019. 

[SpeedFlex27]

We need every penny to sign some key free agents. So, what do we do? We spend it on Jake Thomas?  An old, expensive & OTH DT who should have walked away from the game years ago. A signing like this is such a waste of precious $$$. 

[rebusrankin]

Free Agent Tampering period starts Sunday. Curious to see who makes offers to Brady and Dalton and for how much.

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

They also signed 5-10 receiver Aron Cruickshank from Rutgers. He was Steelers camp last year.

yeah, Kelvin McKnight as an example.

McKnight's enduring presence still boggles my mind. 

[Mike]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We need every penny to sign some key free agents. So, what do we do? We spend it on Jake Thomas?  An old, expensive & OTH DT who should have walked away from the game years ago. A signing like this is such a waste of precious $$$. 

This kind of statement is a huge indicator that you have no idea how the salary cap works.

[SpeedFlex27]

21 minutes ago, Mike said:

This kind of statement is a huge indicator that you have no idea how the salary cap works.

Well, I kinda do but yeah, I'm no expert. However, I don't think I'm completely wrong. When we spend on players that are borderline like Thomas then there's less for others. I'd have been happy if we got younger thru free agency or the draft. I do concede that you are more of an expert than I am on the draft & the salary cap. So, please explain it. I'd truly like to know how it works, though. 

Edited February 3 by SpeedFlex27

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

We need every penny to sign some key free agents. So, what do we do? We spend it on Jake Thomas?  An old, expensive & OTH DT who should have walked away from the game years ago. A signing like this is such a waste of precious $$$. 

Jake Thomas had as many sacks last season as Lorenzo Mauldin.    He isn't exactly the worst player in the league and he has the correct passport.     

Do we know what price that Jake signed for?  

 

[SpeedFlex27]

Just now, Brandon said:

Jake Thomas had as many sacks last season as Lorenzo Mauldin.    He isn't exactly the worst player in the league and he has the correct passport.     

Do we know what price that Jake signed for?  

 

Jake is Canadian so he isn't cheap. 

[TrueBlue4ever]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

there are several guys on the roster who can long snap....That "excuse" holds no weight

And on special teams...he did absolutely nothing....was noit key to any part of it, and he was also on a ST cover unti that sucked all yr long

And any one can play that role on offence for 6 to 7 snaps...anyone who has physicality....Again...Jackson did nothing that any Canadian...especially the fullback we had who played it all his life...and was good on teams that we dumped for no reason....Jackson was on roster soley due to Osh's boner he had for him....and we had most canadian snaps for offence and defensive plays...ST does not factor into that so again...that aspect means diddly...No team in league rosters a DA there...no one ever has...and likely no one ever will...as it's an utter waste.....except Osh...plain and simple....cut and dried.

And his reps on defence in garbage time were comical bordering on embarrasing....but I sure we gonna get that waste all yr again

, at the expense of some talent that could help us

 

Show me on the doll where Mike O’Shea hurt you. 

[Geebrr]

3 hours ago, Booch said:

there are several guys on the roster who can long snap....That "excuse" holds no weight

And on special teams...he did absolutely nothing....was noit key to any part of it, and he was also on a ST cover unti that sucked all yr long

And any one can play that role on offence for 6 to 7 snaps...anyone who has physicality....Again...Jackson did nothing that any Canadian...especially the fullback we had who played it all his life...and was good on teams that we dumped for no reason....Jackson was on roster soley due to Osh's boner he had for him....and we had most canadian snaps for offence and defensive plays...ST does not factor into that so again...that aspect means diddly...No team in league rosters a DA there...no one ever has...and likely no one ever will...as it's an utter waste.....except Osh...plain and simple....cut and dried.

And his reps on defence in garbage time were comical bordering on embarrasing....but I sure we gonna get that waste all yr again

, at the expense of some talent that could help us

 

But they didn’t do any of it - so your baseless speculation is irrelevant. 
 

[wbbfan]

34 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Show me on the doll where Mike O’Shea hurt you. 

Posts picture of Cody fajardo lifting the grey cup. Here! lol 

 

2 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Free Agent Tampering period starts Sunday. Curious to see who makes offers to Brady and Dalton and for how much.

I bet schoen gets a call from every single team. Chris jones probably offers him nfl back up qb money. 
 Does any one think schoen signs for less than 300k given the market the last few years if he hits fa? Is some one gonna offer him 350k? 400? I feel like we have to be at the ceiling for wr contracts at 300k but I half expect some one to go full mike Reilly. If you’re gonna do it schoen is the guy to pay right? Best wr in the league hands down. 

[Booch]

14 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

But they didn’t do any of it - so your baseless speculation is irrelevant. 
 

whatever...I know for a fact they can snap...and were on the roster last yr as the back up long snapper.....long before Jackson got here...U truly think he's the only guy we had ...or could find that could snap then sorry to say this but u g=have no bloody clue what you are nattering about

[Geebrr]

4 minutes ago, Booch said:

whatever...I know for a fact they can snap...and were on the roster last yr as the back up long snapper.....long before Jackson got here...U truly think he's the only guy we had ...or could find that could snap then sorry to say this but u g=have no bloody clue what you are nattering about

Whatever, bud. 
 

I didn’t say he was good at it , I said that he can do it - that is why he on the roster. Obviously he has shown something the others haven’t. 
 

Keep crying about our FB in every thread. 

18 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Posts picture of Cody fajardo lifting the grey cup. Here! lol 

 

I bet schoen gets a call from every single team. Chris jones probably offers him nfl back up qb money. 
 Does any one think schoen signs for less than 300k given the market the last few years if he hits fa? Is some one gonna offer him 350k? 400? I feel like we have to be at the ceiling for wr contracts at 300k but I half expect some one to go full mike Reilly. If you’re gonna do it schoen is the guy to pay right? Best wr in the league hands down. 

I think you’re right. $300K seems about where most teams stop. 
 

He is arguably the best WR in the league - but you can get two pretty upper level WRs for about the same price. 

[CodyT]

Maybe I'm drunk ( I am) but anyone else think the jake Thomas signing is 1000% for character and character alone. Dude knows what it's like to be a blue bomber.

To me it's interesting that we applaud this organization for having character guys, yet now when we sign character it's upsetting.

4 grey cups in a row guys. We can have our oshea roster doubts. Let's trust Walter's to do his job.

If Walter's says Thomas adds value.. I'm behind him

4 GREY CUPS in a row. 2 plays away from winning 4 straight. Man I get the resentment, I do. But Thomas was signed for a reason. Maybe a reason we don't understand yet. We've been given no reason to over analyze yet.. this ain't previous regimens..

My first 28 years of life on this earth we didn't win a grey cup. Now we've been there 4x straight and it seems like a good portion of this board is ready to jump ship like it never happened. I get that we need to be critical but let's reserve that until we haven't made a grey cup lol. Seriously. We were in the conversation to be the worst pro franchise in sports. Everyone hold their horses. These guys know what they are doing

We have people on this website ( and I mean this respectfully) who think they know better than the management who has brought us to where we are now.

- and to those people who know better. Where are your grey cup rings and why aren't you coaching pro football? It's easy to be critical like friesen when you ain't making the calls..

To winning a grey cup that dodged us for 29 years... shessh man. Do we not remember where we were just a few years ago?

Edited February 3 by CodyT

[MOBomberFan]

I'm something of a bright-sider myself.

Getting to 4 Grey Cups is an accomplishment in itself. Winning 2 out of 4 ain't bad either. But winning sure does feel better than losing...

When people get critical of the Blue it helps to remember they likely suffered through the drought same as the rest of us, and they simply want what is best for the team, the best for winning football games. I'm sure some guys especially fear regression because they don't have another 30 years on this Earth to wait for another championship.

Expecting an all-star at every position is silly, but wanting/wishing for upgrades, especially from some of our older and less dominant pieces (Kola, Jake) isn't. I get the disappointment.

We all remember what it's like to be a bottom feeder, none of us want to experience anything close to that again any time soon... hence the creeping concern...

Thank goodness we have the staff we do... they led us out of the wastes to the promised land, now we are navigating being victims of our own success, but if anyone can do it in today's CFL it's KW and co.

 

TL:DR: Koombaya, praise the trinity

Edited February 3 by MOBomberFan

[Mike]

11 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Well, I kinda do but yeah, I'm no expert. However, I don't think I'm completely wrong. When we spend on players that are borderline like Thomas then there's less for others. I'd have been happy if we got younger thru free agency or the draft. I do concede that you are more of an expert than I am on the draft & the salary cap. So, please explain it. I'd truly like to know how it works, though. 

Do the math. Lawson got a big raise. Thomas has never had any leverage as a free agency. Chances are he’s playing at our price, not his. Very surprised if he’s far above the bare minimum for his spot these days. 

[bustamente]

I think Jake is just happy that he can continue to play football for another year and took a very Bomber friendly contract. As a rotational player we could do worse but we need the interior guys to play better this year and get better push up the middle.

[Geebrr]

12 minutes ago, MOBomberFan said:

I'm something of a bright-sider myself.

Getting to 4 Grey Cups is an accomplishment in itself. Winning 2 out of 4 ain't bad either. But winning sure does feel better than losing...

When people get critical of the Blue it helps to remember they likely suffered through the drought same as the rest of us, and they simply want what is best for the team, the best for winning football games. I'm sure some guys especially fear regression because they don't have another 30 years on this Earth to wait for another championship.

Expecting an all-star at every position is silly, but wanting/wishing for upgrades, especially from some of our older and less dominant pieces (Kola, Jake) isn't. I get the disappointment.

We all remember what it's like to be a bottom feeder, none of us want to experience anything close to that again any time soon... hence the creeping concern...

Thank goodness we have the staff we do... they led us out of the wastes to the promised land, now we are navigating being victims of our own success, but if anyone can do it in today's CFL it's KW and co.

 

TL:DR: Koombaya, praise the trinity

I remember people saying they were happy to have won right after 2019 - and they didn’t really care if we won the year after. 
 

Now they’re upset we have gone every year since and have only won once. 

[ddanger]

17 hours ago, Goalie said:

Yes. I’m expecting he signs an extension tho. Ha.  Not really but seems these announcements are close to suicide for some. Jackson extension might kill this forum. Perhaps bombers end goal. 

An extension for Jackson would be amazing for him, and I'd be happy for him.

[MOBomberFan]

22 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

I remember people saying they were happy to have won right after 2019 - and they didn’t really care if we won the year after. 
 

Now they’re upset we have gone every year since and have only won once. 

True story. It's rare that any team in any sport becomes a perennial contender like we have. I've said it before: these are the good times! How will people cope when we eventually and inevitably come back down to Earth and are once again scrapping for that last playoff spot where anything can happen if we just believe?!?

[ddanger]

6 hours ago, CodyT said:

Maybe I'm drunk ( I am) but anyone else think the jake Thomas signing is 1000% for character and character alone. Dude knows what it's like to be a blue bomber.

To me it's interesting that we applaud this organization for having character guys, yet now when we sign character it's upsetting.

4 grey cups in a row guys. We can have our oshea roster doubts. Let's trust Walter's to do his job.

If Walter's says Thomas adds value.. I'm behind him

4 GREY CUPS in a row. 2 plays away from winning 4 straight. Man I get the resentment, I do. But Thomas was signed for a reason. Maybe a reason we don't understand yet. We've been given no reason to over analyze yet.. this ain't previous regimens..

My first 28 years of life on this earth we didn't win a grey cup. Now we've been there 4x straight and it seems like a good portion of this board is ready to jump ship like it never happened. I get that we need to be critical but let's reserve that until we haven't made a grey cup lol. Seriously. We were in the conversation to be the worst pro franchise in sports. Everyone hold their horses. These guys know what they are doing

We have people on this website ( and I mean this respectfully) who think they know better than the management who has brought us to where we are now.

- and to those people who know better. Where are your grey cup rings and why aren't you coaching pro football? It's easy to be critical like friesen when you ain't making the calls..

To winning a grey cup that dodged us for 29 years... shessh man. Do we not remember where we were just a few years ago?

well said young fella

[Noeller]

ehhhh... yes we were absolute dogshit embarrassing for a long time.... but it's also an 8/9 team league. There's no excuse to not be in the hunt every single year. The Stamps did basically what we're doing right now, about 10 years ago. Going to the cup virtually every year, but only winning a couple. 

The expectations have definitely changed......and also, we have been the best team in the league for a long time now (regardless of who hoisted the trophy at the end) and only lost the last two cups by a last second play. Our expectations are much higher than they were before...