Free Agency Day - Bombers Moves

[JuranBoldenRules]

5 hours ago, GCJenks said:

Yes, Lofton started for us in place of Big Stan in the last game in 2022 and we didn't see enough to have him here in 2023 over Richmond. If Sask didn't want him for LT in 2024 why would we want him here to try out for RT. I sure hope we signed him for league minimum.

 

Why would Lofton have stayed here though?  He wanted to play.  He went to Sask...and played.

He wasn't going to sign here again to sit on PR.

[JuranBoldenRules]

10 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I really wish we brought back Richmond and gray. I’d have zero worries in that case. As it is I’m sure we will bring in more guys and probably find another hardrick to develop. 
 I also find it interesting no one else is going after gray. Maybe rice. 
 If I was the riders I’d a been going after guys like rice and gray. Rebuild around young Canadian ol who have won. 

I don't think Richmond showed a whole lot tbh.  People were hopeful for continuity sake and because he went to a school most fans of football recognize.  The willingness to sit and wait for YEARS by American players is always kind of a bad sign for talent and ability.  Not many guys who sit and wait like that who turn out to be anything.  Guys who can play, want to play whether that's somewhere else up here, in spring leagues, even arena leagues.  

Get a bit of that continuity with Lofton and working in this offense.  He's gained more game experience and reps as a starter which is huuuge for OL in this era of minimal contact practice.

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Let's re-play the "name a rookie starting at OT?" game, keeping in mind Zach's health rides on his performance.

Bond would be the last rookie OL they really played from the start.  You'd need a guy that jumps off the page like that.  He played guard though.  Chungh started right away at guard too.

Desjarlais was 6th guy and jumped in at guard with next injury after that which forced Speller to C in year Neufeld missed most of.

[Fatty Liver]

9 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

I don't think Richmond showed a whole lot tbh.  People were hopeful for continuity sake and because he went to a school most fans of football recognize.  The willingness to sit and wait for YEARS by American players is always kind of a bad sign for talent and ability.  Not many guys who sit and wait like that who turn out to be anything.  Guys who can play, want to play whether that's somewhere else up here, in spring leagues, even arena leagues.  

Get a bit of that continuity with Lofton and working in this offense.  He's gained more game experience and reps as a starter which is huuuge for OL in this era of minimal contact practice.

Bond would be the last rookie OL they really played from the start.  You'd need a guy that jumps off the page like that.  He played guard though.  Chungh started right away at guard too.

Desjarlais was 6th guy and jumped in at guard with next injury after that which forced Speller to C in year Neufeld missed most of.

No doubt it's been done with interior lineman often enough, but nobody has come up with the name of a rookie OT starter yet.  I suspect it's happened on a team that is out of the playoffs and preparing for the next season, maybe the Elks or RedBlacks?

[JuranBoldenRules]

9 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

No doubt it's been done with interior lineman often enough, but nobody has come up with the name of a rookie OT starter yet.  I suspect it's happened on a team that is out of the playoffs and preparing for the next season, maybe the Elks or RedBlacks?

I mean there's tons of Americans who have come up and played right away.  Hamilton has started rookie Americans in Grey Cups against us.  The one guy from BYU.

[Mike]

5 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

No doubt it's been done with interior lineman often enough, but nobody has come up with the name of a rookie OT starter yet.  I suspect it's happened on a team that is out of the playoffs and preparing for the next season, maybe the Elks or RedBlacks?

It’s very common … Jovan Olafioye, SirVincent Rogers, Dejon Allen, Derek Dennis … that’s off the top of my head thinking of the major huge impact guys 

Jonathan Broxton (who we signed originally) was another one for BC. Kent Perkins was also BC’s MOOL nominee in his rookie year as a tackle. 

[wbbfan]

7 minutes ago, Mike said:

It’s very common … Jovan Olafioye, SirVincent Rogers, Dejon Allen, Derek Dennis … that’s off the top of my head thinking of the major huge impact guys 

Jonathan Broxton (who we signed originally) was another one for BC. Kent Perkins was also BC’s MOOL nominee in his rookie year as a tackle. 

Rookie imp can play in the league and not miss a beat. It’s just hit or miss as to if guys can adjust to the Canadian game. 
 Imo the yard off the ball makes it easier to adjust to pass pro as a tackle in the cfl. 

[Fatty Liver]

Bighill's comments regarding Jeffcoat from the Wpg. Sun.


"A guy like Jackson is not replaceable," Bighill said in a one-on-one interview Wednesday.

"In my mind, the best all-around defensive end I've played with in the CFL. In terms of first down, second down, his impact on the game has been the best I've seen. You look at his numbers in the playoffs and it's a whole other level. He'll be missed. He's a guy who's not replaceable but hopefully a guy people in the building will be able to learn from."

Bighill, who is on the executive of the CFL Players Association, can't help but be gutted for the players who played such big roles in getting the team to four straight Grey Cups but were not offered contracts this year.

Jeffcoat lamented that there was almost no communication with team management in the lead-up to free agency and Bighill did not like the way things were handled either.

"It sucks," he said. "It's part of the business that everyone understands, but it's the terrible part. For some of those guys, if the club was able to figure out who they were going to be able to offer contracts to and who they weren't and could have come out and provided that information immediately, as opposed to waiting toward the days of free agency starting, it just would have been better for guys ... to have more of a heads up.

"It's just a better way to approach things. More communication is often better than none to little or waiting till the end. But it's part of the business. The most unfortunate part."

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/bighill-thrilled-bombers-were-able-to-sign-big-names-devastated-for-players-let-go

[IC Khari]

4 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

Bighill's comments regarding Jeffcoat from the Wpg. Sun.


"A guy like Jackson is not replaceable," Bighill said in a one-on-one interview Wednesday.

"In my mind, the best all-around defensive end I've played with in the CFL. In terms of first down, second down, his impact on the game has been the best I've seen. You look at his numbers in the playoffs and it's a whole other level. He'll be missed. He's a guy who's not replaceable but hopefully a guy people in the building will be able to learn from."

Bighill, who is on the executive of the CFL Players Association, can't help but be gutted for the players who played such big roles in getting the team to four straight Grey Cups but were not offered contracts this year.

Jeffcoat lamented that there was almost no communication with team management in the lead-up to free agency and Bighill did not like the way things were handled either.

"It sucks," he said. "It's part of the business that everyone understands, but it's the terrible part. For some of those guys, if the club was able to figure out who they were going to be able to offer contracts to and who they weren't and could have come out and provided that information immediately, as opposed to waiting toward the days of free agency starting, it just would have been better for guys ... to have more of a heads up.

"It's just a better way to approach things. More communication is often better than none to little or waiting till the end. But it's part of the business. The most unfortunate part."

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/bighill-thrilled-bombers-were-able-to-sign-big-names-devastated-for-players-let-go

Interesting comment from a guy who soon will be replaced …

[TrueBlue4ever]

5 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

Bighill's comments regarding Jeffcoat from the Wpg. Sun.


"A guy like Jackson is not replaceable," Bighill said in a one-on-one interview Wednesday.

"In my mind, the best all-around defensive end I've played with in the CFL. In terms of first down, second down, his impact on the game has been the best I've seen. You look at his numbers in the playoffs and it's a whole other level. He'll be missed. He's a guy who's not replaceable but hopefully a guy people in the building will be able to learn from."

Bighill, who is on the executive of the CFL Players Association, can't help but be gutted for the players who played such big roles in getting the team to four straight Grey Cups but were not offered contracts this year.

Jeffcoat lamented that there was almost no communication with team management in the lead-up to free agency and Bighill did not like the way things were handled either.

"It sucks," he said. "It's part of the business that everyone understands, but it's the terrible part. For some of those guys, if the club was able to figure out who they were going to be able to offer contracts to and who they weren't and could have come out and provided that information immediately, as opposed to waiting toward the days of free agency starting, it just would have been better for guys ... to have more of a heads up.

"It's just a better way to approach things. More communication is often better than none to little or waiting till the end. But it's part of the business. The most unfortunate part."

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/cfl/winnipeg-bluebombers/bighill-thrilled-bombers-were-able-to-sign-big-names-devastated-for-players-let-go

Sorry but it’s a two way street Biggie. Some players want to wait until they’ve exhausted their  NFL tryout opportunity, or want to see what the ceiling on salary from other teams may be in free agency tampering week before committing. Kind of glib to say “club should come out right away and know who they want to sign and say so rather than waiting until the end” when it’s impossible to set a budget when players like Schoen and Oliveira (who the club “knows” it wants to sign) have bargaining power and whose price is dependent on other teams’ offers, and this will stall things for their own benefit. 

Edited February 23 by TrueBlue4ever

[IC Khari]

For the Bombers, signing some of these guys was a very Bighill to climb 😉

[SpeedFlex27]

It's hard for the Bombers to play it fair & square with older players like Jeffcoat when his own teammates didn't care (Oliveira & Schoen) about him either. They stalled the process by waiting until it was FA time in the CFL. At the same time, it's not their responsibility to care. There'll come a time when what happened to Jeffcoat will happen to them.

Edited February 23 by SpeedFlex27

[Mike]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It's hard for the Bombers to play it fair & square with older players like Jeffcoat when his own teammates didn't care (Oliveira & Schoen) about him either. They stalled the process by waiting until it was FA time in the CFL. At the same time, it's not their responsibility to care. There'll come a time when what happened to Jeffcoat will happen to them.

Correct

[Jesse]

It's hard to really speak to this. Walters took the high road in his comments. Just said Jackson was 100% right, and it's a very difficult situation.

I wonder if there was more communication than either will admit but it was exactly along the lines of, "we don't know if we can offer you a contractor how much we will left over for you". And then he also didn't receive much interest in FA (which does surprise me, tbh). 

In a perfect world, I would love these vets to be treated as well as possible on the way out. If we didn't have plans to sign him, or knew it would be a clear pay cut, I would prefer it if we had made that clear from the outset. But maybe we did and Jackson/agent just didn't really believe it. But even though Jackson feels disappointed right now, it all seems like everyone is walking away in a mostly professional manner as they part ways.

[IC Khari]

16 minutes ago, Jesse said:

It's hard to really speak to this. Walters took the high road in his comments. Just said Jackson was 100% right, and it's a very difficult situation.

I wonder if there was more communication than either will admit but it was exactly along the lines of, "we don't know if we can offer you a contractor how much we will left over for you". And then he also didn't receive much interest in FA (which does surprise me, tbh). 

In a perfect world, I would love these vets to be treated as well as possible on the way out. If we didn't have plans to sign him, or knew it would be a clear pay cut, I would prefer it if we had made that clear from the outset. But maybe we did and Jackson/agent just didn't really believe it. But even though Jackson feels disappointed right now, it all seems like everyone is walking away in a mostly professional manner as they part ways.

Whining to Friesen in an article is far from professional in my humble opinion, but to each his own I guess …

[rebusrankin]

Biggie can be a whiner. Guy was complaining on social media a few years back about having to pay lunch fees for his kids. 

[Goalie]

18 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Biggie can be a whiner. Guy was complaining on social media a few years back about having to pay lunch fees for his kids. 

And more recently he went off after the recent cup loss on twitter/X 

[17to85]

9 hours ago, IC Khari said:

Interesting comment from a guy who soon will be replaced …

Lot of older guys can't see the writing on the wall. It serves them well as competitors but in other matters....

[Bigblue204]

6 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It's hard for the Bombers to play it fair & square with older players like Jeffcoat when his own teammates didn't care (Oliveira & Schoen) about him either. They stalled the process by waiting until it was FA time in the CFL. At the same time, it's not their responsibility to care. There'll come a time when what happened to Jeffcoat will happen to them.

Can also add in Jeffcoat going to the media and saying he was going to test FA...that's what I don't understand about all of this. Jeffcoat said he was going to FA....did he reach out first and the Bombers just ignored him? Who knows. 

Like has been said, it's a shitty part of the business. The Bombers weren't the only team to let him pass, and he won't be the last player this happens to.

[Stickem]

IF Jeffcoat's play was so revered, as Bighill says in the article , then why didn't other players on the club step up and shave a little off their salary to keep him around....Other clubs have done just that....I think the reality is that he was seen by many to have lost his edge that made him great...happens to a lot of players..   In that event you move on, which we have done....To remain successful in this league you have to make tough decisions....they were made and will continue to be

[Fatty Liver]

4 hours ago, Jesse said:

It's hard to really speak to this. Walters took the high road in his comments. Just said Jackson was 100% right, and it's a very difficult situation.

I wonder if there was more communication than either will admit but it was exactly along the lines of, "we don't know if we can offer you a contractor how much we will left over for you". And then he also didn't receive much interest in FA (which does surprise me, tbh). 

 

In the full length interview I posted earlier, Jeffcoat revealed the Stamps, Lions and Riders were all interested in him, Sask. made him an offer which the other two plus Walters were not able to match, but within a day or two the Riders also signed Malik Carney and withdrew their offer.  Instead of accepting an offer well below his self-worth, his agent convinced him to retire.

Edited February 23 by Fatty Liver

[Booch]

2 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

In the full length interview I posted earlier, Jeffcoat revealed the Stamps, Lions and Riders were all interested in him, Sask. made him an offer which the other two plus Walters were not able to match, but within a day or two the Riders also signed Malik Carney and withdrew their offer.  Instead of accepting an offer well below his self-worth, his agent convinced him to retire.

typical Rider over pay move...again....and payed top dollar to a lesser talent in Carney...oh Oday....You make me smile

[WinnipegGordo]

 

 

[JCon]

It sort of felt inevitable. But, this time, Walters had the upper hand negotiating. I'm kind of surprised he didn't go UFL, then sign with a CFL team when that contract ended. 

[WinnipegGordo]

Looking forward to more of this:

 

[Jpan85]

9 minutes ago, WinnipegGordo said: