2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[Fatty Liver]

19 minutes ago, Goalie said:

What’s the max ppl would pay lawler? How about Schoen? I could see not signing one being legit if they both want the bag. 

Schoen was paid $230k last season which isn't out of line for top end receiver talent.  Lawler was a bit high at $285k, making him the second highest paid receiver in the league, chisel him back down to 250k or let him walk.

[Arnold_Palmer]

1 minute ago, Fatty Liver said:

Schoen was paid $230k last season which isn't out of line for top end receiver talent.  Lawler was a bit high at $285k, making him the second highest paid receiver in the league, chisel him back down to 250k or let him walk.

Yeah Schoen took a pay cut but with his injuries In the past two seasons he may need to take a hair less again, Lawler absolutely needs to take a cut, no way we can pay him almost 300 k 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

not trying to be a crap disturber or arse...but do you have that as a fact?...or just an assumption?

It possibly could tho with the Thomas signing....say they are looking to spend such and such in FA on some big ticket prices...and only have room for so much depth with vet Canadian salaries....so say 115...120k for a spot...Went to JT in lieu of Woli....and we just basically got rid of any National depth that has experience and usefulness at receiver....a spot we use for ratio...and are carrying 4 National DT's now...a spot where we dont need that much depth there....it wasn't a ratio requirement and especially with 2 of them (JT and Schmeck) who really are bottom barrel talent wise...one of whom has zero upside...and another...Samson who never got a snap...so is a big unknown too....rosterand sms wise....this doesnt look like the smartest allocation of assets and cash...Unless like I mentioned they have some big mind blowing event in FA happening....and I not too positive thats happening

Woli was making 110k. League min is only 20k less than that. Cutting Woli clears 20k. Not exactly big savings there. Also, Walters has stated ad infiniti how he goes about doing his SMS by position group and not by overall. He allocates X dollars per position group and goes from there.  Signing Jake had absolutely squat to do with not signing Woli. Not how Walters does his SMS, and that is based on Walters own explanations on how he manages the SMS.

52 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I believe Walters has stated a few times that he has an amount allocated to each positional group. So I'm not sure the savings on WR would then transfer to DT or vice versa...not saying it's impossible. I just don't think that's how they work it. And if we're going off that, Wollys $$ will be spent on WR.

Exactly right.....,and the thing is that people are not really taking into account is that Woli was not very highly paid for a NAT starter. The savings on him are negligible. They will help a little bit but we aren't signing anyone of significance with those extra 20k.

Edited Tuesday at 06:38 PM by GCn20

[TBURGESS]

Dillon Mitchell is making a bunch more than Wilson, who he replaced on the roster. Likely more than the $20K we'd save by replacing Wolo with a rookie. We still have some receiver dollars to trim.

[GCn20]

1 minute ago, TBURGESS said:

Dillon Mitchell is making a bunch more than Wilson, who he replaced on the roster. Likely more than the $20K we'd save by replacing Wolo with a rookie. We still have some receiver dollars to trim.

That trim will come naturally with the reset at the receiver position that appears to be underway.

[Fatty Liver]

16 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

Sell me on Jackson?

Well now, we got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper Sprout
We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson
Ever since the fire went out....

[Booch]

we can trim national dlineman...we dont need 4...and if we plan to use those 4 as the main contributors to the line....ouch...we will have a brutal dline

I know Walters has said he allocates this and that for certain groups....but he can also deviate as well...and that shouldnt affect who you go after or who you retain because a certain group is all used up SMS wise

Woli got 110....Jake gets at least that I would assume if not more......now who offers the most value for that money as a depth piece...rotational guy or limited reps guy...Like many say as to if thats what they do with Jake to justify his signing then its good...even tho we have 3 other guys besides him?

Woli by far would offer more to us....as he younger....more athletic...can play all the receiver spots and I am sure would work on cover teams if asked and do well....hold for kicks if need be...and If one of Clercius or Demski get dinged...and I sure One will...we know he can step in...start...and be very productive

Jake...offers none of that...He can play tackle....let me rephrase he can go out there in the tackle position.....but offers minimal at best production....cant play anywhere else...sure we put him off the edge and that was an utter embarrasment to watch.....he can't cover on kicks....hold for the kicker?....good god....and if he has to step in as a full time starter cause whoever gets hurt...lord help us

There would have been 110-130k give or take tied up in Jake or  Woli and the same for use elsewhere by trimming one of the roster....I see where the value and benefit would be...as I sure others do as well....Apparently tho not Osh....as I sure he was in the discussion as to keep Woli...and not re-sign Jake....or should have been....dumb move 

[Goalie]

The receiver market is gonna be set by someone and then that will be what it will be, Lewis isn’t signed in Edmonton either. They all gonna have to take a cut. All it takes tho is one gm and owner (ahem bc) to throw 300 at a Kenny or Lewis and there you go again. 

Edited Tuesday at 07:18 PM by Goalie

[SpeedFlex27]

29 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

Well now, we got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper Sprout
We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson
Ever since the fire went out....

I see we signed receiver Lee Hazelwood. 

[bluto]

1 hour ago, Fatty Liver said:

Well now, we got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper Sprout
We've been talkin' 'bout Jackson
Ever since the fire went out....

With puns like that, you'd better walk the line or else the mods will have at you.

[SpeedFlex27]

17 minutes ago, bluto said:

With puns like that, you'd better walk the line or else the mods will have at you.

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you, Bluto. 

Edited Tuesday at 08:16 PM by SpeedFlex27

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

The receiver market is gonna be set by someone and then that will be what it will be, Lewis isn’t signed in Edmonton either. They all gonna have to take a cut. All it takes tho is one gm and owner (ahem bc) to throw 300 at a Kenny or Lewis and there you go again. 

Rigmaiden said he was looking to chop his receiver budget and would even consider making trades, Lions currently have 16 receivers on their roster so lots of new prospects heading towards TC.  

Edited Tuesday at 09:11 PM by Fatty Liver

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

we can trim national dlineman...we dont need 4...and if we plan to use those 4 as the main contributors to the line....ouch...we will have a brutal dline

I know Walters has said he allocates this and that for certain groups....but he can also deviate as well...and that shouldnt affect who you go after or who you retain because a certain group is all used up SMS wise

Woli got 110....Jake gets at least that I would assume if not more......now who offers the most value for that money as a depth piece...rotational guy or limited reps guy...Like many say as to if thats what they do with Jake to justify his signing then its good...even tho we have 3 other guys besides him?

Woli by far would offer more to us....as he younger....more athletic...can play all the receiver spots and I am sure would work on cover teams if asked and do well....hold for kicks if need be...and If one of Clercius or Demski get dinged...and I sure One will...we know he can step in...start...and be very productive

Jake...offers none of that...He can play tackle....let me rephrase he can go out there in the tackle position.....but offers minimal at best production....cant play anywhere else...sure we put him off the edge and that was an utter embarrasment to watch.....he can't cover on kicks....hold for the kicker?....good god....and if he has to step in as a full time starter cause whoever gets hurt...lord help us

There would have been 110-130k give or take tied up in Jake or  Woli and the same for use elsewhere by trimming one of the roster....I see where the value and benefit would be...as I sure others do as well....Apparently tho not Osh....as I sure he was in the discussion as to keep Woli...and not re-sign Jake....or should have been....dumb move 

Walters does not do anything Walters does not want to do. Osh has an opinion and Walters will consider it, and then make the moves that best fit the club in his opinion. Suggesting that Walters is Osh's puppet is ridiculous. Woli may very well offer more bang for the buck than JT if you look at it myopically, but that's not how Walters carves the pie and he is the man solely responsible for doing so. Also, there are a **** load of assumptions being made about Woli being more valuable than Jake, without any of us having a kernel of an idea as to what Walters plan is at NAT receiver or what Jake is actually being paid or what his planned role might be. Just a couple weeks ago we were all told that Osh was going to force Walters to keep an unproductive Bighill. and when anyone said maybe we should wait and see they were shouted down.. I will again ask that we wait and see how this all shakes out before making way too premature assumptions about how we should have kept this guy or that guy. Could very well be that Walters has an iron in the fire on a NAT receiver.

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

The receiver market is gonna be set by someone and then that will be what it will be, Lewis isn’t signed in Edmonton either. They all gonna have to take a cut. All it takes tho is one gm and owner (ahem bc) to throw 300 at a Kenny or Lewis and there you go again. 

The league is looking to correct the market on receivers. It happens every few years like that and GMs only throw obscene money when there are multiple parties willing to do so. Not seeing any of those kind of GMs at the moment.

Edited Tuesday at 08:40 PM by GCn20

[TommyClements]

I would have liked to see Woli stay but I think him being cut has at least something to do with Clercius, who has passed him. Drew I think was healthy for the GC, albeit rusty, and there was no rush to put him on the field. Maybe $110,000 for a backup NI who has been getting nicked was too much for Walters 

[Stickem]

2 hours ago, bluto said:

With puns like that, you'd better walk the line or else the mods will have at you.

While we're on the country theme, he might want to 'walk the line' with Johnny

[Tracker]

5 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I will wait and see on why Woli was released. However, the Jake or Woli argument makes no sense.

I am flabbergasted by Wolitarsky's  release. He was not an all-star, but steady, could be relied on for a clutch catch and an NI to boot. I can understand , even happy with Bighill's release, and can accept that Shoen went for the big payday in Regina. This, along with Jake Thomas being retained shakes my confidence in Bomber management and I have had doubts about O'Shea for some time. The only reasons I can think of for Wolitarsky's release is a) personal conduct issues(not bloody likely, b) cutting corners so as to free up money for a splash signing (then why keep Thomas who has pretty much the same salary) or c) group onset of early dementia. I will reserve final judgement until training camp is over, but am discouraged.

[Fatty Liver]

4 minutes ago, Tracker said:

I am flabbergasted by Wolitarsky's  release. He was not an all-star, but steady, could be relied on for a clutch catch and an NI to boot. I can understand , even happy with Bighill's release, and can accept that Shoen went for the big payday in Regina. This, along with Jake Thomas being retained shakes my confidence in Bomber management and I have had doubts about O'Shea for some time. The only reasons I can think of for Wolitarsky's release is a) personal conduct issues(not bloody likely, b) cutting corners so as to free up money for a splash signing (then why keep Thomas who has pretty much the same salary) or c) group onset of early dementia. I will reserve final judgement until training camp is over, but am discouraged.

What???

and can accept that Shoen went for the big payday in Regina. 

Not true, rephrase quickly!

[Colin Unger]

The rumor that the Riders are prepared to offer Schoen a huge pay rise to lure him away from Winnipeg surprises me. I would have naturally assumed that Schoen would be in line for a pay decrease after missing basically the whole season and also dealing with injuries that rendered him useless in the Grey Cup ect the year before. I wonder if Eugene Lewis would follow Dillon Mitchell and Jarius Jackson to Winnipeg?

[wbbfan]

4 hours ago, Goalie said:

What’s the max ppl would pay lawler? How about Schoen? I could see not signing one being legit if they both want the bag. 

For schoen I’d try to lure him into a multi year deal with a decent front load. Since he’s hurt and giving the money up front I’d try for 230-250. Lawler id want on an incentive based deal. Some thing like 170 with the ability to make 230-250 if he plays 15 or more games, and has 1250+, 9 tds+.

4 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Woli was making 110k. League min is only 20k less than that. Cutting Woli clears 20k. Not exactly big savings there. Also, Walters has stated ad infiniti how he goes about doing his SMS by position group and not by overall. He allocates X dollars per position group and goes from there.  Signing Jake had absolutely squat to do with not signing Woli. Not how Walters does his SMS, and that is based on Walters own explanations on how he manages the SMS.

Exactly right.....,and the thing is that people are not really taking into account is that Woli was not very highly paid for a NAT starter. The savings on him are negligible. They will help a little bit but we aren't signing anyone of significance with those extra 20k.

Rookie min is less, but still stupid Pennies to pinch. 
 

 

[Tracker]

20 minutes ago, Fatty Liver said:

What???

and can accept that Shoen went for the big payday in Regina. 

Not true, rephrase quickly!

There was a report that Shoen had accepted a contract from the Riders.

Edited Tuesday at 10:58 PM by Tracker

[Fatty Liver]

16 minutes ago, Tracker said:

There was a report that Shoen had accepted a contract from the Riders.

FA hasn't even opened yet, charge them with tampering!

[Noeller]

The only thing I've seen anywhere on the internet even remotely connecting Schoen to Riders is a CFL.ca article suggesting that they might take a run at him, with no evidence to suggest why other than "Schoen good, Riders should buy"...

So all of this seems like premature hand wringing at best...

Edited Tuesday at 11:32 PM by Noeller

[rebusrankin]

I need to see a source saying Schoen has accepted an offer from the Riders. @Tracker, I'm not saying we should cut you but I think you're benched. 😀

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

The only thing I've seen anywhere on the internet even remotely connecting Schoen to Riders is a CFL.ca article suggesting that they might take a run at him, with no evidence to suggest why other than "Schoen good, Riders should buy"...

So all of this seems like premature hand wringing at best...

[Pete]

41 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

true enough , when cfl or 3down say "bold predictions" thats code for pie in the sky dreaming