2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[HardCoreBlue]

4 hours ago, Tracker said:

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

I’m seeing a Glenn Suitor joke in here somewhere. Help a guy out here @rebusrankin

[HardCoreBlue]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

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

I find use of the word bold or using the terms hot take, unpopular opinion to describe what one is doing really means look at me look at me I want attention. Not every time but sometimes.

[Colin Unger]

I think the savings on going from Woli to a rookie is more like 40k as the rookie minimum is 70k until 2027 when it becomes 75k.

[ShyGuy]

The Riders tampering to inflate the Receiver Market on player who is fantastic but has been effectively injured for 18 months and no one knows if they would be ready for training camp let alone the season would seem very on brand

[Jets]

1 hour ago, Colin Unger said:

I think the savings on going from Woli to a rookie is more like 40k as the rookie minimum is 70k until 2027 when it becomes 75k.

Thinking about it a bit though... 

What if instead of Wolitarsky and his 110k, we let Lawler and his 275k go.  
Yes we downgrade a bit and yes they are different types of receivers, but a receiving corps of
Clercius/Wolitarsky, Demski, Mitchell, Schoen and Rookie American (or third Canadian Wolitarsky)
vs
Clercius, Demski, Mitchell, Schoen, Lawler isn't that drastically different, 
AND if you make that swap, you also get 150k+ to spend on another gamebreaker at LB or DL or DB...

I think I'd rather have kept Woli and let Lawler walk.

[17to85]

48 minutes ago, Jets said:

Clercius/Wolitarsky, Demski, Mitchell, Schoen and Rookie American (or third Canadian Wolitarsky)
vs
Clercius, Demski, Mitchell, Schoen, Lawler isn't that drastically different, 

Well that's one opinion....

[CodyT]

7 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Well that's one opinion....

We've yet to see Lawler put up godly numbers. Assuming Shoen is the same as he was I think he adds more to the roster than Lawler. & it's not close imo 

[rebusrankin]

10 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

I’m seeing a Glenn Suitor joke in here somewhere. Help a guy out here @rebusrankin

[do or die]

Probably the juxtaposition of Thomas staying.....and Wol leaving.....that has some folks a little bent.

[GCn20]

13 minutes ago, do or die said:

Probably the juxtaposition of Thomas staying.....and Wol leaving.....that has some folks a little bent.

Appears that way and I get it from an overall perspective. However, I don't think this is an either/or situation SMS wise. Woli was banged up most of last year, never did play at 100% after his injury and it seemed to linger. Woli was adjudicated on the merits of his contract, health, and replaceability. We moved on. It happens. He was a fan fave because of the quality of guy he is, but as a football player he was average at best and we have a guy that looks like he deserves a lot more reps in our offence at his position playing on a rookie deal. Was Drew's contract something that was over the top? Not even remotely. Therefore, I am thinking the Bombers feel as though we have or will have better options for the money.

[Booch]

we did fine actually when Woli was out....and Clercius has potential to be actually a lil more dynamic and still offer same as Woli

My issue is we have an injury prone Demski who goes games missing in action...and has bouts of the fumbles...Clercius who is only in yr 2...and...............................................sweetfuckall after that for depth

No clue what our roster aspirations or plans are but I doubt Osh would swap out ratio,,,,as he has never shown an instance to initiate change for the better only unless due to injury or  veer off the path he has travelled....maybe this is the yr....I have my doubts tho

And if we go status quo on ratio.....having a raw canadian rookie as the "depth" or picking up some cast-ff from elsewhere from the scrap heap...or via free agency if anything has us paying the same...or more for a new guy....or paying less for a draft pick who likely wont even have to tie his shoes up as he will never see field, or if he did be totally ignored...so how does that make us better?...this has been seen over and over

Right now looking at who/what we signed...have no idea what our plan is....Are we gonna saddle ZC with Mitchell...who is gonna have a break out yr I bet....Oft injured Demski...Clercius...then rookie..rookie? and rookie depth on top of it? 

Can't see ZC loving that and making that work well

What we doing on defence?....re-upping Wilson and Thomas screams of running it back with a lot of the guys who have failed 3 straight times and it's a good thing Biggie is damaged goods as we all know if not he'd be back

Super curious who we are targeting and what area of the team we figure we need to use FA to fill the spots. All that money sunk into the secondary to me is not a smart allocation, and I bet we hang on to some in hopes Ford comes back....so that makes it even pricier....when it should be your cheapest bucket of cash...not one your highest. So do we even have room and money on roster for a game breaking linebacker, and a legit interior dlineman or edge guy...3 things we woefully need, and if we do splurge there...are they gonna have to share reps with Jake?....signing a couple guys would further reinforce the lack of need for him

I have faith in Walters and Miler to do the right thing...and get the right guys...I have minimal faith tho in Osh using them correctly tho, or fielding the best lineup...why would we be uber confident?

 

[Tracker]

16 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

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. 😀

It was posted Monday on Facebook. Thin credibility, to be sure, but as has been speculated in this forum, there are ways of approaching a player under contract that do not involve direct contact, and doubtless has been done often. Time will reveal all.

Edited yesterday at 04:58 PM by Tracker

[rebusrankin]

8 minutes ago, Tracker said:

It was posted Monday on Facebook. Thin credibility, to be sure, but as has been speculated in this forum, there are ways of approaching a player under contract that do not involve direct contact, and doubtless has been done often. Time will reveal all.

Where on Facebook?

[GCn20]

8 minutes ago, Tracker said:

It was posted Monday on Facebook. Thin credibility, to be sure, but as has been speculated in this forum, there are ways of approaching a player under contract that do not involve direct contact, and doubtless has been done often. Time will reveal all.

That was based on Stronson at Riderfans rumor and as everyone knows he is full of crap.

[Tracker]

3 hours ago, CodyT said:

We've yet to see Lawler put up godly numbers. Assuming Shoen is the same as he was I think he adds more to the roster than Lawler. & it's not close imo 

Is the joker in the deck not whether or not Shoen is going to be 100% after rehab? 

[rebusrankin]

So the Schoen thing was a Facebook rumour? Hmm, Facebook/Meta got rid of fact checkers recently, my conclusion is that Zuckerberg is a secret Rider Propagandist.

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Where on Facebook?

Probably located on Karen's or Gary's page stocked full of sport and non-sport 'truth's' and 'facts' for all the sheep out there.

It's a service they provide as givers to society.

[GCn20]

46 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

So the Schoen thing was a Facebook rumour? Hmm, Facebook/Meta got rid of fact checkers recently, my conclusion is that Zuckerberg is a secret Rider Propagandist.

It fits.

[Bomber_fanaddict]

Anyone know whatever happened to Rasheed Bailey? Released after 6 games last year and was never picked up. On pace for about 750yrds and 6tds. Not amazing stats but figured he would have popped up somewhere. 

[Noeller]

2 minutes ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

Anyone know whatever happened to Rasheed Bailey? Released after 6 games last year and was never picked up. On pace for about 750yrds and 6tds. Not amazing stats but figured he would have popped up somewhere. 

I think the last thing someone posted was that he didn't really want to play anymore. Based on his social media or seemed like he was pretty heartbroken about how things were going and he just wasn't into continuing. But who knows right now...

[Bigblue204]

11 minutes ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

Anyone know whatever happened to Rasheed Bailey? Released after 6 games last year and was never picked up. On pace for about 750yrds and 6tds. Not amazing stats but figured he would have popped up somewhere. 

Thought the Redblacks picked him up. But I'm not sure he every dressed

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Bomber_fanaddict said:

Anyone know whatever happened to Rasheed Bailey? Released after 6 games last year and was never picked up. On pace for about 750yrds and 6tds. Not amazing stats but figured he would have popped up somewhere. 

Seems to be keeping fairly busy pumping out podcasts and videos.

https://www.youtube.com/@ShowTimeSpeaks/videos

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, Bigblue204 said:

Thought the Redblacks picked him up. But I'm not sure he every dressed

Yep, Ottawa added him to their PR a month after the Argos cut him. Never dressed and became a free agent at the end of the year.

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-01-28 at 3:31 PM, 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.

Last I heard Schoen is a Blue Bomber until February 13th. 

On 2025-01-28 at 3:39 PM, Colin Unger said:

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?

That's tampering. Clubs can't covet publicly or offer any monetary terms until February 2nd. They become free agents February 13th.  If they want Schoen for big bucks they can have him. Schoen's been nothing but a walking injury the past 2 seasons. He did us no good not being able to play. 

Edited 19 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[Fatty Liver]

44 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Last I heard Schoen is a Blue Bomber until February 13th. 

That's tampering. Clubs can't covet publicly or offer any monetary terms until February 2nd. They become free agents February 13th.  If they want Schoen for big bucks they can have him. Schoen's been nothing but a walking injury the past 2 seasons. He did us no good not being able to play. 

Schoen might have led the league in receiving in 2023 if he didn't miss 2 games.  The 10 below is the number of TD's he contributed.  How soon you forget.

2023

WPG

16

111

71

1222

314

10

17.2

71