2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[wbbfan]

Just now, GCn20 said:

I can't see how. Just drive up QB costs is all.

Not if you have a fixed price for all 3 AR qbs. Or 4 if you want to tack on the PR. You might be able to keep the crazy rourke type deals down. 

[TBURGESS]

Every team got the same amount of money. If we up the offer on Kenny, they up the offer too. Dumb way of doing business. 

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

There is nothing flawed about this at all. It's business 101.  You pivot as the budget allows. I was in business for many years and available cash flow has a massive effect on everything.

But you build into your budget a value for the players as well. Just because you have more money to spend doesn't mean you suddenly become wasteful with it. No way have we offered lawler the kind of money he played on previously. 

I could see possibly going to other guys, but the mafia is lawful good. If they feel some thing is out of line they aren't going to do it. Be it legal or not. 

[GCn20]

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

Not if you have a fixed price for all 3 AR qbs. Or 4 if you want to tack on the PR. You might be able to keep the crazy rourke type deals down. 

Yea, if it was capped sure. But we have to make sure that we don't give competing leagues a dead duck target on how to get our QBs.

[Mike]

1 minute ago, GCn20 said:

There is nothing flawed about this at all. It's business 101.  You pivot as the budget allows.

It’s flawed because you think this is all on hold for some fairy tale window of exclusivity this weekend. That could’ve been happening by now. It isn’t. It’s not going to.

 

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Every team got the same amount of money. If we up the offer on Kenny, they up the offer too. Dumb way of doing business. 

They can't talk to him unless he turns down both our deals, at that point you move on. Nothing dumb about it other than your understanding of how it could and probably would work.

1 minute ago, Mike said:

It’s flawed because you think this is all on hold for some fairy tale window of exclusivity this weekend. That could’ve been happening by now. It isn’t. It’s not going to.

 

We won't bring our best offer until the exclusive window, if you can't see why. that's not on me.

Edited February 7 by GCn20

[Mike]

1 minute ago, GCn20 said:

We won't bring our best offer until the exclusive window, if you can't see why. that's not on me.

Okie dokie

[TBURGESS]

1 minute ago, GCn20 said:

They can't talk to him unless he turns down both our deals, at that point you move on.

You really think that teams aren't talking to him or his agent?

[wbbfan]

14 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Yea, if it was capped sure. But we have to make sure that we don't give competing leagues a dead duck target on how to get our QBs.

For sure. I would want to see that boat level raise more. Say, you get 900k-1m for the 3 active qbs. Then PR qbs get a minimum of the AR rookie minimum. So that the QBs in say the XFL UFL w/e are looking at say 50-70k down south max. Or likely 150-200k here. We need that QB talent these days. Make it more desirable for the best QBs in those leagues to be 3rd stringers here. 

[Brandon]

So much sourness on here...  it's not out of the realm of possibility that Winnipeg could offer Lawler 50 k more and Hamilton stays firm with what they originally offered.    To think it's 100% impossible is very weird.      It's doubtful,  but most certainly not impossible.  

Weird things have happened in the league before where players change their mind at the last minute.    

[Booch]

45 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I bet we moved on when kenny decided to go to FA. We knew we weren't gonna out bid crazy, and he wasn't gonna take a discount. 

 

 

A group with Sterns and White..and unknown of Schoen...doesn't wow me at all...and is White what he was? He wasn't last yr ...if there's a chance to get Lawler back now you take it...let them all battle in camp...it's not written anywhere that you only need to bring in rookies to compete for open slots...a mix of rooks and 2..3..4 yr guys is the smarter option...let the 8 best guys make the team on AR..PR and IR

 

35 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

In the past, sure. Made their best offer another team offered more. Nothing more to be done. This year teams got an unexpected windfall of SMS halfway through the week.

I'm not suggesting Kenny necessarily comes back, but I guarantee Walters is upping his pitch. He would be an idiot not to do so. I don't give a fig what Dunk is saying, no GM is going to talk to him about waiting until the exclusive window and re-entering talks with their pending FAs. Some guys will have been moved on from, other guys were losses that teams were forced to make because of the old SMS number. Kenny is one of those guys.

Yeah I won't take anything from Dunk or any insider at any value

33 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

To be honest, I don't know how you even pay kenny 50k+  year more than dalton.

2 out of 3 years in the league dalton has been the best wr in the league. He was injured most of last year. Arguably, Kenny was the best wr in the league once in the shortened season. That's out of 5 years. 

Kenny is 31 a month into the season. Dalton is 28. 

Dalton has missed time with 1 major injury. Lawler has missed time because he didn't get his passport done in time, DUI, and various injuries. 

Dalton averages almost double the YAC each year and more than double the tds. They have the same number of 100 yard games in their career as well. 

Dalton eclipsed 100 catches in both his healthy seasons. Lawler hasn't done it once. 

I agree...but I have reservations...we don't know what schoen will be...and a player who had a run of freak injuries and mishaps can also go on a run of yrs of 18 games...so nothing is guaranteed

Heard...or seen no evidence of where Schoen is at...every player will claim they will be ready...more often than not tho they aren't

And we know how ZC plays with guys he not used to...or comfortable with...and it's not good...and being a yr older...won't be better

If schoen ain't ready...a group of Mitchell..Demski..Clercius..Sterns and White can't be considered a top group

I must add...our guys we didn't bring back but we're snapped up immediately we're called slugs..mediocre...inadequate...yet we just picked up 2 recievers who were in the same boat...did we pick up what others claimed our former guys were?

Edited February 7 by Booch

[B140]

3 minutes ago, Brandon said:

So much sourness on here...  it's not out of the realm of possibility that Winnipeg could offer Lawler 50 k more and Hamilton stays firm with what they originally offered.    To think it's 100% impossible is very weird.      It's doubtful,  but most certainly not impossible.  

Weird things have happened in the league before where players change their mind at the last minute.    

Richard Karikari says hello

[Stickem]

1 minute ago, B140 said:

Richard Karikari says hello

just don't get into the contract faxing game..................

[Brandon]

2 minutes ago, B140 said:

Richard Karikari says hello

Darian Durant says good bye

[Booch]

24 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

But you build into your budget a value for the players as well. Just because you have more money to spend doesn't mean you suddenly become wasteful with it. No way have we offered lawler the kind of money he played on previously. 

I could see possibly going to other guys, but the mafia is lawful good. If they feel some thing is out of line they aren't going to do it. Be it legal or not. 

.maybe they should start....

[wbbfan]

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

A group with Sterns and White..and unknown of Schoen...doesn't wow me at all...and is White what he was? He wasn't last yr ...if there's a chance to get Lawler back now you take it...let them all battle in camp...it's not written anywhere that you only need to bring in rookies to compete for open slots...a mix of rooks and 2..3..4 yr guys is the smarter option...let the 8 best guys make the team on AR..PR and IR

 

Yeah I won't take anything from Dunk or any insider at any value

I agree...but I have reservations...we don't know what schoen will be...and a player who had a run of freak injuries and mishaps can also go on a run of yrs of 18 games...so nothing is guaranteed

Heard...or seen no evidence of where Schoen is at...every player will claim they will be ready...more often than not tho they aren't

And we know how ZC plays with guys he not used to...or comfortable with...and it's not good...and being a yr older...won't be better

If schoen ain't ready...a group of Mitchell..Demski..Clercius..Sterns and White can't be considered a top group

 

I get that trepidation. And it's not that I'm expecting all or maybe even most of the pick ups to click. 

I think that Hogan is going to take us back to the jet motion, and I suspect he was the pusher of the 2 back sets we used very sparingly. If we stretch the field side line to side line with jet/2nd back, we don't need the insane top tier wr core again. We need 1 no1 guy that works with zach, and some guys who can get to a spot and catch the ball. I think we have a few guys who can come in and have a chance to be that for zach. Really, that is more important than their talent or what not. We've seen zach lean heavily on all kinds of guys for short periods of time to great success. It's more important that they are of one mind. That's how dalton rocketed up soo fast. He was smart enough to find out what zach likes in each situations and do it. Return to PA, sweep motion, flag and come back concepts will help zach and the offence a lot. 

I don't think any WR available to us before or during FA is a guy who removes questions with his presence. They mostly bring different question marks. Hoe will he find a way to miss games? Will he disappear? Will he work ok with zach, can he work around schoen and demski etc. That is one that people don't talk about much any more, the wr's you play next to can have a gigantic impact on your own play. We've seen guys like TE and Bruce flourish under milt, and way more guys wilt. We've seen dalton flourish with every one and any one around him. And we've seen kenny flounder and flourish in the same situation. 

 

I think Danny, and Walters know what kind of targets Zach will work well with right away. When you look at some of our recent-ish break out guys, we have had a bundle of guys zach trusted right away. Maybe that's why we were married to johnson for soo darn long. Either way, I think one of the rookies we bring into camp will be comparable to Wilson. IF dalton isn't ok, and IF Wilson doesn't come back, which is the worst case scenario, we have a bundle of bodies for zach to find a new guy. And that's what we need IMO. If we brought in a guy like geno, and he and zach didn't mesh, we'd be hooped. 

I wish we had gotten lawler back. That would've been the best case with some of the guys we got as well. But chasing lawler for stupid money is just stupid. I would've loved if we did get a guy like geno, and the bundle of guys we got, but at that point you likely just bring lawler back.   

 

10 minutes ago, Booch said:

.maybe they should start....

If you ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin. 

 

12 minutes ago, B140 said:

Richard Karikari says hello

If the forum had busts of all time great meme players, he would be on the rushmore. Along with incompleterson. 

[Stickem]

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

 

 

 

I wish we had gotten lawler back. That would've been the best case with some of the guys we got as well. But chasing lawler for stupid money is just stupid. I would've loved if we did get a guy like geno, and the bundle of guys we got, but at that point you likely just bring lawler back.   

 

I also would've like to have seen Lewis in bluengold BUT maybe his ask was greater than Lawler's ...Don't know....but what I do know is that we are going to miss Kenny and his must have circus catches when needed....Apparently Zack is too, with the sentiments he imparted to third down...He thinks we would/could've retained him if we had known the situation with the sms and was none too happy....Maybe this saga ain't over yet

[GCn20]

What would have been wasteful a few days ago, is now very open to interpretation. If Walters was working off say a 500k budget for receivers on Monday, today it would not be wasteful if that budget was 550k (10% increase). That 50k was the difference between us and Hamilton.  That's just math. We can no longer say that 275 k is wasteful on our best receiver when it may fit the positional budget.

Edited February 7 by GCn20

[GCn20]

Some on here feel that the right thing to do would be to pretend we didn't have a windfall of extra SMS and to honor deals and prices set before the league dropped the bomb. I say bullshit to that, teach Ted Goveia his first big lesson about meddling with our FA's and screw the nice guy act and do what is in the best interest of our club....to hell with the rest. Nice GMs finish last. Screw them over, screw them over, screw them over....GO KYLE we have a cup to raise on home soil. Anything less than pulling out every stop to put our interests first is a failure.

The media, and whoever, can wax poetically about honor among thieves.....F That. If we don't make our revised best pitch to Kenny because of some ridiculous notion of lollipops and rainbows amongst the other GMs then we deserve what we get if we are not hoisting the cup. All other teams in this league are our competition, you put your foot on the throat of your competition every chance you can in business.

Edited February 7 by GCn20

[Goalie]

11 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Some on here feel that the right thing to do would be to pretend we didn't have a windfall of extra SMS and to honor deals and prices set before the league dropped the bomb. I say bullshit to that, teach Ted Goveia his first big lesson about meddling with our FA's and screw the nice guy act and do what is in the best interest of our club....to hell with the rest. Nice GMs finish last. Screw them over, screw them over, screw them over....GO KYLE we have a cup to raise on home soil. Anything less than pulling out every stop to put our interests first is a failure.

The media, and whoever, can wax poetically about honor among thieves.....F That. If we don't make our revised best pitch to Kenny because of some ridiculous notion of lollipops and rainbows amongst the other GMs then we deserve what we get if we are not hoisting the cup. All other teams in this league are our competition, you put your foot on the throat of your competition every chance you can in business.

Man. Dying on a hill Paul Friesen created is wild.  You do realize Kenny already said his good byes right? Move on, bombers have and Kenny has. 
 

What’s done is done. Lawler will be a ticat.  Dude literally said good bye to Winnipeg. He ain’t coming back. Here’s a wild thought, bombers didn’t think Kenny was worth 275. Ppl need to accept this. 

Edited February 7 by Goalie

[17to85]

If Kyle walters felt signing these guys was THAT important he would have found the money for them. He moved on and wants to use his money elsewhere.

[Booch]

My take is that if you wanna be in your home Grey Cup...do what ya gotta do...does it mean go over tha  cap a bit...so be it...does it mean circumvent the cap a bit and pay ungodly "Marketing" money to secure a guy...have at er as the fans have been here for the team and helped fill their coffers....reward them a bit for it.....if it means stepping on some toes of other G.M's....giver'...the nice guy schtick and act has grown a bit stale...asl long as it in the constraints of the rules and normal football Op's coming and goings....I'm all for it...If  it mean's poaching a guy of a PR....poach away....not like it's illegal.

Because fact of the matter...other teams have done all the above....and would do it to us in a heart beat....Play...Coach and G.M to win....why you wouldn't and be worried about not hurting anyone's feelings is beyond me

That goes with players as well...bring in the best talent...not just the talent that is good...but suits this "kind of guy character" we want agenda....if the culture is as is stated....and the room is run with the FIFO anthem which to me now is kind of a whatev's as that should be a standard in any room regardless...well then any player that could be a me first guy will learn and get indoctrined to the way we want it pretty seamlessly....and if not....move on and move forward

Bring in the best you can find....let em battle....and sort it out .....not a hard concept....pretty universal one for that matter anywhere I been

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, Booch said:

My take is that if you wanna be in your home Grey Cup...do what ya gotta do...does it mean go over tha  cap a bit...so be it...does it mean circumvent the cap a bit and pay ungodly "Marketing" money to secure a guy...have at er as the fans have been here for the team and helped fill their coffers....reward them a bit for it.....if it means stepping on some toes of other G.M's....giver'...the nice guy schtick and act has grown a bit stale...asl long as it in the constraints of the rules and normal football Op's coming and goings....I'm all for it...If  it mean's poaching a guy of a PR....poach away....not like it's illegal.

Because fact of the matter...other teams have done all the above....and would do it to us in a heart beat....Play...Coach and G.M to win....why you wouldn't and be worried about not hurting anyone's feelings is beyond me

That goes with players as well...bring in the best talent...not just the talent that is good...but suits this "kind of guy character" we want agenda....if the culture is as is stated....and the room is run with the FIFO anthem which to me now is kind of a whatev's as that should be a standard in any room regardless...well then any player that could be a me first guy will learn and get indoctrined to the way we want it pretty seamlessly....and if not....move on and move forward

Bring in the best you can find....let em battle....and sort it out .....not a hard concept....pretty universal one for that matter anywhere I been

If Cup at home had any sway with the mafia, we would have re-tooled last year going into TC. I honestly don't think they view this year as any different than any of he previous. 

They should treat it differently. The door is shut and the window is sliding down fast, but they aren't going to. 

[Goalie]

Hamilton was in their home grey cup a few years ago. Don’t recall them blowing their wads to get there. Just cuz you overpay people don’t guarantee anything. Actually history has shown that the teams who overpay during free agency usually don’t end up in the game otherwise Hamilton and BC would be grey cup champs every year. Hamilton has the longest cup draught in the league. Over spending doesn’t guarantee ****. 

Edited February 7 by Goalie

[Booch]

4 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

If Cup at home had any sway with the mafia, we would have re-tooled last year going into TC. I honestly don't think they view this year as any different than any of he previous. 

They should treat it differently. The door is shut and the window is sliding down fast, but they aren't going to. 

piss poor management and forward thinking then....and as a fan base who has been the leagues best...they should maybe deviate and give the fans this gift by any means....like I said....too much nice giy...dont wanna cause riples thinking and upset anyone.....time to mix it up and throw a curve at everyone...as the 3 straight fastballs we chucked 3 straight yrs got slammed for dingers

3 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Hamilton was in their home grey cup a few years ago. Don’t recall them blowing their wads to get there. Just cuz you overpay people don’t guarantee anything. Actually history has shown that the teams who overpay during free agency usually don’t end up in the game otherwise Hamilton and BC would be grey cup champs every year. Hamilton has the longest cup draught in the league. Over spending doesn’t guarantee ****. 

dont have to over pay all over your roster...especially if you effectively been turning it over and had progression and transitin pieeces in place...which we didnt.......u can tho cut the fat off the back and add some lean mean....and over paying for 1..maybe 2 guys...all teams do it....Hamilton as well already had a good team...in a weak divison and some hefty payed guys....they mapped that out accordingly....a spineless QB and some poor coaching sunk them

Edited February 7 by Booch