2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[bigg jay]

https://3downnation.com/2025/01/24/bombers-moving-on-from-veteran-lb-adam-bighill-report/

 

[Pete Catan's Ghost]

Now that he’s gone, I’m looking forward to speaking of Bighill as one of the best, without talking about his diminished play. 

B.A. is sweating

Edited yesterday at 01:30 AM by Pete Catan's Ghost

[Noeller]

This tweet..... 🤐

 

 

[17to85]

Only friesen can be that obtuse. 

[17to85]

So like I said, trust Kyle Walters.

[wbbfan]

17 minutes ago, Noeller said:

This tweet..... 🤐

 

 

Before players go home, they have exit interviews with players. I have no doubt that the bombers let biggie know what the whole league knew after he played in the previous years gc. 
 

13 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Only friesen can be that obtuse. 

Yuuuuup he’s the 100 year old media version of a social media $@&% poster. How long till he retires? Or will the sun go under first? 

[Brandon]

I guess the issue is that they didn't inform him outright that they were planning to move on with him until he asked them.  Haven't we heard a few similar stories to this over the last few seasons?   Maybe also the courtesy of cutting him early so he can find work elsewhere?   

I wonder if the Riders will pick him up since they tend to overpay for over the hill veterans?    

 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, bigg jay said:

https://3downnation.com/2025/01/24/bombers-moving-on-from-veteran-lb-adam-bighill-report/

 

For a team that claims to have this great "culture" & players wanting to come here, we sure treat our departing veteran players like ****. Bighill had to call Kyle Walters to find out the team has moved on from him??? Walters couldn't have picked up the phone, invited Biggie for lunch or to a meeting with him & O'Shea & be told in person? That's garbage treating a future Hall of Famer like that.

Edited yesterday at 03:15 AM by SpeedFlex27

[BigBlueFanatic]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

I guess the issue is that they didn't inform him outright that they were planning to move on with him until he asked them.  Haven't we heard a few similar stories to this over the last few seasons?   Maybe also the courtesy of cutting him early so he can find work elsewhere?   

I wonder if the Riders will pick him up since they tend to overpay for over the hill veterans?    

 

 

40 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

For a team that claims to have this great "culture" & players wanting to come here, we sure treat our departing veteran players like ****. Bighill had to call Kyle Walters to find out the team has moved on from him??? Walters couldn't have picked up the phone, invited Biggie for lunch or to a meeting with him & O'Shea & be told in person? That's garbage treating a future Hall of Famer like that.

It’s definitely a familiar refrain… players say they went long stretches with no contact.  A.Harris, Jeffcoat, Janarion Grant, Bighill…

Kyle Walters did the right thing letting some of these players go but these sorts of stories are disappointing.  Are the hard conversations that tough to have?

Sweet jeeeezuz is Fatboi that intimidating, just shove another one year contract at him and hope he hangs up the cleats the season after??

[JuranBoldenRules]

I mean it's basically two weeks until the tampering period.

Would players rather be strung along with love and then hit the market?  Maybe depending on what happens in the tampering period the Bombers would make an offer for Bighill.

I honestly don't know what's running through Bighill's head and why he thinks he'll get paid enough for it to be worth his while to keep playing.

[M.O.A.B.]

19 minutes ago, BigBlueFanatic said:

 

It’s definitely a familiar refrain… players say they went long stretches with no contact.  A.Harris, Jeffcoat, Janarion Grant, Bighill…

Kyle Walters did the right thing letting some of these players go but these sorts of stories are disappointing.  Are the hard conversations that tough to have?

Sweet jeeeezuz is Fatboi that intimidating, just shove another one year contract at him and hope he hangs up the cleats the season after??

Fatboi hold Walters and O'Shea on the palm of his hand

[bigg jay]

16 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

I mean it's basically two weeks until the tampering period.

Would players rather be strung along with love and then hit the market?  Maybe depending on what happens in the tampering period the Bombers would make an offer for Bighill.

I honestly don't know what's running through Bighill's head and why he thinks he'll get paid enough for it to be worth his while to keep playing.

Yup, Biggie called looking for an answer he already knew was coming and he got it. Still plenty of time for him to get the lowball offers he's going to get from other teams.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

I guess the issue is that they didn't inform him outright that they were planning to move on with him until he asked them.  Haven't we heard a few similar stories to this over the last few seasons?   Maybe also the courtesy of cutting him early so he can find work elsewhere?   

I wonder if the Riders will pick him up since they tend to overpay for over the hill veterans?    

 

I wonder if being short handed played a part in it. We have to remember, buck and hall were in consideration for other teams positions and when that happens aren’t involved for obvious reasons, plus 3 front office people. It was basically mos and Walters doing all the work for a long time. He talked about it in the year ending presser. 
 

I also don’t buy he didn’t know the writing was on the wall here. Especially after we re upped jones and then kyrie. 
 Far as Im concerned we gave biggie multiple victory laps including a top end pay day far past his prime. 
 

Love biggie, hope he coaches. Glad he isn’t playing here. 
  Can’t be the only vet we move on from though. 

1 minute ago, bigg jay said:

Yup, Biggie called looking for an answer he already knew was coming and he got it. Still plenty of time for him to get the lowball offers he's going to get from other teams.

Think he will get one? I really don’t know. 

[SpeedFlex27]

We move on from Biggie but give Jake Thomas a new contract. Go figure. 

[bigg jay]

2 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Think he will get one? I really don’t know. 

If I was a GM, I wouldn't be making an offer, at least not now.  I could see him maybe getting picked up as a late season injury replacement.  Stranger things have happened in the CFL though.

[SpeedFlex27]

26 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

I mean it's basically two weeks until the tampering period.

Would players rather be strung along with love and then hit the market?  Maybe depending on what happens in the tampering period the Bombers would make an offer for Bighill.

I honestly don't know what's running through Bighill's head and why he thinks he'll get paid enough for it to be worth his while to keep playing.

So, it takes 3 months to take a cell phone out of their pocket & call? Nope. Don't buy it. 

[17to85]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

For a team that claims to have this great "culture" & players wanting to come here, we sure treat our departing veteran players like ****. Bighill had to call Kyle Walters to find out the team has moved on from him??? Walters couldn't have picked up the phone, invited Biggie for lunch or to a meeting with him & O'Shea & be told in person? That's garbage treating a future Hall of Famer like that.

“I realized when I got hurt it’s a real possibility that a club who’s already looking at ways to probably redo their roster, with heavy veterans, this is an easy one for them,” he said. “Whether I think or whether other people think it’s a right decision or not. It’s an easy one to point at and say, ‘It’s probably time.’

 

“So I understand that from a business stance. I prepared myself for it.”

 

From the winnipeg sun. Doesn't sound like there's hard feelings. Phones do work both ways and bighill got his answer. He also comes across as one of those guys completely unwilling to accept that his time has passed.

[Mike]

10 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

So, it takes 3 months to take a cell phone out of their pocket & call? Nope. Don't buy it. 

Relax, man. You’re officially hitting the “I am gonna whine about everything” point in your off-season arc 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 minute ago, Mike said:

Relax, man. You’re officially hitting the “I am gonna whine about everything” point in your off-season arc 

Yeah, I'm complaining but lots of things going on with the team, I guess. All it means is that I care about the team. The Biggie thing is just a head scratcher to me. I don't disagree with him not being offered a contract. I actually agree with that decision. It's just how it's been handled.

I've been fired once or twice in my career. Don't have to worry about it now that I'm retired. I know that I received a phone call saying to be at the office at such & such a time for a meeting where the boss delivered the bad news. It wasn't pleasant but it was done in person. I just don't get how a GM & Head Coach can just ghost a player of Biggie's stature like that. To me, it's all about respect. 

[Booch]

8 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Yea...thus the need for our OC to adjust. I don`t believe that Buck did that well.

I`m not defending Zac, but Buck needed to adjust to Zac`s aging and he did not. If you are going to roster a 35+ year old QB then you gotta adjust as he ages and change the dynamics of what you are asking him to do. Perfect example is Harris in Saskatchewan. Guy can`t be touched without breaking so they changed how he is to QB based on that and developed a system that allows him outlets to get rid of the ball quicker while still moving the chains. If we are going to try roll out 2019 Zac every game we are not really being fair to him or the team at this point. Zac can be very productive still, but he needs an offence that evolves with him.

Agreed...which harkens back to my belief that our coaching...or lack there of at times has hurt us..and needs to be adressed...it's not as great as many like to believe it is when you have a hard headed stubborn guy overseeing it all who thinks he's always right

5 hours ago, wbbfan said:

It’s a really hard balance that is deep in the blind spot for us as fans. Is he willing to evolve his game to extend the last bit of his career? Is he capable? What does that look like? How much do you try to cover for his weaknesses (forcing the ball down field, holding it too long) and how much do you give him what he wants? 
 I feel like both alleged finalists, Jackson and miller are well poised to deal with him. But it won’t be an easy job. It the oc balances that well the rest will fall in place. 
 
as has been said, he can’t run and escape like he used to. He also struggles mightily with rpo and option play in general. He’s shown flashes of really good up tempo play involving Timing routes and select screens. He does a lot better with this stuff off PA. He also likes to read down field back to the line, so stuff has to be designed around that. 

The offence also needs to have some development beyond zach. It’s very likely that the next oc will be here longer than zach at this point in his career. So we don’t just need some one who can excel with zach, but who can develop the next guy and involve him. 

 Not sure he can evolve to be efficient with a new scheme...short outlets..dumps...screens ....he has probably the worst touch to do that of any starter in the league...so not sure he'd be a good fit in that kind of offence..

[Mark H.]

6 minutes ago, Booch said:

Not sure he can evolve to be efficient with a new scheme...short outlets..dumps...screens ....he has probably the worst touch to do that of any starter in the league...so not sure he'd be a good fit in that kind of offence..

I agree. Some QBs are simply downfield guys...Mike Reilly was the same. And Reilly had the same protection issues that ZC has.

[Booch]

I pretty sure Biggie knew the gig was up at end of season...and it can be tough for a player to accept that playing days are done...some know...even during their last yr...some just have to much fire in them to quit...I'll give Biggie that, and he may get a bottom barrel deal somewhere but not to be "the guy"

That being said...I would have taken him over Jake as a ST guy and emergency backup/role guy and player coach role...as he would offer value there...Jake offers none whatsoever

[MOBomberFan]

But feelings don’t negotiate contracts.

“Oshe tends to stay out of contract negotiations,” is how Bighill put it. “He lets the front office do their part. So it doesn’t really matter what he thinks or feels, to some degree, I would say. The roles and responsibilities are different.”

I thought I heard somewhere O'Shea was overly influential in who gets offers and who doesn't. This direct quote appears to be on the contrary. That, or he is demonstrating that his loyalty has it's limits. Either way even Biggie can agree it's time to move forward.

Edited 17 hours ago by MOBomberFan
word

[Booch]

Osh will say who he wants...it's up.to Walters to work it out..or say...nahhhhh

I bet it was a case of walters saying g...nahhhhhhh

[TBURGESS]

I think they should have called Biggie and let him know. That's the professional thing to do. I'm glad they made the right decision tho.