Neufeld on 6 game

[Jesse]

There is no advantage to giving any Canadian a signing bonus.  And especially with an oft injured player, its just crazy to.  Bonuses are given to sign a player for less by putting some upfront.

I can't see many of our players having been given bonues.

We re-work deals all the time. He could have been given a bonus if he requested one or we could have re-worked his salary as a bonus at some point when we were moving things around this season or last.

[TecnoGenius]

There is no advantage to giving any Canadian a signing bonus.  And especially with an oft injured player, its just crazy to.  Bonuses are given to sign a player for less by putting some upfront.

I can't see many of our players having been given bonues.

Right on.  The whole reason for all the superstar IMP bonuses is IMPs pay less tax on bonus.  There is no such tax break for Canadians (thanks CRA) so why would any NAT ask for a bonus, and why should we be keen on doing it?  All pain, no gain.

Plus, we've all heard of IMPs getting huge bonuses specified at time of signing ("Kenny got $X and $Y of it is a bonus") but we have never (AFAIK) heard in the media the same of a NAT.  If I'm wrong, show me the article.  (Not saying NATs might not get a tiny bonus... just saying they aren't getting $100k bonuses like Kenny-level IMPs.)

[Ridermania]

Neufeld had an interesting career path. Struggled with injuries and finding his game early but morphed into a key cog in one of the best offensive lines of the last 10-15 years in the CFL. Struggled this year even before the injury. Seems like he could be done which is unfortunate but he can walk away with a pretty accomplished resume and for a guy that was given up on by his hometown Riders certainly reached an exceptionally high level of play and sustained it for longer than anyone would have thought.

Riders did not give up on Paddy, he was traded for DL Alex Hall who helped the Riders win the Grey Cup.  Good trade for both clubs.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Riders did not give up on Paddy, he was traded for DL Alex Hall who helped the Riders win the Grey Cup.  Good trade for both clubs.

The Riders kind of did. He wasn't very good early in his career. When you trade a hometown Canadian offensive lineman for a 30-year-old (at the time) American defensive end that's speaks for itself when you remove the homer bias, no? They never would have done it had they known the career he was going to have, right?

What's more, the Riders subsequently had one of the worst offensive lines of the last 4-5 years while Neufeld played at a high level over here. So yea, they saw the early struggles, didn't think it projected well, and made the trade. That's defined as giving up on your prospect. All teams have done it, but the Riders certainly did it there.

[blue_gold_84]

Riders did not give up on Paddy, he was traded for DL Alex Hall who helped the Riders win the Grey Cup.  Good trade for both clubs.

Sure they did. They traded him for a rental.

[bwiser]

Neufeld was injured a lot early in his career but has been relatively healthy of late. His play has dropped off this season but that could have a lot to do with Hardrick not being beside him anymore.

[blue_or_die]

More evidence that we were probably hoping the core would make it thru the home Grey Cup next year, but are dropping like flies both in terms of injury and performance.

Don't mean to do a negatron post, but we've seen so much of it this year. I say this as someone who loves the core - especially Paddy. Hoping he's able to return, but his time playing football is certainly limited.

On a positive note, maybe this is some unplanned load management and we get a healthy and ready Paddy back for a late season push? Yenno, get hot (and healthy) at the right time?

[Jesse]

More evidence that we were probably hoping the core would make it thru the home Grey Cup next year, but are dropping like flies both in terms of injury and performance.

Don't mean to do a negatron post, but we've seen so much of it this year. I say this as someone who loves the core - especially Paddy. Hoping he's able to return, but his time playing football is certainly limited.

On a positive note, maybe this is some unplanned load management and we get a healthy and ready Paddy back for a late season push? Yenno, get hot (and healthy) at the right time?

Hope Paddy gets right, but definitely still have hopes for the late season push! All our byes and weaker opponents are still on the horizon. Only one game out of the play-off spot.

[DM83]

neufeld is a very good player.  All the guys who won grey cups were.  He is due to retire at his age, but it's not like he has to run a forty yard dash ever. Certainly he can recover from a non surgical injury.  They all take time.  If they are forecasting as only a few weeks, it certainly sounds recoverable.

[TecnoGenius]

The Riders kind of did. He wasn't very good early in his career. When you trade a hometown Canadian offensive lineman for a 30-year-old (at the time) American defensive end that's speaks for itself when you remove the homer bias, no?

I think you're both right.  Ridermania is right that stacking the team late with Hall did help win that cup.  You can't discount how much that home cup (and winning!) meant to that fan base.

They destroyed their team for years to come to win that cup.  Was it worth it?  If you were there in Mosaic watching it wearing green, you might answer "yes".  I can understand that.  I may have made the same choice... and come 2025 I may not say boo if WFC does the same thing.

(Though we all know WFC won't...)