Blue Bombers add three to roster - April 2, 2024

[Blue In BC]

From my perspective, the current lineup is not looking as good as it did last season, with numerous question marks and big holes that need to be filled immediately to keep them at or near the top of the league.

Competitively, they are worse on both sides of the line, the O-line lost Hardrick and Gray, two well established veterans, whether Eli or Dobson can measure up in pass protection remains to be seen. Hardrick's replacement remains a huge unknown critically protecting the teams #1 asset. 

The D-line lost Jeffcoat and Walker, I'd be amazed if they came up with 2 new players who could match their contributions.  Jeffcoat was an irreplaceable HOF level player who suffered injury problems and Walker was an experienced vet and the best DT they had on the roster, neither should be expected to play for less $$. As we've seen before, if the D-line fails to administer adequate pressure or stop the run, the secondary folds like a deck of cards.

Amazingly despite the expenditure, the receiver position is potentially worse off with the loss of Bailey, whoever fills his spot will not see that many balls and will have a hard time filling Bailey's shoes in the multiple roles he performed.  It's a crying shame they never made any effort to retain an established veteran like him. 

The secondary is a wash, they still have plenty of good D-backs to fill in for the loss of Rose and Houston, getting Holm and Nichols back was critical.

Clements was the logical successor to Bighill or Wilson at LB and was groomed to do so, this is the kind of succession that has proven successful in the past that is now being neglected in many positions. Cole can fill in as a role player but doesn't have the same level of experience or the proven football IQ to take over that spot yet. If Bighill or Wilson go down early in the season, it may cause a problem.

Of all the players that left, going from their remarks even paying them the salary they received last season would have been enough to retain them, excluding Hardrick who received a huge bump from Sask. and Houston who received a bump from the Stamps. Bailey, Gray, Jeffcoat, Walker, Clements and maybe Grant as well, were all key players to the team's success, none of which were moved on because their performance was inadequate or they had proven replacements ready to step in, they are being replaced mostly with cheaper question marks.

What it came down to was Walters having nothing left in the kitty to make them reasonable offers, so he didn't bother to offer them anything. I can understand one or two replacements per year when other teams make much better offers or a player ages out, but this was not the case in any of these situations.   

Walters saving grace may be his re-signing of Streveler, he has the ability to make up for deficiencies in other areas that could allow them to pull off wins even with less dominating performances.

It's the cost of being a top team and players that did re-sign, re-signed for significantly more money.

In particular Oliveria and Schoen each are getting an additional $100K+ over 2023.

IMO the organization decided Cole was a better long term option than Clements. Retaining him wouldn't have been that expensive and he'll still only be a DI elsewhere.

[theaardvark]

From my perspective, the current lineup is not looking as good as it did last season, with numerous question marks and big holes that need to be filled immediately to keep them at or near the top of the league.

Competitively, they are worse on both sides of the line, the O-line lost Hardrick and Gray, two well established veterans, whether Eli or Dobson can measure up in pass protection remains to be seen. Hardrick's replacement remains a huge unknown critically protecting the teams #1 asset. 

The D-line lost Jeffcoat and Walker, I'd be amazed if they came up with 2 new players who could match their contributions.  Jeffcoat was an irreplaceable HOF level player who suffered injury problems and Walker was an experienced vet and the best DT they had on the roster, neither should be expected to play for less $$. As we've seen before, if the D-line fails to administer adequate pressure or stop the run, the secondary folds like a deck of cards.

Amazingly despite the expenditure, the receiver position is potentially worse off with the loss of Bailey, whoever fills his spot will not see that many balls and will have a hard time filling Bailey's shoes in the multiple roles he performed.  It's a crying shame they never made any effort to retain an established veteran like him. 

The secondary is a wash, they still have plenty of good D-backs to fill in for the loss of Rose and Houston, getting Holm and Nichols back was critical.

Clements was the logical successor to Bighill or Wilson at LB and was groomed to do so, this is the kind of succession that has proven successful in the past that is now being neglected in many positions. Cole can fill in as a role player but doesn't have the same level of experience or the proven football IQ to take over that spot yet. If Bighill or Wilson go down early in the season, it may cause a problem.

Of all the players that left, going from their remarks even paying them the salary they received last season would have been enough to retain them, excluding Hardrick who received a huge bump from Sask. and Houston who received a bump from the Stamps. Bailey, Gray, Jeffcoat, Walker, Clements and maybe Grant as well, were all key players to the team's success, none of which were moved on because their performance was inadequate or they had proven replacements ready to step in, they are being replaced mostly with cheaper question marks.

What it came down to was Walters having nothing left in the kitty to make them reasonable offers, so he didn't bother to offer them anything. I can understand one or two replacements per year when other teams make much better offers or a player ages out, but this was not the case in any of these situations.   

Walters saving grace may be his re-signing of Streveler, he has the ability to make up for deficiencies in other areas that could allow them to pull off wins even with less dominating performances.

Pretty sure every one of the bolded players that signed elsewhere got significant bumps, and those that did not sign elsewhere, well... there is a reason.

Every year you need to make decisions about layers, and where you spend your money. 

Schoen meant Bailey didn't get a deserved raise.  And seriously, as much as I LOVE Sheed, its a numbers game, and 4th/5th rec gets an ELC, and Sheed deserved much more than that.  So we have 57 REC candidates in to fil his shoes on an ELC.

Walker and Clements got considerable raises, ones we couldn't match, like Houston.  We lose players every year to that issue.  Its not because Schoen adn Lawler are getting big deals, or even that Collaros is.  Its because, at the end of the day, the GM and his coach decide who will make a difference and how much is that worth.

Collaros, Lawler and Schoen are paid what they are paid because they are there to make a difference.  And, like every other year, where we lost players to retirement, injury or to being outbid, our scouts will bring in talent and we will go back to the GC.

We have a solid Oline to protect Collaros, and the best WR corps (talent and ratio) in the league, the top RB who is ratio busting as well.  And players returning from NFL stints.

Pretty solid job by Walters if you ask me.

[Pete]

The departed players did play a strong role in our success, but it was time to make some changes, you can't continue to sustain such a strong veteran presence in a salary cap situation. I could also argue that we should have brought in some more rookies ly
 In terms of the vets we let go;
Clements: i don't think he's a starting middle linebacker quality player, and if the coaches didn't think so they needed to bring in some new blood now to develop. Last year I didn't see much growth in his play.
Bailey: At this point we've seen what he brings. He's a 500 - 600 yd receiver with good blocking skills. If we can't afford to keep both Lawler and Schoen next year he's not the answer. His production can be accomplished with a new receiver with more upside.
Grey; has always been seen as the weakest link in our oline and with the development of Eli and Dobson it's easy to see why we would move on in a year where the oline drafting class is strong.
Jeffcoat's loss is going to hurt as is Walkers no doubt. but that was the cost of signing Olivera and Shoen

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The departed players did play a strong role in our success, but it was time to make some changes, you can't continue to sustain such a strong veteran presence in a salary cap situation. I could also argue that we should have brought in some more rookies ly
 In terms of the vets we let go;
Clements: i don't think he's a starting middle linebacker quality player, and if the coaches didn't think so they needed to bring in some new blood now to develop. Last year I didn't see much growth in his play.
Bailey: At this point we've seen what he brings. He's a 500 - 600 yd receiver with good blocking skills. If we can't afford to keep both Lawler and Schoen next year he's not the answer. His production can be accomplished with a new receiver with more upside.
Grey; has always been seen as the weakest link in our oline and with the development of Eli and Dobson it's easy to see why we would move on in a year where the oline drafting class is strong.
Jeffcoat's loss is going to hurt as is Walkers no doubt. but that was the cost of signing Olivera and Shoen

I've heard this complaint about Gray over and over again, problem is I've never witnessed it on the field, he never gets bowled over and he's usually leading the blocking down field with Brady more often than not running through the gap to the left of Center. I recall reading that he was making more than any other Natl O-lineman on the team, including Neufeld. If anything is preventing him from continuing his career it's most likely his salary demands, he has better career options than most players and likely wants to maximise his earning potential. Being local, it sure wouldn't take much effort for a reporter to track him down and ask him a few questions.

As for Bailey you neglected to mention his running ability on sweeps, of which he's made some spectacular plays over the past few seasons, more so than Grant or McCrae.  It's a given he and Wolie are not going to see many balls running inside routes and blocking with Lawler, Schoen and Demski as options further downfield.

My contention is it's the depth of the guys below the stars that have kept the Bombers on top of the standings over the past 4 seasons, the strength of the team has been the high quality of the middle core players (journeymen)they've retained that support the main core stars, which most teams can not match. These players know their roles and perform them well, replace them with 5 or 6 ELC players with limited experience across the roster and we might witness some slippage.
 

[Pete]

You are right in that this team is used to having everyone know exactly what to do, with the new players it will take a while. I feel however, is that we should have started replacing some vets earlier so that it's not the turnover we are seeing now (Ie Briggs, Miller, Rose)  We knew all along that Shoen, Olivera, Kolankowski and Nichols were going to need raises, In retrospect we maybe shouldn't have resigned Bailey last year, in order to have developed someone that we could have at least a chance of stepping in if we couldn't sign Schoen)
(the reason I didn't talk about Bailey's running is that he only had 13 carries last year for less than 100 yards) and only 65 yds the year previous. Which will easily be offset with Streveler coming in.

[TecnoGenius]

The salary mismanagement stems from Walters getting in over his head in the receiver dept. by initially re-signing Lawler at an extensive price after Jones blew away the salary cap for receivers, only Walters followed him into the unscripted territory of fiscal mismanagement. The situation was compounded when he had to pay Schoen a similar salary to what he offered Lawler, exceeding the budget for receivers to the point they couldn't afford to bring back a journeyman like Bailey even at a fair salary.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul is never good accounting practice.

We may not agree with some of the decisions, I for one feel we are overinvested in the receiver position at the expense of our defense. But having the best offence in the league may win games for us despite that.

Great points.  We have slowly, quietly, become the team with the highest-paid WR corps (right? certainly if you include our RB), which frankly is insane given Mafia's usually-balanced approach.

Take Lawler: he was brought back as the puzzle piece to win the GC that got away in '22.  We thought we needed just that little bit extra on O.  And it was right: we make that last curl pass on O in '22 and we win that cup.  But here's the thing: the Lawler puzzle piece move then failed to win the '23 cup in the exact same way.  We need a few yards on 2nd down to win the game and we failed.  By that metric, Lawler, as a puzzle piece, was a bust.  A very very expensive bust.

So what if we had that 300k from Lawler with a 100k WR instead and 200k extra spent on our D?  A "real" SAM, and a league-leading DT... does our D then win the '23 GC?

That said, I'm willing to give Lawler a mulligan on '23, and the mediocre post-season performance.  It was a messed up year all-round for him.  But for the team-changing money he's getting he has to make game-changing contributions in the big games.

We've morphed into an O-heavy team.  That doesn't have to be a bad thing.  We are allowed to change if we see an advantage.  But if we're going to do that then we need that O to go out and dominate in the post-season.  They can't let a poser team like MTL sit within 1 score all game and then botch the final drive.  You can't put the games on your D when you've defunded your D by 50%.  With such a high-powered O and mediocre D, you put your O on 3-down footing in that final drive...

And MTL... I'm pretty sure their entire R corps was on ELC!  Our O probably SMS's in at double their O.  And their O got it done.  Hints that maybe our newfound O-heavy SMS approach isn't the best path to solving the puzzle...

What's that saying about what wins championships?

[TecnoGenius]

IMO the organization decided Cole was a better long term option than Clements. Retaining him wouldn't have been that expensive and he'll still only be a DI elsewhere.

Which is funny because Cole is completely different from Clements.  Clements in the bruiser you need in the middle who can lay the wood.  On my rewatch of 2023 Clements is laying wood left and right.

Cole is a speedster finesse-tackler, not a bruiser.  Cole would make a Hurl-level MLB.  He may be good as WILL though.

Clearly we are not worrying about Biggie succession just now, or we pray a great ELC shows up, or we'll lure a top MLB in FA when the time comes... which I'm not against.  Some positions are better filled with proven vets.

Hopefully Biggie is here up to when we win the home cup in '25.  Then we worry about succession.

[TecnoGenius]

I've heard this complaint about Gray over and over again, problem is I've never witnessed it on the field, he never gets bowled over and he's usually leading the blocking down field with Brady more often than not running through the gap to the left of Center.

Gray wasn't bad by any stretch.  And anyone who thinks Dobson/Eli are at Gray-level as a drop-in replacement clearly didn't see all the games where Dobson or Eli started or had significant fill-in time.  They were barely serviceable.

That's not to say Dobson/Eli can't be as good or better than Gray: I just think they won't be on day 1.  Practicing with the first team for an extended time certainly will make them better in the unit, as will more live game reps.

It's funny, I think Dobson would make the better G as he seems to be at a higher level than Eli already, but I also think Dobson is the better 6th OL for jumbo sets.  Eli is clearly the C backup and as such might be better left as the 6th.  Since we usually dress 5 NAT OL, that means some new NAT (DP) may be the 7th OL.  The upshot is: our jumbo packages may be weaker to start this season.

We also have a new problem... in '23 both Gray/Neuf could step in as OT injury replacements (with Dobson/Eli taking the G spots).  Now we just have Neuf.  Who is the natural extra (i.e. second), dressed, OT backup?  No one.

If our NAT DPs don't pan out, or aren't dress-ready, there's always FA Rice, still unsigned and has extensive OT experience...

As for Bailey you neglected to mention his running ability on sweeps, of which he's made some spectacular plays over the past few seasons, more so than Grant or McCrae.  It's a given he and Wolie are not going to see many balls running inside routes and blocking with Lawler, Schoen and Demski as options further downfield.

I loved the Bailey sweeps, and they always seemed to work for >5 yards.  Zero teams expected them, even after getting film.  His running always looked maniacal and frenetic: I just loved it!  Especially when he cut back inside.  But it worked!  And he didn't ever care how much pain was coming his way.

It's little stuff like that we need more of, not less.  You must use all players and you must make the teams defend crazy, if rare, schemes.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Which is funny because Cole is completely different from Clements.  Clements in the bruiser you need in the middle who can lay the wood.  On my rewatch of 2023 Clements is laying wood left and right.

Cole is a speedster finesse-tackler, not a bruiser.  Cole would make a Hurl-level MLB.  He may be good as WILL though.

Clearly we are not worrying about Biggie succession just now, or we pray a great ELC shows up, or we'll lure a top MLB in FA when the time comes... which I'm not against.  Some positions are better filled with proven vets.

Hopefully Biggie is here up to when we win the home cup in '25.  Then we worry about succession.

Clement

Gray wasn't bad by any stretch.  And anyone who thinks Dobson/Eli are at Gray-level as a drop-in replacement clearly didn't see all the games where Dobson or Eli started or had significant fill-in time.  They were barely serviceable.

That's not to say Dobson/Eli can't be as good or better than Gray: I just think they won't be on day 1.  Practicing with the first team for an extended time certainly will make them better in the unit, as will more live game reps.

It's funny, I think Dobson would make the better G as he seems to be at a higher level than Eli already, but I also think Dobson is the better 6th OL for jumbo sets.  Eli is clearly the C backup and as such might be better left as the 6th.  Since we usually dress 5 NAT OL, that means some new NAT (DP) may be the 7th OL.  The upshot is: our jumbo packages may be weaker to start this season.

We also have a new problem... in '23 both Gray/Neuf could step in as OT injury replacements (with Dobson/Eli taking the G spots).  Now we just have Neuf.  Who is the natural extra (i.e. second), dressed, OT backup?  No one.

If our NAT DPs don't pan out, or aren't dress-ready, there's always FA Rice, still unsigned and has extensive OT experience...

I loved the Bailey sweeps, and they always seemed to work for >5 yards.  Zero teams expected them, even after getting film.  His running always looked maniacal and frenetic: I just loved it!  Especially when he cut back inside.  But it worked!  And he didn't ever care how much pain was coming his way.

It's little stuff like that we need more of, not less.  You must use all players and you must make the teams defend crazy, if rare, schemes.

Which is funny because Cole is completely different from Clements.  Clements in the bruiser you need in the middle who can lay the wood.  On my rewatch of 2023 Clements is laying wood left and right.

Cole is a speedster finesse-tackler, not a bruiser.  Cole would make a Hurl-level MLB.  He may be good as WILL though.

Clearly we are not worrying about Biggie succession just now, or we pray a great ELC shows up, or we'll lure a top MLB in FA when the time comes... which I'm not against.  Some positions are better filled with proven vets.

Hopefully Biggie is here up to when we win the home cup in '25.  Then we worry about succession.

I don't really see Biggie effectively hanging on for another 2 seasons, but if he does it should be more as a role player not as an every down MLB. They need to have his replacement in house, developing and taking reps this year as the MLB job in the CFL seems to require a longer learning curve and higher level understanding than most other positions.  They threw away 3 years of investment when they let Clements walk out the door, Bryan Cole needs to bulk up by at least 20 lbs. if he wants to be considered for MLB. 

Bryant and Biggie were the logical candidates to be pushed towards retirement due to their age and the SMS they eat up, but some players seem to have more clout than others in determining when to hang up their shoes.

[blue_gold_84]

Bryant and Biggie were the logical candidates to be pushed towards retirement due to their age and the SMS they eat up, but some players seem to have more clout than others in determining when to hang up their shoes.

What would've been logical about forcing either of them to retire?

No player should be told when to retire, regardless of their SMS hit or their perceived* expiration date.

* by someone outside of the organization

Bighill and Bryant are both leaders on and off the field, commanding loads of respect from their teammates and their coaches. The former still has a year left on his contract and the latter just re-signed for another year and remains arguably among the best O-linemen in the league.

Losing depth/developmental pieces is just the nature of the business when roster salary restrictions exist; no team in this league is immune to that reality. That's especially so for a team that's been the benchmark of dominance and success for the past few regular seasons, as well as making four straight championship appearances and winning two.

[TecnoGenius]

Ya, I think the reasons TLB gave for why they want a future MLB in-house right now are exactly the reasons we'll just buy an established one when the time comes.  That's what we did with Biggie.

And why wouldn't we be able to snipe a top MLB in FA when our need arises?  Everyone wants to play here.  It's not a hard sell.

Yes, an in-house dev guy gives us the ELC dividend for a couple of years, and that's nice, but it's not a requirement.  But even guys with 1-2 seasons under their belts aren't necessarily CFL MLB-ready.

I think we all liked Clements to a degree, but I also think most can agree it was clear he wasn't the next Biggie or Singleton or Muamba.  Not sure Cole can be that either, bulkier or otherwise.  There's also the aspect of having to have a lot of stuff going on upstairs, and I have no read on that with any of the current prospects.

I'm pretty sure Clements will be relegated to the backup/rotation role for the season, no matter what team he's AR'd on.

Speaking of Singleton... is he ever coming back?  We could "pull a Bighill" and lure him into WPG... He might be too rich now to bother, though.  He's now 30 so his NFL time may be limited.

[Blue In BC]

I don't think anybody thought either Clements or Cole were possible replacements for Bighill in the future. It was more about Cole was a better DI choice and less expensive overall. IMO he's not written in stone to even make the roster, but that's something we'll find out in TC.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

What would've been logical about forcing either of them to retire?

No player should be told when to retire, regardless of their SMS hit or their perceived* expiration date.

* by someone outside of the organization

Bighill and Bryant are both leaders on and off the field, commanding loads of respect from their teammates and their coaches. The former still has a year left on his contract and the latter just re-signed for another year and remains arguably among the best O-linemen in the league.

Losing depth/developmental pieces is just the nature of the business when roster salary restrictions exist; no team in this league is immune to that reality. That's especially so for a team that's been the benchmark of dominance and success for the past few regular seasons, as well as making four straight championship appearances and winning two.

The logic of steering Biggie and Bryant towards the door is pretty obvious, no one would be shocked if they made that decision on their own as it's highly anticipated they will, if not this season than next. Agewise they're both well past their prime while still being paid at or near the top of their positional salary ladders. Age and expense should be the obvious factor determining if a veteran player should be extended or not. It's the simplest way of maintaining a balance of age and salary on a team. I believe both Wally and Huff would be nodding their head's in agreement, getting rid of them one year early is better than getting rid of them one year too late. 

I wouldn't grouse if other solid vet. players in the prime of the careers playing for lower wages were not pushed aside mostly due to decisions like this and poor salary management of other positions. Which all began in spring of 2023 with the decision to bring Lawler back at a high cost after Schoen had already proven he was more than an adequate replacement and cheaper. The team may not have won the GC in 2023 either without Kenny onboard, but the salary structure could have retained it's stability and a balance of contentment within the team. A few greedy players are quite capable of sinking ships.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Ya, I think the reasons TLB gave for why they want a future MLB in-house right now are exactly the reasons we'll just buy an established one when the time comes.  That's what we did with Biggie.

And why wouldn't we be able to snipe a top MLB in FA when our need arises?  Everyone wants to play here.  It's not a hard sell.

Yes, an in-house dev guy gives us the ELC dividend for a couple of years, and that's nice, but it's not a requirement.  But even guys with 1-2 seasons under their belts aren't necessarily CFL MLB-ready.

I think we all liked Clements to a degree, but I also think most can agree it was clear he wasn't the next Biggie or Singleton or Muamba.  Not sure Cole can be that either, bulkier or otherwise.  There's also the aspect of having to have a lot of stuff going on upstairs, and I have no read on that with any of the current prospects.

I'm pretty sure Clements will be relegated to the backup/rotation role for the season, no matter what team he's AR'd on.

Speaking of Singleton... is he ever coming back?  We could "pull a Bighill" and lure him into WPG... He might be too rich now to bother, though.  He's now 30 so his NFL time may be limited.

The problem with bringing an experienced MLB in from another team is most of the good ones are already earning in the ball park of $150k, which is about what Bighill is getting paid. Wilson could potentially take over that role if they could find his replacement at WIL.

[blue_gold_84]

The logic of steering Biggie and Bryant towards the door is pretty obvious, no one would be shocked if they made that decision on their own as it's highly anticipated they will, if not this season than next. Agewise they're both well past their prime while still being paid at or near the top of their positional salary ladders. Age and expense should be the obvious factor determining if a veteran player should be extended or not. It's the simplest way of maintaining a balance of age and salary on a team. I believe both Wally and Huff would be nodding their head's in agreement, getting rid of them one year early is better than getting rid of them one year too late. 

Quite the hill upon which you've chosen to die here. And still no logic from the look of it, obvious or not.

There's nothing logical about trying to force a player to retire and use some questionable formula of "balance of age and salary" when all a GM has to do is either not offer a new contract or simply release the player and void an existing contract.
Bryant re-signed, so it seems like a logical conclusion he wants to keep playing for at least another year. He remains one of the best at his craft.
Same with Bighill: he's on the final year of his contract and has made no hint that he's done playing. He's not the impact player he once was but he's still pretty effective when he plays. It also seems like a logical conclusion that Clements* isn't the answer, hence his departure. 
I can only speculate but both come across as athletes who would want to retire on their own terms, and not be influenced by others to do so - regardless of the logic applied.

* who was only here for two seasons in what was largely a backup role

I wouldn't grouse if other solid vet. players in the prime of the careers playing for lower wages were not pushed aside mostly due to decisions like this and poor salary management of other positions. Which all began in spring of 2023 with the decision to bring Lawler back at a high cost after Schoen had already proven he was more than an adequate replacement and cheaper. The team may not have won the GC in 2023 either without Kenny onboard, but the salary structure could have retained it's stability and a balance of contentment within the team. A few greedy players are quite capable of sinking ships.

I don't even know what to make of this. It seems like you're making some pretty baseless accusations leveled at Walters and some players going back to last year.