Dalton Shoen

[towelie]

I think Biggie is going to retire. These injuries will be a big factor, they've already taken a toll on his impact. He already has another career setup in the off-season, plus I'm sure there would be opportunities in the organization if/when he wants them. I really don't see him coming back next year

[Blue In BC]

Lawler and Schoen were already in the SMS budget for 2024. I don't think re-signing Schoen will be that difficult and he'll probably have to take a cut after a season ending injury.

The catch is I don't know exactly what his injury was or whether he'll be ready for TC 2025.

I see the issue of whether we have too much money allocated on offence and it's a valid point.

It might be necessary to adjust that due to our potential free agents like Ford and Holm. OTOH we can only speculate which high SMS players we may lose one way or the other in free agency.

Going to have to see the free agency list before making any serious guesses on what may happen.

[theaardvark]

Its sad that we do not know exactly what each player makes.  Still don't understand the reasoning for that, especially when they've gotten so much more involved in fantasy leagues and gambling, where some leagues use actual salaries.

Knowing exact figures lets fans get more involved as well, it takes discussions here to a next level.

Ambroise, Solly, you listening?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

This season's final results might spur some decisions to retire if they end on a positive note, a GC win could prompt a number of vets. to call it a day.  Stanley is the most logical candidate just due to his age but Biggie, Neufeld, Willie, Jake, Mike Benson and Zach are all pushing or exceeding 35 which is old for a football player.

Next off-seasons biggest challenge will be rewarding Ford and Holm with decent bumps without upsetting the apple cart, most vet DB's make around $100-110k so $140k should be the top end either can demand without surpassing Nichols salary. If Ford wins the Bombers MODP nomination he may not agree with this number and seek his fortune elsewhere, pretty confident Holm will remain if no NFL interest.

[Jesse]

This season's final results might spur some decisions to retire if they end on a positive note, a GC win could prompt a number of vets. to call it a day.  Stanley is the most logical candidate just due to his age but Biggie, Neufeld, Willie, Jake, Mike Benson and Zach are all pushing or exceeding 35 which is old for a football player.

Next off-seasons biggest challenge will be rewarding Ford and Holm with decent bumps without upsetting the apple cart, most vet DB's make around $100-110k so $140k should be the top end either can demand without surpassing Nichols salary. If Ford wins MODP he may not agree with this number and seek his fortune elsewhere, pretty confident Holm will remain if no NFL interest.

I would not be shocked at all if Holm was a salary casualty.

Seems like our MO to let DBs walk.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I would not be shocked at all if Holm was a salary casualty.

Seems like our MO to let DBs walk.

I don't see it, they don't let the smart DB's walk, if needed they may push Alexander out of the way to keep Holm.

[Blue In BC]

I don't see it, they don't let the smart DB's walk, if needed they may push Alexander out of the way to keep Holm.

They let Houston leave. You can never tell when another team offers more money which may be above your limit.

[blue_or_die]

I don't know if we will keep Lawler or Schoen, but I have no doubt that if both are expecting their insane salaries next year then we will be paying only one of them at the most. Whether due to injury or performance, no matter how much you love either or both of those guys you have to admit that neither of them have earned their salary which makes it frustrating from a fan perspective when we have to put up with the learning curve of a whole bunch of other rookies just so these guys can be paid (many times while they're sitting in the tub).

Ultimately Chris Jones gets the last laugh in all of this as it was his fault for making that insane offer to Lawler several years ago that completely turned the import receiver market on its head and made for these asinine moves.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

They let Houston leave. You can never tell when another team offers more money which may be above your limit.

I don't think Houston ever qualified as a smart DB, just my opinion.

[theaardvark]

Houston was good, Sayles was good, but neither left a hole that we didn't fill at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, we do let good DB's take big paydays from other clubs.  But we keep the guys that we really want.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I don't think Houston ever qualified as a smart DB, just my opinion.

I think the main thing is Houston freelanced a lot to try and get picks. He was really good at it and definitely won us back the ball more than you'd have otherwise expected for but a lot of those highlight picks there were two or three plays where he gambled and lost and it resulted in first downs and sometimes points for the offense that they really shouldn't have had.

[dd]

This season's final results might spur some decisions to retire if they end on a positive note, a GC win could prompt a number of vets. to call it a day.  Stanley is the most logical candidate just due to his age but Biggie, Neufeld, Willie, Jake, Mike Benson and Zach are all pushing or exceeding 35 which is old for a football player.

Next off-seasons biggest challenge will be rewarding Ford and Holm with decent bumps without upsetting the apple cart, most vet DB's make around $100-110k so $140k should be the top end either can demand without surpassing Nichols salary. If Ford wins MODP he may not agree with this number and seek his fortune elsewhere, pretty confident Holm will remain if no NFL interest.

I think Holm is our best DB in terms of speed and physicality, but I just can't see him getting a good NFL look, they have so many players in their system its tough to get on their radar, even if he wins a league award, that just doesn't mean anything down there.

[Jesse]

Houston was good, Sayles was good, but neither left a hole that we didn't fill at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, we do let good DB's take big paydays from other clubs.  But we keep the guys that we really want.

It's an interesting point because we've never let Nichols walk (made him the 4th highest paid DB - including SAM LBs).

But there's no way that we'll raise the secondary budget to pay Nichols, Holm, and Ford. It's way too much of an increase to a single position group.

[theaardvark]

It's an interesting point because we've never let Nichols walk (made him the 4th highest paid DB - including SAM LBs).

But there's no way that we'll raise the secondary budget to pay Nichols, Holm, and Ford. It's way too much of an increase to a single position group.

Drop one of Shoen or Lawler and you easily pay Nichols, Holm and Ford...

[Blue In BC]

Houston was good, Sayles was good, but neither left a hole that we didn't fill at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, we do let good DB's take big paydays from other clubs.  But we keep the guys that we really want.

It's not about whether we were able to fill the position vacated. It's a question of whether some team offers insane money to move to another city. That happened with both Sayles and Houston.

Holm is a priority but there is still an SMS limit the coaches will determine.