Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Montreal November 1, 2025

[Blue In BC]

I dunno I disagree about Brady Oliveira being not worth it.

Not too many Canadian running backs out there rushing for a thousand yards for the past 5 seasons. And for the third year in a row is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' most outstanding player and most outstanding Canadian. Previous winner of the Outstanding Player and the league's Most Outstanding Canadian award.

And he is only 28 years old. I think we should keep him.

But sure.  A full roster review is needed this off season. Oliveira is the only untouchable (maybe add Tony Jones, Evan Holmes).

Bombers have a long history of being able to find import RB's on ELC's. There is no question that Brady is a top RB and being Canadian has both pro and con aspects. The con is that Canadian starters earn substantially more than an import.

We needed that when we were only starting 7 Canadians but that was not longer true the past two seasons.

Could the premium spent on Brady be spent elsewhere to improve the roster overall? Well that's the debate. An ELC RB like Cooley and the extra money ( $175K more or less ) spent to retain Lawler or Goosen for example.

Noting we could have kept a rookie receiver on an ELC instead of adding Mitchell at $165K and also been able to spend more elsewhere.

I'm happy to retain Brady going forward. Does that change if he wants $275K in 2026? Where do we draw a given line across the entire roster.

[gordo]

The defensive game strategy has been a question all season. QB's have had too long to throw and it has always come back to bite us. Roster choices have been a puzzle. Someone one want to explain Ayers on the roster instead of any unnamed DL we didn't pick up this season?  Somehow he managed a DT but no ST's today.

It's going to be a long off season. AGAIN.  Our potential free agent list will approach 25 - 30 AGAIN.

IMO, I'd be releasing some players we don't want back rather than just letting them reach free agency. It's sends a message which needs to be sent.

We've been hard on Hogan. Rightfully so. However, he didn't build the roster. Walters has a lot to answer for and I don't think we've heard much from him this year.

The lack of pressure and only rushing 3 guys alot has pissed me off this year too.

I don't normally listen to the coach's show but happened to catch a bit a few weeks ago in the car when a caller asked Oshea about it.  He said that is the Bombers normal game plan, more focused on coverage. And he backed it up by saying their defense was among the league leaders in fewest points allowed per game. We finished third in fewest points allowed across the whole league. So if the objective is to not allow the other team to score then does it really matter how your defense does it? Hard to argue his point.

Having said that, I really want to see a better pass rush next year.

[gordo]

Bombers have a long history of being able to find import RB's on ELC's. There is no question that Brady is a top RB and being Canadian has both pro and con aspects. The con is that Canadian starters earn substantially more than an import.

We needed that when we were only starting 7 Canadians but that was not longer true the past two seasons.

Could the premium spent on Brady be spent elsewhere to improve the roster overall? Well that's the debate. An ELC RB like Cooley and the extra money ( $175K more or less ) spent to retain Lawler or Goosen for example.

Noting we could have kept a rookie receiver on an ELC instead of adding Mitchell at $165K and also been able to spend more elsewhere.

I'm happy to retain Brady going forward. Does that change if he wants $275K in 2026? Where do we draw a given line across the entire roster.

I can't believe there is any debate on the value of Brady Oliveira. Arguably the best running back in the league for the past 5 years, probably has another 5 years in the tank at age 28, a Canadian and a local Winnipeg boy with admirable off-field pursuits too (the guy saves dogs!).  I think he's worth the premium. 

We blew too much money on US free agent duds and in my opinion Zach is way overpaid now based on performance (don't blame him for age and injuries, just not worth it anymore).

I guess a day after a bad season ending loss, anything is up for debate. I'd say if we really want to save money, cut Zach, bring in the best group of young QBs you can find, let them battle it out in training camp, go with the best one and suffer through a year or two of re-building. And pay him one third the Zach money. Or throw some money at the best free agent you can get (just not Zach money).

Do we honestly think we can win next year with Zach?
 

[Blue In BC]

The lack of pressure and only rushing 3 guys alot has pissed me off this year too.

I don't normally listen to the coach's show but happened to catch a bit a few weeks ago in the car when a caller asked Oshea about it.  He said that is the Bombers normal game plan, more focused on coverage. And he backed it up by saying their defense was among the league leaders in fewest points allowed per game. We finished third in fewest points allowed across the whole league. So if the objective is to not allow the other team to score then does it really matter how your defense does it? Hard to argue his point.

Having said that, I really want to see a better pass rush next year.

Why can't we do both? Jefferson was reported to earn $200K and Vaughters at $160K. Over and above that keeping a team from not scoring is important but it's not the only factor.

Winning the LOS, TOP and field position are significant defensive measures of effectiveness. I'd be curious to see our TOP. The lower that number the less time our offence has time to score obviously. We weren't a quick strike offence but more of a grind it out style. Nothing wrong with that if we win TOP and field position more than we lose it.

[gordo]

This was the year we should have gone way over the Cap to make sure we had the roster to make the Finals.
If only we had a home Grey Cup one of these past years.

Totally agree. They blew it. My Grey Cup tickets are not that valuable to me anymore.

[Blue In BC]

I can't believe there is any debate on the value of Brady Oliveira. Arguably the best running back in the league for the past 5 years, probably has another 5 years in the tank at age 28, a Canadian and a local Winnipeg boy with admirable off-field pursuits too (the guy saves dogs!).  I think he's worth the premium. 

We blew too much money on US free agent duds and in my opinion Zach is way overpaid now based on performance (don't blame him for age and injuries, just not worth it anymore).

I guess a day after a bad season ending loss, anything is up for debate. I'd say if we really want to save money, cut Zach, bring in the best group of young QBs you can find, let them battle it out in training camp, go with the best one and suffer through a year or two of re-building. And pay him one third the Zach money. Or throw some money at the best free agent you can get (just not Zach money).

Do we honestly think we can win next year with Zach?
 

A premium sure but it's a question of where you draw the line. I already pointed out there were other ways we could have spent money more wisely but didn't.

I also pointed out that I said we pointed out we over paid Collaros when he was 1st extended him to $600K+.

OTOH, I think we can win with him but we have to reconsider how, where and how much we spend on many players.

Scott rushed for 133 yards against us and he's on an ELC. It's not difficult to see that the Als spent their money across their roster better than we did. Their OL, DL and secondary are all better than ours. Their receivers are better than ours.

I don't know if the Als will win the Grey Cup. I do know we won't this season, so having the best RB didn't help. Obviously it's not due to his SMS directly but it's a factor when building the roster and spending SMS.

As far as starters I've pointed out that Jefferson was over paid as well.

[tlf]

Spending money is not a guarantee of more success. The Lions when they did that with Reilly and then last year with Rourke as examples.

Rourke is still in the playoffs isn't he?

BC spends money on players and it is paying off.  We do not. look where it has gotten us.

I don't think Jefferson is overpaid. I think he is great for marketing and helps keep the fanbase. He also has a great reach and has a lot of knockdowns.  I'd rather have him for us than against us.  He's a good value.

I blame also our scouting.  Who have they gotten us lately? We used to hear a lot about our scouting..but we don't anymore.  Have they done much? Honest question.

[Blue In BC]

Totally agree. They blew it. My Grey Cup tickets are not that valuable to me anymore.

I totally disagree with the idea of " going way over the cap " concept. Did any of the teams still in the playoff do that? I don't think so but we'll see what the final numbers show. The general premise that you can buy victory by spending is absurd.

You can't protect or guarantee against injuries. If Schoen didn't get hurt would we have had a better season. If both Schoen and Demski could have played at 100% in the ESF would we have won? IDK but that's about $400K for 2 receivers that couldn't play.

[gordo]

Their OL, DL and secondary are all better than ours. Their receivers are better than ours.

And this is why we lost. Also their QB was much better than ours.

I think we both agree that we needed to spend our money more wisely, especially on the above that you pointed out. But still I think it is well spent on Oliveira and better cut elsewhere (Zach and dud free agents this year).

Having the best back in the league would have made a difference if we gave him the ball more than 8 times. Or at least threw to him out of the backfield. Horrible play calling and usage of Oliveira cost us again.

[Waffler]

I don't think Jefferson was in coast mode this year. He's just gotten old and slower, less impactfull

His lowest sack total ever, 3. He has had 12 and 11 sack seasons with the Bombers.  This could be because we just don't rush enough people. He probably knows if he ever got to the QB he'd have no help there, so he spends a lot of reps getting in the passing lane and hopping at the right time.

[gordo]

I totally disagree with the idea of " going way over the cap " concept. Did any of the teams still in the playoff do that? I don't think so but we'll see what the final numbers show. The general premise that you can buy victory by spending is absurd.

You can't protect or guarantee against injuries. If Schoen didn't get hurt would we have had a better season. If both Schoen and Demski could have played at 100% in the ESF would we have won? IDK but that's about $400K for 2 receivers that couldn't play.

I would have been in favour of going over the cap this year as an exception because we are hosting the Grey Cup.  If we could have signed one more impact free agent. 

Yes you can't protect or guarantee against injuries and we got bit. But that is not relevent in signing one more stud free agent even if it means going over the cap this year.

It's water under the bridge though. And the Grey Cup game is not too exciting for me now.

[Blue In BC]

Rourke is still in the playoffs isn't he?

BC spends money on players and it is paying off.  We do not. look where it has gotten us.

I don't think Jefferson is overpaid. I think he is great for marketing and helps keep the fanbase. He also has a great reach and has a lot of knockdowns.  I'd rather have him for us than against us.  He's a good value.

I blame also our scouting.  Who have they gotten us lately? We used to hear a lot about our scouting..but we don't anymore.  Have they done much? Honest question.

Yes Rourke is still in the playoffs. I think the Stamps poor time management was the difference in winning instead of losing.

How many times do we have to mention that the Lions had Rourke in 2024 and didn't make it to the Grey Cup? They went over by $300K and were fined.  They haven't made it their this year yet either. The fact they over spent in 2024 and didn't win should be all the proof you need that the over spend idea is no guarantee.

I didn't have the impression that the Lions over spent the SMS or that they spent more than we did. We'll see which teams go over and which don't. It would be useful to see the amount that teams spend even when under the SMS.

The Jefferson comments have value but many complained he under performed in 2025. IMO he's not worth $200K but if we can lower his SMS he'd be worth keeping in a reduced role.

Will that happen? I don't think so and I don't know where I'd draw that line. Could either of Jenkins or Hawkins replace him? Too early too tell but maybe.

Today's hero eventually becomes yesterdays hero. Rosters are fluid. Winning is what counts.

[Blue In BC]

And this is why we lost. Also their QB was much better than ours.

I think we both agree that we needed to spend our money more wisely, especially on the above that you pointed out. But still I think it is well spent on Oliveira and better cut elsewhere (Zach and dud free agents this year).

Having the best back in the league would have made a difference if we gave him the ball more than 8 times. Or at least threw to him out of the backfield. Horrible play calling and usage of Oliveira cost us again.

I'm not sure the details of Collaros guaranteed money for 2026 and what that means to the SMS. We don't have a successor to him so cutting him is not the best play either.

I mentioned we were behind so much so quickly it took away our ability to use the run game more effectively earlier. Faulting the play calling I only agree with on that matter.

Realistically we were " lucky " to have scored 3 TD's in 3:36 minutes due to defensive forced turnovers. That was in the 3rd Q so there was time to be able to run more in the 4th Q but didn't.

OTOH, Brady fumbled in our own end and then Willie took the face mask penalty. That was the game right there. Those things happen to every player but it couldn't have happened at a worse time or field position.

[gordo]

I'm not sure the details of Collaros guaranteed money for 2026 and what that means to the SMS. We don't have a successor to him so cutting him is not the best play either.

I mentioned we were behind so much so quickly it took away our ability to use the run game more effectively earlier. Faulting the play calling I only agree with on that matter.

Realistically we were " lucky " to have scored 3 TD's in 3:36 minutes due to defensive forced turnovers. That was in the 3rd Q so there was time to be able to run more in the 4th Q but didn't.

OTOH, Brady fumbled in our own end and then Willie took the face mask penalty. That was the game right there. Those things happen to every player but it couldn't have happened at a worse time or filed position.

Ya, cutting Zach means going into rebuild with a younger cheaper QB and probably living with some lean years but I prefer that to letting Brady go. Or at least signing a free agent QB at significantly less.

Scoring 3 TD's in 3:36 minutes was some great luck and divine intervention from the CFL Gods and had me thinking maybe we'd win this thing after writing them off. And again, feeding Oliveira at that point would have been my play call - especially check downs out of the backfield.

The Oliveira fumble was just horrible luck that maybe was evening up the good luck we had in the 3rd quarter.  But I won't judge him on one single play. Happens to the best. But ya, the timing was brutal.

[Blue In BC]

Ya, cutting Zach means going into rebuild with a younger cheaper QB and probably living with some lean years but I prefer that to letting Brady go. Or at least signing a free agent QB at significantly less.

Scoring 3 TD's in 3:36 minutes was some great luck and divine intervention from the CFL Gods and had me thinking maybe we'd win this thing after writing them off. And again, feeding Oliveira at that point would have been my play call - especially check downs out of the backfield.

The Oliveira fumble was just horrible luck that maybe was evening up the good luck we had in the 3rd quarter.  But I won't judge him on one single play. Happens to the best. But ya, the timing was brutal.

I don't want to cut Brady and don't blame him for the bad luck with that fumble. I expect we'll re-sign him but I am somewhat concerned about what $$$ we re-sign him for in 2026. RB's in general are not usually at the top of the food chain even a Canadian. In that sense I don't expect a bidding war.

I there aren't going to be any top QB's available as a # 1 but there might be a decent # 2 available. That doesn't mean those choices will every become a # 1. I wouldn't mind getting Crum as a # 2.

Maybe Elgersma is a long term option but chances are we don't see him in the early days of TC. I would be pushing Collaros to take a SMS cut down to about $450K. That would help.

Alexander is a 4th year QB and became the starter midway in 2024.  Terry Wilson couldn't even move up to our # 2 spot this year although that was predetermined the minute we signed Streveler.

I'm not even sure he'll be back next season or what his future will be.