Blue Bombers add quarterback

[Blue In BC]

Perkins/Thorne are still 3-down virgins.  I'm sure Wilson also had some pedigree before he first signed here.  Doesn't really mean anything.

Zillions of promising USA U QBs pass through the CFL.  99% suck like Brohm.  You can't pin your hopes on any rookie IMP QB because there's literally no way to tell anything until they get live snaps.

And don't sleep on my point about SY.  Still need a guy who can 99% get us 3rd & 1.  Can you tell that in TC with a rookie?  Maybe?  It's not easy or guaranteed, but it should be easier to tell than "can they play 3-down CFL ball".

It's all clear as mud, and we may have to take a couple of risky gambles and hope for the best.  Wilson does make a nice security blanket though, especially if no Strev.  Be nice if we could find a way to keep him in the bullpen... PR or on the couch with his phone programmed to block all other teams.  MTL, for instance, would like a more reliable SY guy after that Patterson boondoogle.

Yes I think you can tell that in TC about a QB's ability for short yardage. Athletic ability, football IQ, toughness and following blocking are all part of SY skill set.

Speed, strength, elusiveness and ability to read defensive alignments are all part of assessments. IIRC Wilson picked up short yardage pretty quickly.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Sure but I'm looking at 2025 as the most critical info. He took a beating last year and the team takes a more cautious and necessary approach to pulling him after a hit. Obviously an improved OL and game plan would help.

All that said I think it's predictable that he's going to miss time. How much I don't know but we know that concussion issues are cumulative.  You are correct in your analysis.

Fingers are crossed we have a good # 2 in one of the rookies. Chances are he's going to see the field at some point.

It's been awhile since a rookie QB stepped in and led his team to multiple wins, maybe Cameron Dukes did it with the Argos, and Strev in his first season, but not many have been successful.  The team may glimpse the future in his play as they did with Dru Brown, but pretty unlikely a rookie QB is going to provide them with any wins if Zach goes down on the way to the Grey Cup which is likely to happen.

If Wilson steps in as #2, he'll be on the first page of his script so we have no idea whether he'll shine or fall, he is athletically gifted but may not have the mental tools to succeed like 95% of the other QB's that tried and failed.

Artoepous we'll never know what he brought although he looked like he had a good head on his shoulders in pre-season game #2 against the Riders, they never once thought to let him touch the ball again.  He wasn't cut so I guess they wanted him back, but possibly did next to nothing to convince him he had a future with the team in his year with the club.

[theaardvark]

Well it's a good theory. We've been trying to do that since Brown left. Most of us never thought that Streveler was the heir apparent.

So what do we have today in the wings? That's the giant question we can't answer at the moment. There is a certain level of optimism about the newbies.

There aren't really any CFL free agent QB's that fit the role beyond emergency band-aid solutions.

Time for the recruitment team to have success with those brought in. History has not been good at finding QB's for the Bombers.

The reality is that we won't know what we have until Collaros misses games due to injury. Our back ups don't get much playing time.

We have a UFLP MVP in the wings, we have a number of potentials on our neg list.  Every year, a new wunderkind shows up on some team.  Hopefully this year it is us. 

Sidebar, having Perkins here will give us a very good yardstick to compare the leagues.

[Blue In BC]

We have a UFLP MVP in the wings, we have a number of potentials on our neg list.  Every year, a new wunderkind shows up on some team.  Hopefully this year it is us. 

Sidebar, having Perkins here will give us a very good yardstick to compare the leagues.

Yes Perkins could be the answer and I'm optimistic he becomes the # 2 QB. I think I've also mentioned that I think Thorne is the new # 3 QB.

Hard to say if a neg list player ever ends up in Canada so we can't gauge anything on them quite yet.

[DM83]

In hindsight, he sounds like a throwback to the years when Don Jonas played semi pro. I have met lots of great athletes who played various amounts of some sort of pro football. Interestingly enough, we traded for a QB who internally could not read. When I heard this from the Bombers marketing guy after the QB was released or traded, I didn't want to know anymore. The QB was pretty good. Again, I just could not imagine this guy playing QB, and for a few teams also.

[Tecno]

We have a UFLP MVP in the wings, we have a number of potentials on our neg list.  Every year, a new wunderkind shows up on some team.  Hopefully this year it is us. 

Not every year.  Every 2-ish years.  If we're talking future franchise guy levels.  The most recent wunderkinds were Alexander, Rourke, Kelly, Dru.  In that order.  But before that there was a long dry spell of not-quite-good-enoughs who only got a few games to a season and then got demoted/fired.

So 4 guys in like 8 years.  And how many IMP QBs cycled through the teams?  30-50?  How many that actually saw the field?  15?

The odds are very long.  A QB needs to flash fast in TC and PS and practice.  They need to look like what D.Alford did to DBs.  They have to be so good you can't not play them.

[VictorRomano]

3 Down Nation ran a feature article about which team has the best QB room for 2026.  No surprise the Bombers finished dead last.  The general consensus is that if ZC goes down, we're hooped. 

https://3downnation.com/2026/03/22/all-nine-2026-cfl-quarterback-rooms-ranked

"9) Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Starter: Zach Collaros
Depth: Terry Wilson, Bryce Perkins, Payton Thorne

Collaros is a two-time CFL M.O.P. and three-time Grey Cup champion but there's no denying his production has fallen off the last two years, throwing 34 touchdown passes and 31 interceptions over 31 starts.

The 37-year-old will be looking to have a renaissance year akin to Bo Levi Mitchell and Trevor Harris and the Blue Bombers have done a lot to help him, adding veteran offensive coordinator Tommy Condell, receivers Tim White and Tommy Nield, and All-CFL offensive lineman Jarell Broxton.

Despite the struggles of their starter, Winnipeg's depth is an even bigger concern. Wilson appears set to be the backup with Chris Streveler no longer under contract but has only attempted 22 career regular-season CFL passes. The rest of the team's quarterbacks have zero CFL experience.

Perkins has an impressive resumé for an incoming rookie, having spent three seasons in the NFL and been named the MVP of the UFL. Thorne also has intriguing upside, having started 48 games at big-name schools and worked with longtime CFL quarterback and coach Kent Austin. Regardless, the Blue Bombers don't have a proven option behind Collaros, which could prove disastrous should an injury occur."

[Tecno]

I really don't like how the DP ELC system works.  It seems clear it's important to maximize the number of ELC NATs on the field, especially ones that are starting caliber.

In the last few years teams that have many ELC NATs have gone deep in the playoffs and/or won the GC.  And it stands to reason, because if you have quality NAT starters on the cheap, you can fill your roster with expensive top star IMPs.

This works well when you can get first-year quality starting out of NAT ELCs.  But if you take 1.5 to 2 years to dev your most promising DPs, as WPG almost always does (short of hoggies), then right when you've dev'd yourself a superstar (or even just strong/quality guys like Kramdi) their ELC is up.  Then you either pray they are "loyal" (i.e. discount), or pay them huge $, or lose them to FA.

My point being that you can invest more time/money making them good, for other teams to reap all the benefits.

There's an easy solution to this: once they are eligible to get a FA-payday, the drafting team should be able to shield 50% of their salary above ELC from the SMS.  This only applies to the drafting team.  So if we wanted to keep Ford last year and he gets $200, which is ~$120 over ELC, we'd only take a $140 SMS hit, whereas the FA-sniping team would take a $200 SMS hit.

This would also help with team continuity, which fans (and coaches, and team store jersey sales staff) like.

I hate it when a guy spends 2.5 years dev'ing, 0.5 playing, then being a superstar for another team!  This seems like the track Shay is on...

[Jesse]

I really don't like how the DP ELC system works.  It seems clear it's important to maximize the number of ELC NATs on the field, especially ones that are starting caliber.

In the last few years teams that have many ELC NATs have gone deep in the playoffs and/or won the GC.  And it stands to reason, because if you have quality NAT starters on the cheap, you can fill your roster with expensive top star IMPs.

This works well when you can get first-year quality starting out of NAT ELCs.  But if you take 1.5 to 2 years to dev your most promising DPs, as WPG almost always does (short of hoggies), then right when you've dev'd yourself a superstar (or even just strong/quality guys like Kramdi) their ELC is up.  Then you either pray they are "loyal" (i.e. discount), or pay them huge $, or lose them to FA.

My point being that you can invest more time/money making them good, for other teams to reap all the benefits.

There's an easy solution to this: once they are eligible to get a FA-payday, the drafting team should be able to shield 50% of their salary above ELC from the SMS.  This only applies to the drafting team.  So if we wanted to keep Ford last year and he gets $200, which is ~$120 over ELC, we'd only take a $140 SMS hit, whereas the FA-sniping team would take a $200 SMS hit.

This would also help with team continuity, which fans (and coaches, and team store jersey sales staff) like.

I hate it when a guy spends 2.5 years dev'ing, 0.5 playing, then being a superstar for another team!  This seems like the track Shay is on...

I don't think I can agree. If you want to keep them, you have to pay them what they're worth the same as any of your other stars, like we've had to do with Brady.

[Blue In BC]

I don't think I can agree. If you want to keep them, you have to pay them what they're worth the same as any of your other stars, like we've had to do with Brady.

I agree with you. We don't need exceptions to the SMS or ratio. It's already complicated enough. It's the nature of the ratio that Canadian players that become stars will earn more than a possible import replacement. Obviously imports that become stars also earn more.

Just a supply / demand aspect of the sport.

[theaardvark]

I don't think I can agree. If you want to keep them, you have to pay them what they're worth the same as any of your other stars, like we've had to do with Brady.

Exactly the point.

We've had to pony up for Brady, at the expense of bringing in top American talent, just because of his passport.

If we had any SMS relief on retaining drafted players, we could have done both. 

Player retention is great for the league.  Retaining Nat talent, even more so.  And it is tougher to do, as it is rare when you draft a guy that lives locally.  When his ELC is over, all things being equal, he heads home.  Having extra SMS to play with, you can retain him.

Maybe limit it to a max of 7 designated players (to mirror the required number of NAT starters.  Allow a 50% reduction of cap hit for any amount spent over the ELC. 

The players get paid, the fans get fan favourites, and we get continuity that we all agree is much needed in this league.

[Blue In BC]

We didn't draft Brady
Exactly the point.

We've had to pony up for Brady, at the expense of bringing in top American talent, just because of his passport.

If we had any SMS relief on retaining drafted players, we could have done both. 

Player retention is great for the league.  Retaining Nat talent, even more so.  And it is tougher to do, as it is rare when you draft a guy that lives locally.  When his ELC is over, all things being equal, he heads home.  Having extra SMS to play with, you can retain him.

Maybe limit it to a max of 7 designated players (to mirror the required number of NAT starters.  Allow a 50% reduction of cap hit for any amount spent over the ELC. 

The players get paid, the fans get fan favourites, and we get continuity that we all agree is much needed in this league.

We did draft Oliveria in 2019.

I strongly disagree with your idea of " SMS relief " on drafted players.  The reasons should be self evident and not need explaining.

[theaardvark]

We did draft Oliveria in 2019.

I strongly disagree with your idea of " SMS relief " on drafted players.  The reasons should be self evident and not need explaining.

Yes, you are right, I thought I had removed that reference to not drafting Brady before I posted, was thinking Harris/Demski, the other Oak Park boys.

The NHL gives teams advantages in signing players with history on a team, for retention and betterment of the league.

The CFL allows teams to give guaranteed money in multi year deals for re-signing players.  How is this different? 

Player retention is good.  Giving a team an incentive to keep a player, especially with the tamper week in place, just makes sense.

[Blue In BC]

Yes, you are right, I thought I had removed that reference to not drafting Brady before I posted, was thinking Harris/Demski, the other Oak Park boys.

The NHL gives teams advantages in signing players with history on a team, for retention and betterment of the league.

The CFL allows teams to give guaranteed money in multi year deals for re-signing players.  How is this different? 

Player retention is good.  Giving a team an incentive to keep a player, especially with the tamper week in place, just makes sense.

Restrictive free agency allows teams to " match offers " and / or get draft choices in exchange. It does not alter the SMS activity  amount for that player. Free market place, just like any other player on the roster.

I'm not against retention but most players are probably from out east. That's just the way it is and some will choose to leave on that basis even for the same or less money. Modifying the SMS rules for retention does not create an even playing field.

Teams already have incentive to retain top players.