1st & 10 | The Blue Bombers Pending Free Agent List

[Tecno]

I don't think it's any more than coincidence.

Could be.  Early days, low sampling count.  If KW continues to get a lot of 2-years then we'll know there's a paradigm shift.  And 3-years... that will be the ultimate tell.  Outside of a QB, almost no one signs a 3-year.

[Tecno]

At +$250K, I'd let Brady go and pick up a good to great US RB for $180ish.

If Brady was from Moncton, yes.  But Brady is from Winnipeg.  There is a premium WM will pay for the hometown hero.  The merch & marketing & tix sales all get a massive boost from Brady.

Actually, if anyone should get a massive MMM bonus, it's Brady.  We can easily justify giving him half his salary in MMM.  We need to take more advantage of this -- we're paying him bigly for his name almost as much as his RB talent.

[blue_gold_84]

Ouellette did fumble in the WDF 3rd Q, then went into beast mode and made up for it.  Brady fumbled in the ESF and went out with a whimper the rest of the game.

That was an ugly fumble, but didn't he only get eight or so touches in that game? He was misused - yet again - by a hopefully-soon-to-be-unemployed OC in the biggest game of the season.

By and large, Oliveira's more than demonstrated his value to this team, IMO. He's been arguably the best tailback in this league for some time now.

[Tecno]

That was an ugly fumble, but didn't he only get eight or so touches in that game? He was misused - yet again - by a hopefully-soon-to-be-unemployed OC in the biggest game of the season.

But that fumble killed all of our soul-destroying momentum and lost us the game.  The entire stadium was popping bricks right up until that fumble.  We were steamrolling them at that point and a go-ahead TD would have won the game as the Als tumble into despair.

You can actually put the loss of the whole season on that Brady fumble.  It's inexcusable.  Triply inexcusable for a RB who is making $100k more than all the other RBs in the playoffs!

[blue_gold_84]

But that fumble killed all of our soul-destroying momentum and lost us the game.  The entire stadium was popping bricks right up until that fumble.  We were steamrolling them at that point and a go-ahead TD would have won the game as the Als tumble into despair.

You can actually put the loss of the whole season on that Brady fumble.  It's inexcusable.  Triply inexcusable for a RB who is making $100k more than all the other RBs in the playoffs!

That was a bad fumble but that one play didn't lose an entire game, much less an entire season.

The Bombers should've put forth a better effort in the first half. They played like losers for too much of that game.

[Tecno]

The Bombers should've put forth a better effort in the first half. They played like losers for too much of that game.

Both can be true.  At the moment of the Brady fumble we were a runaway freight train.  I was sitting right next to all the Frenchies listening to their French swears and watching their despair.  It was all over if we pounded that TD in.

[peg_city]

At +$250K, I'd let Brady go and pick up a good to great US RB for $180ish.

It wouldn't take 180K. It would probably like 70-80K to find a few US RB on entry level contracts. Spending money on a RB seems like a fool errand. Although Olievra being Canadian changes things.

In a perfect world, I'd take that 150K in savings and sink it into two CDN guards. Neufeld could retire and Wallace could back up. The only way this teams wins the grey cup next year, is if Collaros is upright and has time.

[Jesse]

It wouldn't take 180K. It would probably like 70-80K to find a few US RB on entry level contracts. Spending money on a RB seems like a fool errand. Although Olievra being Canadian changes things.

In a perfect world, I'd take that 150K in savings and sink it into two CDN guards. Neufeld could retire and Wallace could back up. The only way this teams wins the grey cup next year, is if Collaros is upright and has time.

That's the disconnect. You're not really paying 300k for a RB, you're paying an elite NI 300k, which is the going rate right now.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

But that fumble killed all of our soul-destroying momentum and lost us the game.  The entire stadium was popping bricks right up until that fumble.  We were steamrolling them at that point and a go-ahead TD would have won the game as the Als tumble into despair.

You can actually put the loss of the whole season on that Brady fumble.  It's inexcusable.  Triply inexcusable for a RB who is making $100k more than all the other RBs in the playoffs!

This is a bit extreme, yes he fumbled the ball but I don't believe we got a clear replay that showed the cause of the fumble.  Could have been a bad handoff or an opponent striking the ball before he secured it.  Fumbles going to happen, they're not firing offences.

[Blue In BC]

That's the disconnect. You're not really paying 300k for a RB, you're paying an elite NI 300k, which is the going rate right now.

You can spin it all you want but it is $300K for a RB and we could replace him for a lot less and use the money to upgrade our OL.

Demski and Kramdi potentially will also get another $60K based on this this potentially. That would take Demski to $285K and Kramdi to $200K??

Then we have Holm and Nichols that might also see similar increases.

So 5 players getting about $300K of the increased SMS if we choose to retain all of them.

We have something like 35 potential free agents. I'm just guessing but maybe 8-10 won't be back. Easily can determine that anything left of the increased SMS is spent on those we keep: Castillo, Sheehan, Houston, Parker to name a few.

Sure we might trim some older veterans and save some money: Gauthier, Hallett, Thomas, K. Wilson. Their replacements like Lawson and Ayers will take up that savings.

So where do we get SMS room to improve the roster? That's my question.  What are we willing to give up?

[Jesse]

You can spin it all you want but it is $300K for a RB and we could replace him for a lot less and use the money to upgrade our OL.

Demski and Kramdi potentially will also get another $60K based on this this potentially. That would take Demski to $285K and Kramdi to $200K??

Then we have Holm and Nichols that might also see similar increases.

So 5 players getting about $300K of the increased SMS if we choose to retain all of them.

We have something like 35 potential free agents. I'm just guessing but maybe 8-10 won't be back. Easily can determine that anything left of the increased SMS is spent on those we keep: Castillo, Sheehan, Houston, Parker to name a few.

Sure we might trim some older veterans and save some money: Gauthier, Hallett, Thomas, K. Wilson. Their replacements like Lawson and Ayers will take up that savings.

So where do we get SMS room to improve the roster? That's my question.  What are we willing to give up?

The idea would hopefully be to have more success in FA. We spent money on Logan, Mitchell, Jones that resulted in little to no production.

There aren't too many guys who are earning big raises. Obviously Walters is working under a salary cap and can't sign every FA he wants, but there's room to make moves. Spending up a little on Brady (which might be covered with marketing money) isn't going to hamstring the team at all, imo.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

You can spin it all you want but it is $300K for a RB and we could replace him for a lot less and use the money to upgrade our OL.

Demski and Kramdi potentially will also get another $60K based on this this potentially. That would take Demski to $285K and Kramdi to $200K??

Can't see Demski or Kramdi getting sizeable raises, Demski has aged out and was well paid in his prime at $225k unless he goes to FA and gets a better offer. I can't see him leaving Wpg. and don't see him getting paid more at this point in his career. 

Kramdi doesn't have LB size and he isn't a weight room guy so he's not putting on muscle like Mo Leggett of BA did to transform themselves.  With better dime backs in Griffin and Woodbey available I don't see him fitting in other than at Safety and he isn't fast enough to play corner.

[Tecno]

That's the disconnect. You're not really paying 300k for a RB, you're paying an elite NI 300k, which is the going rate right now.

That's a great point.  Just ignore the position of the tier-1 NAT.  It really only matters they are a tier-1 NAT.

If Ty Ford can earn near $300k, then certainly Brady is worth it.  I'd rather have Brady than Ford in terms of overall impact and value.

[Tecno]

There aren't too many guys who are earning big raises.

Also a great point.  Who the heck on this team acquitted themselves well enough this season to be a poaching target and/or demand a huge raise?  Maybe Demski?

We do have the "solid quiet" top guys like Holm, but even if teams want them they aren't splashy and don't usually do the Henoc-prostitution tour.  They seem easy to re-sign at reasonable rates, usually before FA.

Because we were the worst of the playoff-making teams, we should be much safer from poaching and defections this FA.  It's SSK that's going to suffer this time.

[Tecno]

Kramdi doesn't have LB size and he isn't a weight room guy so he's not putting on muscle like Mo Leggett of BA did to transform themselves.  With better dime backs in Griffin and Woodbey available I don't see him fitting in other than at Safety and he isn't fast enough to play corner.

Then you're not listening to the MOS pressers enough.  Kramdi has become the lynchpin of the D, and touted as the smartest guy out there.  Now, can he direct the D from FS?  Sure, but they might prefer him to continue at SAM.