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

[Pete]

Who's Edwards?

sorry that  sb tim white, hamilton could free up 200k by moving on from him to use towards Olivera.
That together with cap increase might make it feasible depending what they do at qb

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

More likely its how his agent likes to negotiate to maximize the offers

You forget some of the statements Brady made the last time he was a FA?  He pissed off a lot of Bomber fans me included, he's not afraid to play both sides of the fence to get what he wants, I got the impression he doesn't take his words all that seriously and sees negotiations as a game. He maybe right.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I'd expect some re-signings to start showing up as early as this week. Only about 10 of 250 potential free agents have been re-signed so far.

This is the week eh?    FA begins on Feb 10, plenty of time to deal with whoever they want to bring back even if they do nuthin before the New Year.

[Tecno]

The fact the Bombers are slower than normal signing their own free agents suggests to me they might hit the free agency market hard this off season.

Hmm, or that and it makes a great negotiating tactic.  If all the players who are so used to getting their KW call by now all start sweating... could make them put in pre-emptive calls to KW: "hey, you didn't call me yet, just to let you know I'll happily re-sign for <insert reasonable/lower number here>".

We always talk about the superstars that WANT to hit FA to jack up their $, but what about the other 80% of players who just want to get re-signed and a good night's sleep?

[Tecno]

Hamilton would be an option, they bid big for him last time

Nah.  That was only because Ted was trying to recreate Bomber culture/success in The Hammer.  He's gone and so is that WFC-centric ethos.

Scott clearly isn't a run-first HC.  That said, they could use the ratio help.  But I don't think overpay by $150k+ for a RB is the way to do it.  Plus, if you don't have a backup NAT RB, you're taking big risks.

[Tecno]

Really only eliminates Ottawa. Basically everyone's a winning team in the CFL.

Maybe in the E.  In the W you can track clear progressions in the last decade.  No bad team just magically makes it to the GC.  They take 1-3 years (or more) to build up to it, improving most every year.  Just look at SSK.  They've been trying to crack the WPG nut since '19, and Mace had them on a clear uptrend since he arrived, and he made it work in year 2 with the help of an incompetent main rival (us).

So while, say, EDM could go far in the playoffs in '26, it's virtually impossible for them to make the cup.  SSK is at the top and could stay there.  BC & CGY are both on uptrends and could make the cup.

WPG is actually in a strange place -- we have to bounce back fast and make it to at least a WDF, or we may be the next bottom-feeder or perennial x-over team.  Then we'd basically have to start all over again on the long (2-3 season) climb back to cup contention.

[Tecno]

You can't put in bad faith offers in the tampering period. If you make the offer it can't be taken back.

Sure you can, if you know that WPG will pony up at least close to that amount.  It would be a gamble, but you could run the numbers and be fairly safe.  It would be quite a poker accomplishment, though.  Not sure other GMs would want to spend so much brainpower and energy on the singular goal of shafting WFC out of an extra $50k SMS... but they could!

For example, if we offer Brady $250k and every one knows it, then BC could offer $300k knowing that Brady will take $275k to stay in WPG -- and WM will force it to make it happen anyway.

But if BC doesn't offer that $300k, then Brady MUST accept the original $250k or be jobless.  That's a very low-risk situation for BC (or whoever).  In fact the numbers could all go higher (with more risk, of course).

[Blue In BC]

This is the week eh?    FA begins on Feb 10, plenty of time to deal with whoever they want to bring back even if they do nuthin before the New Year.

Yes but it's about using up any left over SMS before the end of December, if we have any that can be used as signing bonus.

[Blue In BC]

Sure you can, if you know that WPG will pony up at least close to that amount.  It would be a gamble, but you could run the numbers and be fairly safe.  It would be quite a poker accomplishment, though.  Not sure other GMs would want to spend so much brainpower and energy on the singular goal of shafting WFC out of an extra $50k SMS... but they could!

For example, if we offer Brady $250k and every one knows it, then BC could offer $300k knowing that Brady will take $275k to stay in WPG -- and WM will force it to make it happen anyway.

But if BC doesn't offer that $300k, then Brady MUST accept the original $250k or be jobless.  That's a very low-risk situation for BC (or whoever).  In fact the numbers could all go higher (with more risk, of course).

I can't believe any team would do something like that intentionally. Not every offer in the tampering period is accepted but but I doubt that would be part of the plan.