Bombers acquire QB Dru Brown

[Blue In BC]

Wasn't the RR foisted on teams pretty late in FA?  It may be like the '25 $400k fiasco: teams didn't have enough time to factor it in properly.

I think RR was purely reactionary to combat the fake 1GIR overusage by everyone in '25.

Ya maybe, I'm not sure. It's not the smartest change in roster size or varied designations. We can't even tell if it's used until after the game. Clarification would be nice.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

If memory serves, Maier looked good enough to move on from Mitchell...

The Stamps were faltering at the time and it looked like Mitchell was done, plus he was still earning big bucks.

[theaardvark]

OK, where has the debate settled on the QB room?

QB1 - ZC8, of course

QB2 - DB3

QB3 - BP9 (for short yardage)

RR - TE13

Does that sound right?  Sending TE13 to the PR null and voids his contract, which means we lose all control on him going forward, so he has to either be RR or IR.  And its not like he's breaking the bank.

Makes the transition to next year and ZC8 retiring easier for all involved, he can feel good about leaving the Bombers in the hands of his best friend, BP9 and TE13 are under contract at reasonable rates.  Dru can then be signed to low side of starting salary, with incentives.

If ZC8 wants to play one more year, DB3 could be signed to a similar deal he has now, with a bump for 2028 to starters pay, and we do another year with 4 QBs.

Does that sound about right?

Or, does TE13 have trade value?

[dd]

If memory serves, Maier looked good enough to move on from Mitchell...

No he didn't, wasnt that Arbuckle you're thinking of?? Maier was recently run out of Calgary to a backup role in Sask, now starters role with the Deadblacks and we get Brown because of that. We should send Dinwiddie a thank you card, signed by 30,000 fans!!!

[Tecno]

Maier never looked great. Bo was sooo bad, worse than brohm, throwing it straight to the other team or the dirt. It's one of the few times I felt uncomfortable watching a player get so pathetic.

Maier was there, and options were limited. No one knew if Maier would improve. He might have. It was a gamble. Huff and Dickenson lost.

I think the unforgivable aspect is giving Maier more than one year. Because by then they knew what they had.

[Tecno]

Or, does TE13 have trade value?

Crazy talk. Until we find out we have a clinker, elgersma's the heir apparent. Though it might take 1 to 3 seasons of dev.

Dru is here to help us survive if Zach gets hurt. Right now. Who knows what the idea is for next season. But if Zach retires and we can't get a superstar in fa then dru becomes a decent number 1.

I think ideally we keep the same lineup, all 4, for 2027. Don't know dru's contact situation though, and he left because he didn't want to backup. Maybe we can tell him sweet lies about being number 1...

Then when the time comes if elgersma is Rourke he becomes number 1. If not, dru takes it over and we wait on elgersma or go to fa.

Either way I think we're in a good qb position for the next 2 to 3 seasons.

[theaardvark]

Crazy talk. Until we find out we have a clinker, elgersma's the heir apparent. Though it might take 1 to 3 seasons of dev.

Dru is here to help us survive if Zach gets hurt. Right now. Who knows what the idea is for next season. But if Zach retires and we can't get a superstar in fa then dru becomes a decent number 1.

I think ideally we keep the same lineup, all 4, for 2027. Don't know dru's contact situation though, and he left because he didn't want to backup. Maybe we can tell him sweet lies about being number 1...

Then when the time comes if elgersma is Rourke he becomes number 1. If not, dru takes it over and we wait on elgersma or go to fa.

Either way I think we're in a good qb position for the next 2 to 3 seasons.

Dru is signed through this year, Byrce and Taylor through at least 2027 barring NFL looks.

We'd have to sign Dru to keep the QB room the same.  Unless another team is desperate, if Zach wants to play in 27, I think he will bring Dru back into the room with the anticipation of Dru taking over in 28.

Now, if either Perkins or Elgersma makes some amazing strides forward, they could displace Dru.  I don't think we end up with DB3, BP9 and TE13 as a QB room in 29, though...

[Doublezero]

Dru is signed through this year, Byrce and Taylor through at least 2027 barring NFL looks.

We'd have to sign Dru to keep the QB room the same.  Unless another team is desperate, if Zach wants to play in 27, I think he will bring Dru back into the room with the anticipation of Dru taking over in 28.

Now, if either Perkins or Elgersma makes some amazing strides forward, they could displace Dru.  I don't think we end up with DB3, BP9 and TE13 as a QB room in 29, though...

How could Elgersma make any progress as fourth string QB? He will never see the field if that is his status. Bombers are smarter than that. Condell has been around the CFL a long time. Hopefully he gets to call the shots in terms of QB hierarchy and not MOS.

[Waffler]

The ONLY thing that makes sense is Perkins as odd man out.  I see Perkins as having no chance of ever starting. He is clearly #3 in practices.  No one is going to pick him up. When we have an injury then he comes back. If we play games with Elgersma we will lose him and he is never coming back.

Do I like Perkins getting extra yards on the sneak? Yes. I am also ok just getting the first down and extending the drive which Elgersma could do. Or get creative by using someone else?

[Jesse]

The short yardage QB is its own position. Neither Brown or Elgersma is fighting for that position and it doesn't benefit either more or less by being in that role.

[Blue In BC]

OK, where has the debate settled on the QB room?

QB1 - ZC8, of course

QB2 - DB3

QB3 - BP9 (for short yardage)

RR - TE13

Does that sound right?  Sending TE13 to the PR null and voids his contract, which means we lose all control on him going forward, so he has to either be RR or IR.  And its not like he's breaking the bank.

Makes the transition to next year and ZC8 retiring easier for all involved, he can feel good about leaving the Bombers in the hands of his best friend, BP9 and TE13 are under contract at reasonable rates.  Dru can then be signed to low side of starting salary, with incentives.

If ZC8 wants to play one more year, DB3 could be signed to a similar deal he has now, with a bump for 2028 to starters pay, and we do another year with 4 QBs.

Does that sound about right?

Or, does TE13 have trade value?

I think that's about right. I don't believe we will trade Elgersma. It may depend on whether we can re-negotiate / extend Brown. His contract details / length are a question at the moment. Whether Collaros has made any determination about retiring after this season and his contract length.

Putting Elgersma on RR seems a no brainer. Not a huge SMS hit and he gets to continue to develop and be assessed. Not many rookie QB's are ready year 1.

[Tecno]

Dru is signed through this year, Byrce and Taylor through at least 2027 barring NFL looks.

We'd have to sign Dru to keep the QB room the same.

That changes things a bit.  We won't tie up big $ on a stacked QB room with "2 #1's" -- it's not the Mafia way.

So we have two different views of the situation going on:

Mafia perspective:
1. Dru is a cheap rest-of-season rental and maybe the best insurance that was a realistic possibility. 
2. Dru is in-house should Zach get injured or retire before '27.  That means we have our foot in the door for a bid on him starting in '27 -- should we want that because Elgersma isn't ready.

Dru perspective:
A. Says he will only play where he wants to start.  There is no starting job anywhere right now.  So he accepts the backup role, why?  Because he has to.
B. He knows Zach has 50/50 chance of missing 2-4 games and Dru will be the starter.
C. He knows if he lights it up in relief and Zach retires then he's probably the starter.  Even if he never sees the field in '26 he's a strong contender to be starter in '27 because there may literally be no one else for WPG in FA.
D. He'll feel far more valued and respected in WPG.

It's win-win for everyone in 2026 (except our 2 1RDP cost).  The issues start in FA27.  Only if no one else wants Dru to start will he be available as a backup.  And as a backup he'll probably be the most expensive one in the league.  We won't pay a backup more than $175-ish.  Other teams value backups more and will outbid us -- unless we start him.

[Tecno]

How could Elgersma make any progress as fourth string QB? He will never see the field if that is his status.

How did Alexander ever make progress without seeing the field?  He was 3rd string in MTL in '22 and '23, seeing an avg of 7 completions per season.  In other words, he essentially never saw the field.  And yet he's the best CFL QB right now.  That's how Elgersma will make progress.  It's how most CFL QBs make progress.  They clipboard, and watch, and practice.

One ding to Zach and Elgersma will be charted #2.  That means he could see the field.

I'm not sure why anyone ever thinks it will be or should be different?  Yes, this situation is a bit difference because he'll be #4 instead of #3, but it works out to the same thing in the end.

[Tecno]

The ONLY thing that makes sense is Perkins as odd man out.  I see Perkins as having no chance of ever starting. He is clearly #3 in practices.  No one is going to pick him up. When we have an injury then he comes back. If we play games with Elgersma we will lose him and he is never coming back.

You're thinking like other teams.  Mafia values top SY producers very highly indeed.  Strev, being a unique multi-threat guy, kind of screwed up our SY continuity, but in years where he wasn't here we always had a top-notch dedicated SY QB.

Perkins is still 100% -- my definition being no ToD.  And he's punchy and confident -- really putting his stamp on every sneak.  That gets noticed.  If he starts whiffing and causing ToD, maybe 2 times in 3 weeks, then we re-evaluate.

Clearly mafia thought Perkins was better at SY.  They gave Elgersma many chances in PS.  He looked fine at it.

It could also be they don't want Elgersma to get hurt for nothing in SY.  Or waste his time learning & mastering that whole book when he needs to be learning the real QB book.

Since the CFL has given us this wonderful RR to use, tailor made for Taylor, then use it and everyone is happy.  What does this cost us other than Perkin's ELC $??

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Dru Brown could still develop into a legit starter especially under Zach.....TE is still unproven and if Zach goes down he would likely struggle at leading the team!  Dru has experience and he can win games if we lose Zach.   This was the best QB scenario IMHO!