Blue Bombers sign all-star receiver Kenny Lawler to two-year contract
WINNIPEG, MB., February 14, 2023 - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has signed American receiver Kenny Lawler to a two-year contract through the 2024 season.
Lawler (6-3, 197, University of California; born: June 25, 1994, in Pomona, CA) returns to the Blue Bombers after spending the 2022 season with the Edmonton Elks.
Injuries limited Lawler to just 12 games with the Elks, but he remained one of the CFL's dominant receivers, pulling 58 passes for 894 yards and five touchdowns while working with three different starting quarterbacks.
Lawler suited up for 29 games for the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021, leading the team in receiving in both campaigns as part of the back-to-back Grey Cup championships.
First signed to the Blue Bombers practice roster in September of 2018, Lawler had a break-out campaign in 2019 as he finished with 41 receptions and a team-best 637 yards receiving while being named the club's Most Outstanding Rookie Player.
His follow-up season in 2021 saw him lead the CFL with 1,014 yards receiving on 64 receptions, six of them for touchdowns while being named a CFL All-Star.
Lawler was a seventh-round selection by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2016 NFL Draft after a stellar career at the University of California, where he was ranked second on the school?s all-time touchdown receptions list and 12th overall in the Pac-12. He attended training camp with the B.C. Lions in 2018 before joining the Blue Bombers later that fall.
*** Kenny Lawler will be signing autographs today, from 4-6pm, at the Bomber Store at IG Field***
This signing is practically absurd when you factor in Schoen and Demski as Collaros' top receiving weapons.
What an embarrassment of riches on offense.
So, we get Lawler for $265, and Jones signs Lewis for $320k.
Masterclass in CFL GM being held by Walters...
Lawler, Schoen, Demski, Wolitarsky, Agudosi, Grant... Oleary Orange... Collaros is gonna have a field day... and a short side day... and a deep ball day... and a flat day...
I think that if Bailey doesn't come back to the Bombers the Bombers will look for a player out of a US college who will be playing for close to the CFL minimum. The receiver we pick up will likely be the fourth or fifth option for Colleros so we don't likely need to spend a lot of money at that position.
Quote from: theaardvark on February 14, 2023, 05:08:56 PM
So, we get Lawler for $265, and Jones signs Lewis for $320k.
From everything I've read, Lawler voluntarily took a $35k haircut just to get out of Edmonton. Guess he found out the grass isn't always greener.....
Quote from: theaardvark on February 14, 2023, 05:08:56 PM
So, we get Lawler for $265, and Jones signs Lewis for $320k.
Masterclass in CFL GM being held by Walters...
Lawler, Schoen, Demski, Wolitarsky, Agudosi, Grant... Oleary Orange... Collaros is gonna have a field day... and a short side day... and a deep ball day... and a flat day...
Good result from Walters but a big assist to O'Shea and the culture that has been built here. Walters GMing for Montreal pays full price. He knows no Jedi mind tricks that I am aware of.
Quote from: Sir Blue and Gold on February 14, 2023, 06:00:37 PM
Good result from Walters but a big assist to O'Shea and the culture that has been built here. Walters GMing for Montreal pays full price. He knows no Jedi mind tricks that I am aware of.
Walters in MTL would have hired a coach like MOS and built a culture there too... Walters before the culture was built with MOS gave MOS the players he needed to build the culture...
Its a hand and glove thing... without MOS, you can bet Walters would be in Guelph...not MTL
Quote from: theaardvark on February 14, 2023, 07:08:31 PM
Walters in MTL would have hired a coach like MOS and built a culture there too... Walters before the culture was built with MOS gave MOS the players he needed to build the culture...
Its a hand and glove thing... without MOS, you can bet Walters would be in Guelph...not MTL
You're being abuse. I'm just pointing out it's not exactly a "masterclass" to get people to sign here for a little less. At the moment we do that all the time. If Walters contract isn't renewed and he signs elsewhere, he's going to be paying full/overpaying like he did to get Stanley Bryant and others here in the early days.
Good interview with Kenny Lawler today and worth a listen...
https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/02/14/kenny-lawler-february-14-2023/
I'm just happy I can once again scream GOOOOOOOOOO KEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYY at IGF again! I look forward to the best circus catches in the league.
Quote from: ModAdmin on February 15, 2023, 12:59:01 AM
Good interview with Kenny Lawler today and worth a listen...
https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/02/14/kenny-lawler-february-14-2023/
Kenny is back great presser!
Yooo, 3:35 in KW interview:
https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/02/14/kyle-walters-february-14-2023/
Dude speaking exactly like I said he was thinking!! KW is a puzzle solver and the roster is the puzzle. Lawler is the important piece this year. I knew I had a feel for his mind after watching his moves for, what, almost a decade?
And 4:38: the strike-while-the-iron-is-hot mindset. Ding ding ding
Either this forum knows The Mafia's mindset, or KW reads the forum for ideas ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Kidding guys, KW is the high-brain, we're just the hangers-on.
Now, the real interesting off-season will be the one where he thinks the iron is cold and we need to blow things up a bit. Let's hope that's not until '25 or later, because that's when you're rolling the dice in a major way.
The 2 year Lawler contract and Schoen returning from his NFL tryouts is the icing on the cake for this years receiving corp. It will be interesting to see what other players, in all positions, the BB scouts bring for training camp this year. With all the injuries in 2022, and finishing first in the west, it really showed the depth this team has to fill in for the first and second string players that end up on the IR list. We also have good players retuning from the 2022 practice roster and all of our picks in the CFL draft this year to add to that depth. I believe that the way the BB management show interest improving the whole game day experience for the fans and how they work well together with the team is so important, then add in the MOS coaching style which is really paying off with all the coaches, players and staff wanting to return to the team year after year. Having a solid fan base cannot be understated in the CFL as it shows the past, present and future stability for our BB franchise.
Go Big Blue
Quote from: TecnoGenius on February 15, 2023, 03:55:32 AM
Yooo, 3:35 in KW interview:
https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/02/14/kyle-walters-february-14-2023/
Dude speaking exactly like I said he was thinking!! KW is a puzzle solver and the roster is the puzzle. Lawler is the important piece this year. I knew I had a feel for his mind after watching his moves for, what, almost a decade?
And 4:38: the strike-while-the-iron-is-hot mindset. Ding ding ding
Either this forum knows The Mafia's mindset, or KW reads the forum for ideas ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Kidding guys, KW is the high-brain, we're just the hangers-on.
Now, the real interesting off-season will be the one where he thinks the iron is cold and we need to blow things up a bit. Let's hope that's not until '25 or later, because that's when you're rolling the dice in a major way.
I think it's pretty clear that the goal is to extend the golden era thru '25, culminating in the home GC win in a perfect world.
We will simply have to lose a few core players before then due to retirement, production drop off and affordability. However, it's clear Walters' strategy is to mitigate that as much as possible. I also think that highly paid vets not signed thru '25 would absolutely be willing to take a haircut hometown discount if we're still rolling and going into a home Grey Cup season before either hanging 'em up or going for the payday elsewhere after their fingers are overweighted with rings.
Lawler seems so excited to be back! I'm equally stoked! ;D
It's a shame he got hurt last season considering the Bombers were in talks to trade for him.
Quote from: VictorRomano on February 14, 2023, 05:58:17 PM
From everything I've read, Lawler voluntarily took a $35k haircut just to get out of Edmonton. Guess he found out the grass isn't always greener.....
Yeah, but after taxes, it's more like a $23,500 haircut... :P
Quote from: Cool Spot on February 18, 2023, 12:21:45 AM
Yeah, but after taxes, it's more like a $23,500 haircut... :P
And with the playoff money he ll get here vs none in Edmonton, he?s ahead of the game
One question is how much signing bonus each contract included... we know those are taxed far differently in the US. The downside for teams is that there is no SMS relief on those funds in case of injury, a risk that definitely has to be taken into consideration after last year's injury.