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Blue Bombers agree to terms with receiver Rasheed Bailey

WINNIPEG, MB., February 17, 2023 - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announce today the team has agreed to terms with receiver Rasheed Bailey on a one-year contract.

Bailey (6-1, 211; Delaware Valley University; born: July 29, 1993, in Philadelphia, PA) returns for his fourth season in Blue and Gold.

Bailey posted career-best numbers with the Blue Bombers in 2022, starting all 18 regular-season games and the Western Final and Grey Cup and pulling in 63 passes for 729 yards and nine touchdowns.

His 2021 season was also solid as he appeared in all 14 regular-season games and had 52 receptions for 629 yards and five touchdowns.

Bailey made his CFL and Blue Bombers debut during the 2019 season and suited up for five games that season, finishing with 19 receptions for 206 yards and added four more receptions for 26 yards in three playoff starts that November.

Over his three seasons with Winnipeg, Bailey has played in 37 games, recording 134 receptions for 1,564 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He first turned pro in 2015, signing as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles after a sensational college career at Delaware Valley, where he finished as the school?s all-time leader in receiving yards and second in receiving touchdowns.

Before arriving in Winnipeg, Bailey also had stints with the B.C. Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers.

This receiving corps is going to be lights out!

OK that's awesome.
That really completes the  receiving core.

This is going to be one heck of a Rec corps to scheme against...

Unlike some other teams that have signed a whole bunch of WR that all play from the same spot, our corps seems to be pretty diverse in that way...  Lawler, Demski and Schoen in the slot, Wolitarski and Bailey wideout...

Collaros must be giggling to himself... Buck too...  An Oline that can protect, RB's that can run and block, and a Rec corps that was already lights out before signing Bailey... Yikes.

Wow wow wow! Our Offensive side is a friggin juggernaut! Welcome back SHEED!

I was hoping we could get Bailey to re-sign. He's an excellent player and plays a significant role in our offence. Improves our depth at receiver.

I was hoping he would return but I was beginning to have my doubts whether that would happen. This offense is loaded. There is still some work to do on defense as far as recruiting goes and I expect the Bombers scouting staff will be busy over the next few months.

Ed Tait@EdTaitWFC

Just spoke to @ShowTimeSheed

Took less to stay with the @Wpg_BlueBombers

?It took a lot of sacrifice. It took a lot of self-reflecting. The only place I saw myself playing was in Winnipeg. It gets me emotional. The tears start to fall. I just want to play with my family.?

Wow - that's a win! Sounds like Walters only had $x to spend and Bailey ended up taking it despite being able to get more. He's a heart and soul kind of guy so I hope he gets extra fan love for his commitment. Most guys don't do that.

Mr. Walters does it again. Great signing. Nice having RB88 back for another season.

Excellent news, I guess it helps his buddy Kenny Lawler lobbying him at his press conference, without saying I believe he is a right fit for our offence.  Welcome back Rasheed!

Yea! you guy bring tears to my eyes.
Sheed said...play with the boys, the family.
He plays a kids game, makes decent money, plays, knows he will get his touches, knows the respect he gets as a great blocker, and  when they call his number he can catch.

Ards you said it,  As a Defensive  coordinator, who do  you try and take away?  ......Only to have any one of a number of guys be the open guy, who can likely rattle off a twenty yard gain?

OK, what a great day!

What's next? Stove? Kongbo? Medlock?  what a dream!

What another outstanding signing. Bailey will add so much more depth to the receiving corps that we won't have time to let our adrenalin levels return to normal between all the TD's. Rasheed sounds like he is really committed to the team and reminds me of Adam Bighill's commitment a few years ago to take a reduced salary to remain with the Bombers. When he scores a touchdown the announcer should play that old Beatle song  "Money Can't Buy You Love".

Go Big Blue

This is amazing.

Given the Lawler signing and the raise for Collaros, virtually everybody else must have signed for "same money" to keep the gang together.

I did not expect this.

****ing vibrating with this news. I love this team.

"Home town" "Culture" discounts seem to be coming into play with getting a stacked team under the $SMS

Good on Walters and O'Shea, both for putting the pieces to make the culture possible, and then continuing to nurture it

Another advantage the Bombers have is it is easier to sign free agents when they know can make a lot of extra playoff money in Winnipeg.Lawlor will likely make almost as much as he did in Edmonton last season after he captures another Grey Cup in 2023.

He will have a career year and will continue to progress

Massive signing

Our offense will put up some sick numbers this year

What Sheed brings to the table. aside from his tremendous blocking and big play abilities, is his fiery competitiveness.    I was hoping he'd stay and at the end of the day he decided to take one for the team and accept a pay cut!   That there, clearly defines his commitment to this team.  Fantastic news and all DC's throughout the CFL have their work cut out for them when facing us!!
Wow....just wow!!

To be honest, Sometimes Rasheeds " I don't get the respect"speeches have annoyed me ,but I have to say his actions speak volumes in terms of his commitment to the team, .especially his teammates When you add in his effort how can you not respect him.

Interesting that both Lawler and Bailey had tryouts with the BC Lions. Their loss our gain.

Ryan Rigmaiden

KEEP GOING

DO NOT STOP

I CAME FROM THE BOTTOM

ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP

We're about to win this (2023!) thing!

(Surely you remember where this is from... etched in my brain along with "we're coming home with that cup, wooooooo" -- see my profile pic for that one.)

Good point.  Many people sign a bunch of top SB and samey guys that are really like 1-2 sets of the same players.  Our 5 have their unique style and position, with lots of overlap of course, just to make D's life tough.

Do we go with Bailey at WR?  Might we toy with Schoen on boundary side WR and put Bailey inside for the brutal whack-a-LB short crossers?

Woli was quiet in 2022.  I hope teams focus so much on our 3-4 killers that Woli sneaks past the zone for big go rails or posts.  I want Woli the quiet disrupter back.

First, I need to say a massive shout-out to Bailey and congrats on his return.  I really wanted him back, but thought he was lost.  Not many people actually wanted him gone, we just thought we wouldn't be able to afford him and were emotionally bracing for the "team X signs Bailey" news.

Big thanks and kudos for taking less than he's worth, like Biggie has been doing, to stay with his brothers and keep the team together for another cup run.  This speaks volumes when they can see the big picture KW is laying out for them, and for buying in to the vision.


Yes, it's a safe bet that Lawler devoting minutes in his short presser to lobbying for Sheed held some sway on The Mafia and their decisions/offers.  I've really never seen another player (maybe only QBs) do that for a fellow player like that.  You can tell it meant a lot to Lawler.


Ya, I feel the same way.  I did a little woot happy dance, seriously, right here in my chair.  Only the Demski signing had me more excited.  Weird, that... as Bailey is our solid #4 and Demski #2 (ya, I'll defend that position), but it's those guys that really got my hyped.


A lot of the "respect" things were hearsay.  I'm not sure he's actually plainly said it himself(?) so I don't fully trust the rumours.  In any event, his position is a tough one for a very proud and fiery guy, and it would all be very understandable.  My hope is that his "near death" FA wake up call will fire him up even more to work on whatever he can to be open more for Zach to lay more yards on him.

I look forward to his next close-to-V-formation speech at the '23 GC...

I think Sheed has the tools to be a great boundary wideout. Has the speed to burn DBs and the hands to make 50/50s and clutch catches. Not a spot we will throw to 15 times a game but I believe he will be best used there in a role.

Bailey creates much of his own commotion and press regarding being disrespected and the sacrifices he's made, it's unfortunate he has to follow the course football has set out for him, but following that course is his choice.  Whenever he speaks I tend to tune him out as his amped up conviction lacks sincerity, rinse repeat, with a one year contract he'll probably test F.A. again next season.

Thing is he could have jumped ship for more money and he chose to take a considerable pay cut to stay!  That fact alone proves his conviction  to this team and his actions clearly demonstrate this.    What more would you require him to do to prove his  conviction and sincerity??
He also brings an intangible to the table in wanting to wipe away the sting of a one point loss in last year's Cup!  I'm certainly not worried about his conviction and am ecstatic that we have last years's receiving corp back to a man.....PLUS the addition of Kenny Lawler who lobbied for Sheed to come back!

No one is questioning his commitment. Its simply the way he chooses to motivate himself. He dpes seek more recognition for what he brings to the table, I think that's why Lawler's comments meant so much to him. Lawler also seems to be a person that brings together the recieving group . Last year I don't know if we saw that as much, maybe because of the injuries not allowing them to play as a group enough.

Wow, offensively I m not sure we could have asked for much more, unreal really. Unreal.

Woli and Bailey are deadly outside.  When they get loose, Collaros can find them.

Schoen is the epitome of a waggle receiver.  His CFL dominance and NFL indifference shouts "Keep this guy running before the snap"

Demski and Lawler are SB.  Period. 

This lineup is all guys that can play the position they will be put in at an elite level.  Leave the "I'm going to make you something different" to Chris Jones...

The skill and depth of the 2023 receiving corps are unmatched, IMO.

When you factor in the stats, the experience both playoffs and regular season, top notch depth in both Canadian and American talent have we had ever better?

Matt Dunnigan had Jackson Alphin Wilcox and Williams was very good but not nearly as good in Canadian threats and depth

Stegall Bruce Simon was obviously awesome to if not average depth on the Canadian side (Stoddard Howell Drover)


I do not think the Murphy Poplawski House era measures up either. Not close there to me.

Knock on wood these horses can stay healthy!!!

The 1980 Bombers were awesome with Eugene Goodlow, Mike Holmes, House and Poplawski, even though Goodlow didn?t break out until the next year, by which time Holmes was gone.

 In 1981, Goodlow had 1500 yds. Pops had 1271 and House had 1100.  And that was in a 16 game season.  I?d put those guys up against this crew man for man, recognizing that they didn?t use 5 receiver sets back then.

To be clear you?d rather have that crew than this one?

I'd put the 2007/8 Americans against anyone, but we didn't have any Canadians.

YUP pretty good

Stegall
Armstrong
Brazzell
Edwards
Johnson III


that is a strong line up but Arjei Franklin as Canadian is average at best

Different eras, but I think so.  Goodlow was only here a couple of years, but I think he was the most purely talented receiver the Bombers have ever had.  I give him the edge over Lawler.  I think House and Demski are very comparable in terms of impact.  Joe Pop compares favourably to Schoen, plus he's Canadian.

The fourth receiver that year was kind of by committee, but the also used the running back and fullback much more in the passing game.  So its hard to find direct comparables to Bailey and Wolitarsky, but the top 3 I think were great.

 Mid 80's. Boyd, Murphy, Tuttle, throw in Joe Pop.  1986 James Murphy 1746 yards. Perry Tuttle 1373 yards. 1985 Jeff Boyd, 1372.

Funny  I never heard of Goodlow till now! lol
Not in CFL not in NFL nothing zilch nada even in all my reading of BB history hard cover books. Not really a mentionable that I recall. Sorry.

that is spread over multi years though. I am looking 1 year WR corp depth and talent. Canadian and American combined.

Goodlow had a breakout season in 1981 setting a then cfl record 100 catches. He was on track to do the same in 1982 as well before a mid season injury befell him. That sort of messed up the bombers as they never were the same after that. He might have been the difference to them going to the cup that season.  He was a true game breaker. After 1982 he went to the nfl to play with the saints I believe and had a few productive years down there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goodlow

1983 brought many changes to the bombers and the cfl. Usfl had started and many cfl coaches and players went there. Start of the ?kindly? cal Murphy era. One of the biggest trades in cfl history later in 1983 with brock going to the cats with Tommy clements coming the bombers way.

1986: Boyd, Tuttle, Murphy, Joe Pop, all played together.

Slightly before my time but obviously I?ve read and watched game replays of these guys. Impressive combination it?ll just be interesting this upcoming year to see what kind of stats this wide receiver corps can come up with in comparison to previous groups?

Different eras and difficult to compare. Mostly grass fields and often 2 RB sets, so different kind of games. That said, we had some very good receivers both Canadian and imports. Stegall, Simon, Tuttle, Goodlow etc were studs.

There have been some pretty amazing receiving corps put together in "the modern era" of the CFL, with some awesome QB's throwing to them making them even better. 

This one, if they stay healthy through the year, with a very solid Oline and RB corps, is going to stack up with the best of those. 

It is going to be an exciting year.

I kind of forgot about Tuttle.  He was awesome.  That 1986 lineup was fearsome, although I don't think they had enough touches to give poor Boyd his share that year......

I think the biggest issue with this group is distribution.

When a QB throws for 5K yards in a year, its not going to be 5 different receivers getting 1k each...

Unless Collaros goes off the chain and puts up a league record number of yards in a season, we may only have one or two 1000 yard guys..

lol I do not think parties involved are at all worried about this.

Barring injuries, I expect the run to pass ratio to be similar, so 4000-4500 yards is to be expected.

I see Lawler and Schoen both in the 1200 range, and Demski at 700.  I think this means Bailey will be lucky to get over 600 yards and Wolitarsky could be under 500. 

Likely the yardage each will get will be who can stay healthy. Ly Schoen  hit 1400 yds partly due to Ellingson being injured. If everyone stays healthy I could see Lawler at 1400 Schoen at 1100 and Bailey and Demski  at 700 plus

The more evenly we distribute, the more deadly our offense will be

Give them all the rock

Can't stop everyone

Our offense will be great

Sounds like a pretty good problem to have, especially if Collaros has a career year (by a significant margin) and puts up 5K yards through the air.

Lawler and Schoen would both be 1200-1400 yard receivers in my estimation, leaving another 2600-2200 yards for three or four other receivers. You could probably add Oliveira to the mix for a few hundred yards as well.

It'll depend on many factors, so it's hard to predict how the production will shake out at this point. Having Lawler and Schoen alone on the field at the same time will open up a ton of space for others in this offense, though.

It's going to be fun to watch.

sky's the limit....

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/02/21/tait-lawler-sees-no-limits-for-2023-blue-bombers/

We may actually run the ball more this year than last year. Teams won't really be able to afford to load the box against this passing attack and Oliveria (at 25 with a year as a starter) will be at the peak of his physical powers as a running back. Defenses are going to be coming into games focusing on stopping Collaros and the passing game and Buck will have every opportunity to run it right at those looks.

So, RPO is the name of the game this year?

Watch how the D sets up, if they set for run, pass.  If they set for pass, run.

Collaros is no slouch at that.  He's more comfortable rolling out than a hippie with a new bag of weed...

Having Lawler should open up Olivera even more now too!

We were pretty deadly with Ellingson in the lineup. Now replace him with Lawler!

That's not exactly how RPO works and we won't start doing it a ton this year regardless. The RPO "run" play is designed to be effective with a certain number of defenders in the box (or near the LOS, depending on the system) which varies, depending on the call. The QB then determines whether to execute the pass or run based on the pre-snap count of defenders in relation to that specific run play. If it is equal or less, it's the run. If it's more, it's the pass. You don't see it as much in the CFL because the shorter play clock and the fact that regardless of what the QB counts, the offensive line still has to run block and the receivers still have to run their routes. That is not always a great set-up for three down football, you don't want to be passing a lot with offensive line run blocking. You more often see Collaros (and other CFL QBs) running a read option, which tries to neutralize aggressive defensive ends. The QB puts the ball into the running back's belly and you get that mesh point (which a lot of people call the ride n' decide because the QB is running with the RB for a step or two). If the DE bites down, the ball is pulled, Collaros "scrambles" (often to the empty space the DE has vacated) and the rest of the play is executed. If the DE stays wide, Collaros pulls his arm out and the running back takes advantage of the space that usually exists when the DE takes that wide angle. It is a good option if you are concerned about getting backside pressure for that can be problematic for plays where you're moving the pocket or attacking the edge somehow. It can also allow you to not count a DE in the blocking scheme which is good for a lot of reasons at times.

Yes, we need to distribute the ball more than we did in 2022.  '18-'21 we did much better at distribution and I think our passing game was more effective as a result.  I remember swathes of weeks where everyone would get the rock a ton, even the #4 / #5 guys.  We used to throw to Woli so much more often, etc.

2022 was a regressive year in that Zach (or maybe Buck) focussed on the hot hand and would let that 1 (or 2) guy(s) have the bulk of the throws.  I think that hurt us come GC time.  Just cover Demski and Schoen and we had nothing, really.


Expect Demski to be over 1000.  And I bet he's our #2 yards / TDs receiver in 2023.  He said in his presser he's focussing on being more productive (yards) and healthy (injury-less, talk to WIllie!) this year.

Collaris has always had a go to guy...at the beginning of last year it was ellingson then in the latter half it was Schoen. Having said that it was something to see how we would implement new players and Collaris/Buck would utilize them effectively I'm thinking about Mcrae and Agodosi (interestingly it was both against Calgary). I would expect Lawler to be the leading reciever, if healthy, by a good margin.
 I think what hurt us in the playoffs is that we relied too much on Collaris scrambling and wiaiting for recievers to break free vs timing throws that we can get off quickly.(especially against a team that keeps Collaris contained and has a strong defensive line.)

Demski has the potential to get 1000 yards, but it will be tough to do if both Lawler and Schoen stay healthy.  Not only do they get as many targets, but they also have a longer average per reception, they get the longer routes more often.   I think Demski hit a career high in only 13 games because Ellingson missed so many. 

As far as TD's it's anybody's guess.  Last years 10 was more than double his best in any other year.  Maybe he has reached a new plateau, or maybe it was just one of those years where a good player gets hot.  If he gets 6 or so, I would be perfectly happy with that, any more is gravy. 

Well, Demski will just have to make himself "Zach's hot-hand fave" right in week 1 then.  Ellingson wasn't that guy in week 1 in 2022 (I rewatched), but by week 2-3 he was.  That shows that Buck/Zach are watching who is making the plays vs whiffing.  Nothing is set in stone with our O.  We adapt.

If Demski makes the big plays time after time, then he could be the primary target.  Especially if teams always double cover Lawler.  Not saying it'll happen, but it *could*.

Does anyone remember if he was like this in his long-ish stint in HAM?  Who was "his go to guy" there?  I'm trying to remember...

And did he have one in his brief stint in SSK?

In Hamilton, I believe Collaros' lead receivers were Luke Tasker and Andy Fantuz during ZC's time there.

He played for the 'Riders in 2018 and led them to a 12 - 6 record but suffered a concussion that knocked him out of the playoffs.

Looking back at 2014-16 in Hammy, and 2018 in Sask; he distributed the ball very evenly. 4+ receivers on each team over 800 yards and usually 2 had 1000+ yard seasons.

Bombers had an excellent offensive year.

2022: 4816 passing, 2043 rushing, for a total of 6859 yards. 58TDs. just over 900 plays. 345/500 passing, 406 rushing. 13 Ints. Up 7 from 2021.

58TDs. 14 rushing, 44 passing. Leggs 147 points, and a 82.1% on FG.

GE2 missed 10 games. ND10 missed 5 games. Woli missed 4 games.

DS83    70/1441
ND10    64/772
RB88    63/729
GE2      38/598
Woli      36/471
BO20    23/252
BOO     19/233
GMc29  16/70
CA86     6/70
JG80     6/54
JA27     4/32

Then that shows he's not necessarily a one-target type of guy, and hints we should indeed move back to the wide-distribution style of O.  Need Buck to realize this, too.  Having Kenny back might open up everyone else that much more... FS is always going to slide to where Kenny is going, and so will the soft zones.