Blue Bombers roster - 2021-2022

[Blue In BC]

Why trade away picks or players when you can sign him now for nothing (assuming we are even interested in him)?  Seems like a shrewd move to me.

A trade guarantees that you get a given player. Trying to sign one that becomes a free agent doesn't always go your way. The downside is that you absorb a current contract which may be less favourable than a new one signed in free agency. You also have to give up something in trade even if that's only a neg list of draft choice.

It's not a perfect science.

Obviously no takers via a trade for Awe but I'd think he'll land somewhere shortly. Montreal could use an upgrade at LB? Possibly Calgary.

I wouldn't mind him joining the Bombers but it would appear he'd have to be a DI which he doesn't want to do.

[Pigskin]

I think we missed out not picking up Ross. We must think a lot of O'Leary-Orange.

[Blue In BC]

actually we just didn?t re-sign him after his contract expired following the cancelled 2020 season.

Not sure why speculating someone?s character is needed

Not exactly. We released him January 31 2021 a couple of weeks before free agency. He may have asked for his early release or we decided to go another direction. Why that would change in the time after the end of 2019 season and beginning of the 2021 season seemed surprising at the time. Our LB's didn't change and he was going to be a DI in 2020 or 2021.

However if he had stayed with the team in 2021 he'd have gotten a lot of playing time. Wilson was injured either in TC or game 1? That meant Briggs started at WIL for a number of games. Our DI's tend to get a lot of reps in any case.

Awe would have been on the team that won the Grey Cup. Hindsight is 100%.

So does he try and sign with one of the teams projected to be a top contender or does he look for the most money?

[Blue In BC]

I think we missed out not picking up Ross. We must think a lot of O'Leary-Orange.

Either way we should have tried to pick up Ross for depth. Perhaps we tried and he got a better offer to be on the Lions AR? O'Leary-Orange might turn our to be a very good receiver. I'm not sure we've even tried to throw him a pass yet, so it's a question at the moment.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

People always want people added when they come available but you have to also think about two things:

-Who are you deleting immediately to make room for this person

-Are they better than an NFL cut in September where that money could also be spent.

[Blue In BC]

People always want people added when they come available but you have to also think about two things:

-Who are you deleting immediately to make room for this person

-Are they better than an NFL cut in September where that money could also be spent.

We're talking about a Canadian that would end up on the PR initially at best.  Our PR is 1 player short at the moment and we only have Rose that might come off the 1 game IR next week.

So it's also a matter of timing regarding these sorts of decisions and where we are the most thin on our roster. I'd say it's more important to find another Canadian OL for depth but receiver is a close 2nd.

Since there is no obvious choice on the OL that made Ross a possible candidate.

If Awe is the player in question, all things taken into account I'd swap him for Clements at the drop of a hat. He's a proven commodity. Clements could be bounced to the PR.

It's always a situation where you have to assess current needs and who is available. That could change after this game if we have an injury or week to week.

[Pigskin]

We're talking about a Canadian that would end up on the PR initially at best.  Our PR is 1 player short at the moment and we only have Rose that might come off the 1 game IR next week.

So it's also a matter of timing regarding these sorts of decisions and where we are the most thin on our roster. I'd say it's more important to find another Canadian OL for depth but receiver is a close 2nd.

Since there is no obvious choice on the OL that made Ross a possible candidate.

If Awe is the player in question, all things taken into account I'd swap him for Clements at the drop of a hat. He's a proven commodity. Clements could be bounced to the PR.

Ross could have replaced Orange on the roster. No one knows what O'Leary-Orange can do because he is not game tested. Ross showed he can play in the CFL.

I believe if you can keep upgrading your talent along the way, that is a good thing. However I also agree that if Desjarlais, Kongbo, or Alford get cut we need room to resign them. 

[Blue In BC]

Ross could have replaced Orange on the roster. No one knows what O'Leary-Orange can do because he is not game tested. Ross showed he can play in the CFL.

I believe if you can keep upgrading your talent along the way, that is a good thing. However I also agree that if Desjarlais, Kongbo, or Alford get cut we need room to resign them. 

He could have replace O'Leary-Orange on the AR at some point. But we'll never know now. I think we'd have a Plan B in place should we get an opportunity to re-sign those that went to the NFL. That said, they may not be available in 2022 and / or we may not be able to afford them either.

Hard to say but sure would like any of those 3 back. Desjarlais in particular.

[theaardvark]

Putting Ross on our PR, sure, and we don't know if Kyle tried or not.  Putting him on our AR, tougher, but again, we don't know if we made an offer. 

Not sure why he ended up in BC, but hey... we will see what comes of it.

[3rdand1.5]

For now we should be looking at O-line CDN depth pieces. Barring other injuries on our roster (short of kicking potentially) is OK. Only so much money available and a guy like Awe or Ross "MAY" affect us signing O-line depth.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Ross could have replaced Orange on the roster. No one knows what O'Leary-Orange can do because he is not game tested. Ross showed he can play in the CFL.

I believe if you can keep upgrading your talent along the way, that is a good thing. However I also agree that if Desjarlais, Kongbo, or Alford get cut we need room to resign them. 

I'm getting tired of waiting to see what he can do, my hunch is that he will be a bit disappointing and is here mostly as a backup to Demski and Woli.  Usually if a player has something great to offer, he will be given an opportunity to make an impact early on.

[Blue In BC]

Putting Ross on our PR, sure, and we don't know if Kyle tried or not.  Putting him on our AR, tougher, but again, we don't know if we made an offer. 

Not sure why he ended up in BC, but hey... we will see what comes of it.

At the moment he's on the Lions game day roster. That could have been a factor.

[theaardvark]

I'm getting tired of waiting to see what he can do, my hunch is that he will be a bit disappointing and is here mostly as a backup to Demski and Woli.  Usually if a player has something great to offer, he will be given an opportunity to make an impact early on.

OO84 looked good in relief of Demski... Schoen, Wolitarski, Oleary-Orange all look like the same guy... 82, 83, 82... 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

OO84 looked good in relief of Demski... Schoen, Wolitarski, Oleary-Orange all look like the same guy... 82, 83, 82... 

Yep, Oleary-O finally caught a few passes!  Looks to be a good replacement for any of the 3 you mentioned, but maybe not shifty or fast enough to replace Demski long-term.

[Blue In BC]

Yep, Oleary-O finally caught a few passes!  Looks to be a good replacement for any of the 3 you mentioned, but maybe not shifty or fast enough to replace Demski long-term.

He looked like he has the right tools. I like his size. Whether he will start next game depends on whether Demski can play or not. Beyond that we may choose to use another import receiver since we have that roster option at the moment.

Regardless, I'd like to see some movement on adding more receiver depth on the PR. Demski getting nicked shows how quickly things can happen injury wise. 3 games and we've had 3 players lost to 6 game IR, a couple to 1 game IR. Not sure what the status will be for Demski. While it didn't look serious per se, a sprained ankle problem could take weeks to recover fully potentially.