Kyle Walters

[TecnoGenius]

The point I was making is that Walters is the person dealing with players and their agents to fit players under the cap and still pay them in a manner that keeps them with the team.  IMHO he did an admirable job in doing that this year and still be able to acquire a player like KL89.

Admirable?  He did an inhuman job this year.  I have no idea how he's fitting it all in.

And now we find out that late last season he tried to get Kenny?  Wow, that's insanely astute of him, as Kenny probably would have pushed us over the edge for the GC win.

[KINGCHARLES]

Admirable?  He did an inhuman job this year.  I have no idea how he's fitting it all in.

And now we find out that late last season he tried to get Kenny?  Wow, that's insanely astute of him, as Kenny probably would have pushed us over the edge for the GC win.

Thing about "fitting people in" during the season is when players are placed on the 6 game IR they have 6 games worth of salary that doesn't count towards the cap....if you have 3-4+ starters that are all on the 6 game IR it makes it a lot easier to acquire a big name player near the trade deadline.

[TecnoGenius]

Now I'm curious why the Lawler trade didn't go through... I get we offered some decent-level DP(s) and Jones wanted someone like Neufeld instead.

Too bad for Jones: he could have had a decent DP for "free".  Lawler really didn't do squat for EDM down the stretch.

[Jesse]

Now I'm curious why the Lawler trade didn't go through... I get we offered some decent-level DP(s) and Jones wanted someone like Neufeld instead.

Too bad for Jones: he could have had a decent DP for "free".  Lawler really didn't do squat for EDM down the stretch.

Because he got injured.

[blue_gold_84]

Because he got injured.

I don't know how anyone could've missed this back in October. Lawler's season came to end due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.

It was reported by Naylor in considerable detail. IIRC, it was around the same time the Bombers made the trade for Darby.

EDIT: https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/blue-bombers-deadline-move-for-kenny-lawler-scuttled-by-injury

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Admirable?  He did an inhuman job this year.  I have no idea how he's fitting it all in.

And now we find out that late last season he tried to get Kenny?  Wow, that's insanely astute of him, as Kenny probably would have pushed us over the edge for the GC win.

Two things I'll say about this:

1) Walters probably made the wrong call on letting Lawler leave to begin with. Last year $300,000 for top end receivers was too steep, this year it's the norm and Walters re-signing Lawler for that amount proves he was more or less wrong in his evaluation last off-season -- both in terms of market value and his contribution to the team.

2) I don't think that trying to trade for a player you let go in the off-season and then realized you needed is "insanely astute". It is more of a mea cupla, if anything.

Don't freak out, Walters is a great GM but the Lawler saga is actually one he got wrong in 2022 which he corrected in 2023. There's really no other way to slice that.

[Pigskin]

Two things I'll say about this:

1) Walters probably made the wrong call on letting Lawler leave to begin with. Last year $300,000 for top end receivers was too steep, this year it's the norm and Walters re-signing Lawler for that amount proves he was more or less wrong in his evaluation last off-season -- both in terms of market value and his contribution to the team.

2) I don't think that trying to trade for a player you let go in the off-season and then realized you needed is "insanely astute". It is more of a mea cupla, if anything.

Don't freak out, Walters is a great GM but the Lawler saga is actually one he got wrong in 2022 which he corrected in 2023. There's really no other way to slice that.

No, Walter's made the right decision to let him go.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Two things I'll say about this:

1) Walters probably made the wrong call on letting Lawler leave to begin with. Last year $300,000 for top end receivers was too steep, this year it's the norm and Walters re-signing Lawler for that amount proves he was more or less wrong in his evaluation last off-season -- both in terms of market value and his contribution to the team.

2) I don't think that trying to trade for a player you let go in the off-season and then realized you needed is "insanely astute". It is more of a mea cupla, if anything.

Don't freak out, Walters is a great GM but the Lawler saga is actually one he got wrong in 2022 which he corrected in 2023. There's really no other way to slice that.

$300K+ is not sustainable for top end receivers, it sets the bar too high for one individual working in a group dynamic.  What happens if Schoen has another fantastic year and leads the league in receiving, do they pay him $300K+ and cut Lawler, or do they let Schoen find his $300K+ contract elsewhere?  It would not be possible to pay both what you think they should earn without causing irreparable damage elsewhere.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

No, Walter's made the right decision to let him go.

Walters let him go instead of paying him $300,000. Then he tried to trade for him (because he's so effective in our offense) and would have given up assets to do so, had he not been hurt. Then he resigned him for very close to the same money he wouldn't pay a year ago and equal to that in 2024.

Again, Walters is a great GM but on Lawler he blundered a bit. Certainly you shouldn't suggest it was brilliant GMing. It wasn't.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

$300K+ is not sustainable for top end receivers, it sets the bar too high for one individual working in a group dynamic.  What happens if Schoen has another fantastic year and leads the league in receiving, do they pay him $300K+ and cut Lawler, or do they let Schoen find his $300K+ contract elsewhere?  It would not be possible to pay both what you think they should earn without causing irreparable damage elsewhere.

Well, Walters signed him for $300,000 for the 2024 season so...

[blue_gold_84]

Well, Walters signed him for $300,000 for the 2024 season so...

That doesn't really matter in 2023, though.

[Pete]

It's a totally different landscape this year. Last year  he was able to find a decent reciever for under$170k, this year a number recieved 200 k plus. Signing Lawler at 265 this year and 300 next is a good move.

[Pigskin]

Well, Walters signed him for $300,000 for the 2024 season so...

$260-$265K in 2023.  

[Jesse]

Walters let him go instead of paying him $300,000. Then he tried to trade for him (because he's so effective in our offense) and would have given up assets to do so, had he not been hurt. Then he resigned him for very close to the same money he wouldn't pay a year ago and equal to that in 2024.

Again, Walters is a great GM but on Lawler he blundered a bit. Certainly you shouldn't suggest it was brilliant GMing. It wasn't.

It's possible that there wasn't cap space last year to sign Lawler.

We had a ton of people on the 6-game in 2022, which enabled Walters to do some cap shenanigans at the end of the year to take stress off of some 2023 deals.

[theaardvark]

Two things I'll say about this:

1) Walters probably made the wrong call on letting Lawler leave to begin with. Last year $300,000 for top end receivers was too steep, this year it's the norm and Walters re-signing Lawler for that amount proves he was more or less wrong in his evaluation last off-season -- both in terms of market value and his contribution to the team.

2) I don't think that trying to trade for a player you let go in the off-season and then realized you needed is "insanely astute". It is more of a mea cupla, if anything.

Don't freak out, Walters is a great GM but the Lawler saga is actually one he got wrong in 2022 which he corrected in 2023. There's really no other way to slice that.

Walters signed him this year for 15% less than his last contract, with an option for next year at almost as much as he got last year.  With no guarantees, so if need be, we can walk from next year...

Great value signing...

Especially with the Lewis contract out there now...