General Manager Kyle Walters Hoping to Remain with Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[blue_gold_84]

https://www.chrisd.ca/2023/11/15/kyle-walters-winnipeg-blue-bombers-contract-grey-cup/

A pretty good read. Not sure that it sheds any new light on the situation, though.

I would have to imagine this all gets sorted out shortly after the 2023 post-season wraps up; Walters, McManus, and Goveia are all on expiring contracts.

[Blueforlife]

Been a key reason for our success

Love the continuety

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

https://www.chrisd.ca/2023/11/15/kyle-walters-winnipeg-blue-bombers-contract-grey-cup/

A pretty good read. Not sure that it sheds any new light on the situation, though.

I would have to imagine this all gets sorted out shortly after the 2023 post-season wraps up; Walters, McManus, and Goveia are all on expiring contracts.

Walters has done an excellent job of maintaining team continuity through the years, I believe there are 24 players still here from the 2019 GC Championship team, which is remarkable.

[TecnoGenius]

The GC Head Coches' Conference video has MOS saying he expects KW to be his GM and MOS to be the HC, with no plans for MOS to be the GM.  Of course his mostly non-answers "your guess is as good as mine" aren't terribly useful, but it's still a hint.

I expect the status quo for 2024.  Worst case is we lose one of the lesser coordinators or scout.  SSK pipe dream of stealing Buck is just that, a pipe dream.

[ModAdmin]

And a bit more on Kyle Walters here...

https://3downnation.com/2023/11/15/kyle-walters-wants-to-be-back-as-gm-of-winnipeg-blue-bombers-expects-clarity-very-quickly/

[TecnoGenius]

Not sure what he was waiting on last off-season.  It's not like they can offer him more money with the silly coach SMS.  The only way to slot more for KW is if they claw it away from someone else.  And nearly everyone there will be wanting and deserving a raise, especially if when they win the GC.

I guess he can try to leverage more guaranteed contract length instead of $$.  Or maybe promises of being future Pres.  If I'm KW I'm thinking get them to lock in for 3-4 years so even if it all goes downhill I still get paid.

Surely the coach SMS will increase by some amount this year to cover the rampant inflation.  $400-$500k is the new $300k.  KW could write in a clause that he gets X% of every cap increase.

[blue_gold_84]

Walters has done an excellent job of maintaining team continuity through the years, I believe there are 24 players still here from the 2019 GC Championship team, which is remarkable.

The most proficient GM in the league for a good while now - in every metric.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Get this done already!

[TBURGESS]

I hope we keep Walters. He's the #1 reason we're where we are IMO.

[theaardvark]

There is no worldly reason not to keep Walters, O'Shea and Miller under contract forever.  Give them all deals to the end of 2028...

[Jesse]

There is no worldly reason not to keep Walters, O'Shea and Miller under contract forever.  Give them all deals to the end of 2028...

The only reason is that Walters deserves to be paid and there is currently less of the pie available to him.

So either the cap raises slightly next year (is this possible?), Walters takes a pay cut (unfair), or we drop a guy like Danny Mac to give Walters the difference.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Trying to read in between the lines here. I thought earlier this season it might be O'Shea trying to get more money with a dual role but perhaps it was more Walters wanting more money for himself all along. Interesting politics going on regardless. Can't be easy fitting O'Shea, Walters, Pierce and Hall into the operations cap and still have money for the other positional coaches and things.

[TecnoGenius]

Trying to read in between the lines here. I thought earlier this season it might be O'Shea trying to get more money with a dual role but perhaps it was more Walters wanting more money for himself all along. Interesting politics going on regardless. Can't be easy fitting O'Shea, Walters, Pierce and Hall into the operations cap and still have money for the other positional coaches and things.

Ya, but they all know the SMS limitations... they deal with it every day.  The only way someone is going to make much more $$ is if they take on dual-role.  I'm nearly positive MOS doesn't want GM/HC dual role.  Can someone like KW be GM+Prez?  I'm not really sure what the Prez does all day anyhow, but it must be something, I guess.

If Danny Mac or someone similar left they could potentially pay a young up'n'comer promotion much less and hog the SMS for themselves... but that strikes me as not a winning strategy.

But again, where are they going to get more for a lateral move??  Only taking on 2 roles can get you more.  And the 2-role people seem to not be having as much success.  So KW can only ask for something that is actually possible.  Weird situation.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Ya, but they all know the SMS limitations... they deal with it every day.  The only way someone is going to make much more $$ is if they take on dual-role.  I'm nearly positive MOS doesn't want GM/HC dual role.  Can someone like KW be GM+Prez?  I'm not really sure what the Prez does all day anyhow, but it must be something, I guess.

If Danny Mac or someone similar left they could potentially pay a young up'n'comer promotion much less and hog the SMS for themselves... but that strikes me as not a winning strategy.

But again, where are they going to get more for a lateral move??  Only taking on 2 roles can get you more.  And the 2-role people seem to not be having as much success.  So KW can only ask for something that is actually possible.  Weird situation.

You can always ask for a bigger slice of pie. It's also possible Miller intentionally is trying to stagger the contracts so they aren't negotiated and expire at the same time. You really wouldn't want both to leave at the same time.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Trying to read in between the lines here. I thought earlier this season it might be O'Shea trying to get more money with a dual role but perhaps it was more Walters wanting more money for himself all along. Interesting politics going on regardless. Can't be easy fitting O'Shea, Walters, Pierce and Hall into the operations cap and still have money for the other positional coaches and things.

It's a bit weird it was Wade dealing with O'Shea's contract last season as that's usually the job of the GM.  If Walters had negotiated the contract they may have come to the realization that they both wanted to continue with the club and they'd have to agree to split the pot equitably, instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul.  With no increase in the coaching cap, they'll have to rely on someone moving on to find extra change to up Walters.

Richie Hall is 63, but coordinators don't make all that much, so I can't see him retiring yet unless he wants to make a drastic lifestyle change.

Pierce will move on eventually but with his family situation, he may not be ready to take that leap yet. Even if he left, there's no one on the staff that could replace him, and they'd have to pay market price for a new O.C. ie. LaPo.

Boudreau is a possible move, but not sure O'Shea would push him out unless he had a better opportunity lined up elsewhere. Mike Miller could be a cheaper option.