Blue Bombers agree to terms with safety Brandon Alexander

ModAdmin · February 08, 2024, 03:32:03 AM

Blue Bombers agree to terms with safety Brandon Alexander

WINNIPEG, MB., February 7, 2024 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has agreed to terms on a one-year extension with veteran safety Brandon Alexander.

Alexander (6-0, 180, Central Florida; born: September 27, 1993 in Orlando, FL) returns in 2024 for his 7th Canadian Football League season – all with the Blue Bombers.

The veteran leader played 17 games last season and finished with 41 defensive tackles and two interceptions. Alexander was named a West Division all-star for the second time in his career in 2023, and has totaled 211 defensive tackles, 20 special teams tackles, eight interceptions and six forced fumbles in 77 career games.

Pigskin · February 08, 2024, 03:54:27 AM

Nice to have Brandon back.

TecnoGenius · February 08, 2024, 04:04:41 AM

It's a solid signing since we really have no alternative to play there except the maybe-not-totally-ready Hallett.

My guess is there was a bit of a pay cut, or at the very least no bump.

I hope Younger can find a way to make him more effective in terms of placement and usage. He was too invisible in 2023.

kkc60 · February 08, 2024, 04:47:42 AM

Good vet to have, a leader who can fill in at SAM or HB in a pinch. Had a down year by his standards last year, but so did the majority of our defense it seemed (outside of guys with little to no sample sizes going into the season).

Jesse · February 08, 2024, 11:45:01 AM

BA's one of my favourite's.

Last year was his first full year back from a pretty terrible injury that usually takes 2 years to fully recover from. Let's see what Younger has cooked up for these guys.

LXTSN · February 08, 2024, 12:42:56 PM

I don't think he was charging a big amount. I think it would be pretty easy to replace him if we had to.

GOLDMEMBER · February 08, 2024, 02:54:18 PM

Hopefully at a team friendly revised salary. Welcome back.

theaardvark · February 08, 2024, 03:08:32 PM

Quote from: LXTSN on February 08, 2024, 12:42:56 PMI don't think he was charging a big amount. I think it would be pretty easy to replace him if we had to.

It is easy to replace any body n the field, but finding guys with the heart that this team finds as a minimum standard, and the work ethic, and the ability to lower the boom when needed, those things are hard to find. Sure, FS is one of the easiest places to hide a NAT, but we saw the difference when BA stepped into that position.

BA37 is a playmaker, he's a guy that regularly "blows up" and opponent. The big thing that is hard to quantify is how he makes guys around him more comfortable to make plays because he's got their backs.

I'm not saying that this signing is the most important one of the off season, we have a lot of great players coming back. But I am sure Younger is very pleased with this signing, a it could be the best "under the radar" signing.

Throw Long Bannatyne · February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PM

Quote from: GOLDMEMBER on February 08, 2024, 02:54:18 PMHopefully at a team friendly revised salary. Welcome back.

Nonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

Pete · February 08, 2024, 03:34:39 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PMNonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

This is the norm for every league that has a salary cap.the mcdavids,mackinnons,nylanders etc make over 10 mill then the bottom 3 forwards regardless of seniority are at league min or close to that.
Besides which if you are paying for to many vets you get what we have, problems staying under cap,and at some point you have to make more cuts than you'd like

blue_gold_84 · February 08, 2024, 04:09:52 PM

Another huge piece retained. Great news!

bunker · February 08, 2024, 04:18:28 PM

I thought his play fell off last year. Hopefully it was scheme or still not being 100% from his injury, and he will be better this year. Vet experience and attitude is great, but you have to be able to play at a high level.

Pigskin · February 08, 2024, 05:45:36 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PMNonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

Total agree.

GOLDMEMBER · February 08, 2024, 07:16:44 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PMNonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

what is your problem? Talk about reading into my post. It is posts like these that keep this forum paralyzed with members.

All I said was team friendly salary. Holy crap!

Throw Long Bannatyne · February 08, 2024, 07:49:36 PM

Quote from: GOLDMEMBER on February 08, 2024, 07:16:44 PMwhat is your problem? Talk about reading into my post. It is posts like these that keep this forum paralyzed with members.

All I said was team friendly salary. Holy crap!

Sorry if I misinterpreted your post.

dd · February 08, 2024, 11:13:34 PM

I was getting worried that we weren't going to sign BA, totally worth every penny whatever we paid him. Our defense changed the minute he was moved to safety and hasn't looked back.

Blueforlife · February 09, 2024, 01:47:27 AM

Key player and a difficult person to replace at his level imo

Would have prefered a two year deal

J5V · February 09, 2024, 01:57:34 AM

Great news.

Marni · February 09, 2024, 03:08:36 AM

This signing made my entire week! I love Brandon so much!

TecnoGenius · February 09, 2024, 03:41:48 AM

Quote from: LXTSN on February 08, 2024, 12:42:56 PMI don't think he was charging a big amount. I think it would be pretty easy to replace him if we had to.

Have you seen some our FSs from the last decade?? I think we've had 2 good ones: Loffler and Alexander.

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PMNonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

You could argue that is true. But I'm ok with the free market working itself out. However, you could argue that having a cap at all makes it essentially a non-free market. If there was no cap, would the Alexanders of the league earn more? Probably?

The other posters here are correct: it seems like the stars get top coin and everyone else gets the scraps barely above ELC. It is a good incentive to try to be the best, though! Perform and you'll get the big coin too.

Perhaps we need another league-enforced pay tier: vet minimum wage. ELC rookies would earn the least, as they do now; but 4+ season vets would be ensured maybe $25k more (with ones who are "better" but not "great" able to earn more). SMS would go up to accommodate.

theaardvark · February 09, 2024, 03:36:29 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 08, 2024, 03:25:55 PMNonsense, 7 year vet. making $101k should not be asked to take a paycut just so players making twice his salary can make even more. If that's the way CFL economics has to work, they are broken.

For every player, every position, every team has a budget. That budget is dynamic. If one goes up, another has to go down.

The toughest part f being a GM is deciding which player to keep and which to cut/move on from.

Money, unfortunately, is one of the biggest factors in that.

Our team may have adequate resources to absorb losing a player at a position, and another team may have a need that allows them to overspend what our budget is. That's an easy decision.

Our team may not have a replacement, and have to outbid another team for a players services, and that changes the budget for every other player/position.

Alexander isn't Oliviera or Schoen, but he is important. Getting him inked to a deal, whatever the cost, was great. If that meant a bump, or a cut, BA27 had to decide if the contract offer was A: appropriate and B: competitive. Like many players, there is a "home town" discount usually factored in, accepting a slightly lower offer for the familiarity of the situation, already having accommodations, knowing the local set up. etc. And knowing his spot on the team, with his brothers, his coaches.

I still say there needs to be both an RFA option (matching contract "offer sheets" made during the tampering period on expiring ELC deals), and a small non-SMS$ budget for resigning players with 4 or more years service to a team to a multi year deal. Say 10% up to $300k per team. So, you can offer BA37 $100k in hard money and a non-SMS$ bonus of $10K for loyalty.

It wouldn't have kept Yoshi here, I think our top offer to him would have been in the $170k range ($187k with the loyalty bonus) which wouldn't have been enough. But for the players like Alexander, its a way of rewarding them staying with the team. Budgets of all teams for this kind of player are going to be similar, that 10% plus staying in familiar surroundings would go a long way.

LXTSN · February 09, 2024, 04:08:37 PM

Quote from: TecnoGenius on February 09, 2024, 03:41:48 AMHave you seen some our FSs from the last decade?? I think we've had 2 good ones: Loffler and Alexander.

You could argue that is true. But I'm ok with the free market working itself out. However, you could argue that having a cap at all makes it essentially a non-free market. If there was no cap, would the Alexanders of the league earn more? Probably?

The other posters here are correct: it seems like the stars get top coin and everyone else gets the scraps barely above ELC. It is a good incentive to try to be the best, though! Perform and you'll get the big coin too.

Perhaps we need another league-enforced pay tier: vet minimum wage. ELC rookies would earn the least, as they do now; but 4+ season vets would be ensured maybe $25k more (with ones who are "better" but not "great" able to earn more). SMS would go up to accommodate.

You're right, I might be under-valuing Alexander... We've actually had some nice luck with safeties and maybe that's why it was in my mind that it's easy to replace.

Maybe after this year, Jake Kelly or one of the Halletts will step up. That should be a matter of time right?
I think Hallett has filled in nicely for Alexander when he's been hurt, but I think Kelly has more potential to actually start at that spot long-term.

theaardvark · February 09, 2024, 04:18:04 PM

Quote from: LXTSN on February 09, 2024, 04:08:37 PMYou're right, I might be under-valuing Alexander... We've actually had some nice luck with safeties and maybe that's why it was in my mind that it's easy to replace.

Maybe after this year, Jake Kelly or one of the Halletts will step up. That should be a matter of time right?
I think Hallett has filled in nicely for Alexander when he's been hurt, but I think Kelly has more potential to actually start at that spot long-term.

There always needs to be a succession plan.. with FS often being a spot to play a NAT, haveing some NAT options is great, but BA37 being able to be inserted because our ratio was otherwise allocated (Thanks Brady/Andrew/Nic) really did make a difference. But that's not to say you can't have a great NAT FS like Loeffler was here.

We have 10 (TEN) draft picks this year... our next FS might be among them

Throw Long Bannatyne · February 09, 2024, 06:02:10 PM

Quote from: dd on February 08, 2024, 11:13:34 PMI was getting worried that we weren't going to sign BA, totally worth every penny whatever we paid him. Our defense changed the minute he was moved to safety and hasn't looked back.

Glad they re-signed BA, hopefully his play improves with a return to better health. I think he has a bright future in coaching DB's when he's done, he could step right into the role Younger vacated once Richie Hall retires.

TecnoGenius · February 09, 2024, 09:03:40 PM

Quote from: LXTSN on February 09, 2024, 04:08:37 PMMaybe after this year, Jake Kelly or one of the Halletts will step up. That should be a matter of time right?
I think Hallett has filled in nicely for Alexander when he's been hurt, but I think Kelly has more potential to actually start at that spot long-term.

It's such a weird thing: finding DBs seems relatively easy; finding a good IMP FS/DB seems hard. Maybe because there's no 12th guy in USA ball? I can't explain it, maybe someone else can try.

Maybe that's why so many teams "hide their NAT" at FS: because there are no "natural FSs" coming up from the states, and so the drop off to using "just a NAT" isn't that high? Just thinking out loud... but it would explain a lot.

Look at Alexander: we brought him in as a DB, and somehow eventually he got some FS snaps, and we were like "wow, dude would be a great FS". The rest is history. But I doubt we signed him originally saying "that's our FS!".

I don't think we've signed a DB since who we could say the same thing about. That is why re-signing BA at this time is a good move.

The way WFC uses their FS includes a lot a run-stop support. That means a player who is stout and can bring the wood. Loffler, Alexander... even Hecht. (Hecht had the wood, but would often miss his target, lol.) But I don't think this is written in stone. Other teams don't use FS like this. Look at Dequoy: he's so lightweight and scrawny you think he'll blow away. So they use him as a roving ball-hawk, not as a run-stopper: more like an extra DB. And he's excelled at the role.

As for Kelly/Hallett: I think that's the eventual plan. I think Hallett will get the nod if/when BA is gone. He certainly got the in-game BA injury snaps to date. It seemed there was a drop off, though; but he is improving all the time. You have to be a bit crazy to play WPG FS (think Loffler), and I think Hallett fits that bill. You also have to be willing to bring the wood, and Hallett can do that too. He's arguably more athletic than BA: bonus.

Kelly and his speed is more like Dequoy, and thus wouldn't fit in as a FS the way we currently employ them. We could change to the roving ballhawk model, sure. But there's no hint yet that we want to.

TecnoGenius · February 10, 2024, 06:38:12 AM

Making this more the general DB thread...

Lawrence isn't on the FA list, so I'm assuming he's still signed into 2024? He could be important now that we lost Houston, and Holm has a big NFL question mark.

This would be DL22's 4th season. Is it a case of him needing more time to develop, or is he a perennial backup at best?

Is his natural position HB?

If no one stands out amongst the scouting finds, at least we have a solid option in Lawrence.

TecnoGenius · February 10, 2024, 06:59:10 AM

Houston: what if part of why we let him walk, besides the big price tag, is that he may be more of a me-first ballhawk than a team-first plan-follower? I have no basis for this other than his crazy INT/FR stats for '23. It's often the DBs who leave their assignments or cheat up on hunches who get the big stats.

Contrast with Holm, who didn't get the big INT/FR stats, but was always in his man's hip pocket. Same with Nichols.

I mean, if this was Nichols with a big $ ask, would we have found a way to budget him in? Maybe?

I'm rewatching the '23 season and will keep an eye out on what Houston was up to. Regardless of whether there's any substance to my theory, I'm sad to see him go. Sometimes you need a ballhawk to get you that big momo shift. Kind of like a TJ Heath. Then again, the "plan" guys will have way less busted coverages.

Jesse · February 10, 2024, 02:15:39 PM

Quote from: TecnoGenius on February 10, 2024, 06:38:12 AMMaking this more the general DB thread...

Lawrence isn't on the FA list, so I'm assuming he's still signed into 2024? He could be important now that we lost Houston, and Holm has a big NFL question mark.

This would be DL22's 4th season. Is it a case of him needing more time to develop, or is he a perennial backup at best?

Is his natural position HB?

If no one stands out amongst the scouting finds, at least we have a solid option in Lawrence.

Lawerence is not on the roster. He's not a pending free agent, he's just gone. Anyone can sign him.

For Houston, I think the price is 99% of it. DBs are generally not the highest paid across the league, and even less so here. Just like we see our DT's walk in FA every year, we also bring in a new crop of DBs every year.

We have 15+ DBs on the roster already. Holm, Nichols, Parker are pretty locked in. I'd expect Tyrique McGhee to see lots of snaps in TC and we're going to see some new guys getting playing time.

Throw Long Bannatyne · February 10, 2024, 08:44:38 PM

Quote from: Jesse on February 10, 2024, 02:15:39 PMLawerence is not on the roster. He's not a pending free agent, he's just gone. Anyone can sign him.

For Houston, I think the price is 99% of it. DBs are generally not the highest paid across the league, and even less so here. Just like we see our DT's walk in FA every year, we also bring in a new crop of DBs every year.

We have 15+ DBs on the roster already. Holm, Nichols, Parker are pretty locked in. I'd expect Tyrique McGhee to see lots of snaps in TC and we're going to see some new guys getting playing time.

I haven't heard that Holm signed with any NFL teams and I believe the NFL window closed on Feb. 3rd, so he should be back for his 3rd season on his original ELC unless he renegotiates a bump in pay.

theaardvark · February 10, 2024, 08:51:54 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 10, 2024, 08:44:38 PMI haven't heard that Holm signed with any NFL teams and I believe the NFL window closed on Feb. 3rd, so he should be back for his 3rd season on his original ELC unless he renegotiates a bump in pay.

I'd hope they rip up his current deal and make a proper one, 2 or 3 years long...

TecnoGenius · February 11, 2024, 03:10:09 AM

Quote from: Jesse on February 10, 2024, 02:15:39 PMLawerence is not on the roster. He's not a pending free agent, he's just gone. Anyone can sign him.

How is that even a thing? Maybe he was cut before the end of 2023? Or is this a on-the-PR-to-end-the-year thing? I thought pretty much everyone not signed for the next season was officially "in FA"... but clearly there are exceptions?

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 10, 2024, 08:44:38 PMI haven't heard that Holm signed with any NFL teams and I believe the NFL window closed on Feb. 3rd, so he should be back for his 3rd season on his original ELC unless he renegotiates a bump in pay.

And how is that possible? I can't recall any other IMP who got a 3-year-term ELC? I thought the rules about ELC were pretty strict?

Double weird! Maybe MOS/Hall/KW saw so early in camp that the kid was a winner that they snuck in a 3-year on him. Learned their lesson with Alford!! Clearly someone in WFC has an eye for future-superstar DBs. Glad they do, because I never see it until it's obvious to everyone! From now on I'll take their word for it.

And ya, lock that guy up for as long as we can, even if you have to give him 4-5th-year guy money. Him and Nichols are a great base to keep building off of.

TecnoGenius · February 11, 2024, 04:07:24 AM

Who signed Swarm (Swaray?) again? Was he let go by team X and available in FA? I wouldn't mind another shot for him if our scouting finds are a bust. I think we had more faith in him than Lawrence during last season.

Pigskin · February 11, 2024, 04:56:55 AM

Swaray was picked up by the Riders in October. He is not on there current roster. So he's probably an FA.

Update: Swaray signed by Ottawa.

Throw Long Bannatyne · February 11, 2024, 05:36:26 AM

Quote from: theaardvark on February 10, 2024, 08:51:54 PMI'd hope they rip up his current deal and make a proper one, 2 or 3 years long...

I swear Jones gave Dillon Mitchell a significant bump prior to last season, and he was just entering the 2nd year of his ELC.

Are there any rules preventing Import CFL rookies from signing 1 or 3 year ELC contracts?

theaardvark · February 11, 2024, 03:32:18 PM

Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on February 11, 2024, 05:36:26 AMI swear Jones gave Dillon Mitchell a significant bump prior to last season, and he was just entering the 2nd year of his ELC.

Are there any rules preventing Import CFL rookies from signing 1 or 3 year ELC contracts?

ELC's are two year minimum, vets can sign 1 year deals. More than 2 years for either are options, but guarantees are only available for vets.