Rasheed Bailey released?

[theaardvark]

I don't think Bailey would accept a PR position and the pay that comes with it, nor should he, good chance he'll catch on elsewhere to compensate for injuries.

Bailey at $130k would be a very good deal, for both.  That's going to be $65k prorated.  Peanuts to have a solid starting WR who can block and covert 2nd downs.

Whitehead and Grymes did. Bailey does know the playbook which is an advantage but their are already lots of receivers hitting the IR lists and nobody has called him as far as we know.

Lucky had no offers, and realized that he had a great chance to parlay PR into a contract due to all our injuries.

How Grymes ended up here, I'll never know.  IF he gets off the PR, its a great opportunity for both player and team. 

[markf]

The team probably also thinks about next season in deciding what to do.

Ie, new Young guys showing promise might be kept for their potential, not what they can do right now.

Four straight grey cup appearances, thirty  thousand at the last game , they do not have any serious pressure to win right now.

This is good for longer term team success. Seems smart to me.

[Blue In BC]

Bailey at $130k would be a very good deal, for both.  That's going to be $65k prorated.  Peanuts to have a solid starting WR who can block and covert 2nd downs.
Lucky had no offers, and realized that he had a great chance to parlay PR into a contract due to all our injuries.

How Grymes ended up here, I'll never know.  IF he gets off the PR, its a great opportunity for both player and team. 

Bailey has no offers that we know about either.

[J5V]

The team probably also thinks about next season in deciding what to do.

Ie, new Young guys showing promise might be kept for their potential, not what they can do right now.

Four straight grey cup appearances, thirty  thousand at the last game , they do not have any serious pressure to win right now.

This is good for longer term team success. Seems smart to me.

I like your thinking here and I'm sure you're right, Bomber management must be thrilled with some of the talent and ability they discovered in many of these young players. The future is indeed looking bright.

Regardless of the rough start to the season, I think there is a sense of unfinished business with the last two Grey Cup losses this team has suffered. That sting is still there in many of our vets and certainly in the coaches and management. I think you're going to see a very determined Bomber team in the second half of the season and it wouldn't surprise me to see them not only make the playoffs but play in the Grey Cup.

[Jesse]

Agree that Lucky is the guy going forward.  He is threat at receiver and at kick returner.  He fit in immediately and was part of a great win against BC.  Hard to believe that Rasheed would be able, right now, to supplant him.

Honestly, I'm not sure I believe this. It took an injury to Lucky on the roster and they rotated him with Case all night.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lucky came off for Lawler.

[Jesse]

Bailey at $130k would be a very good deal, for both. 

We are not going to offer Bailey that. He would already he signed up if we offered him any deal.

[J5V]

I was surprised that we couldn't get a deal done with Lawler when he signed with Edmonton. We brought him back the following season. I was surprised that we couldn't get a deal done with Bailey when he signed with Toronto. Maybe we bring him back the following season too.

[theaardvark]

"We like the players we have" - O'Shea

Additionally, you have no idea if Bailey is affordable. He is certainly more expensive than any of those guys.

Yes, we know that O'Shea will always "like the players we have".  But we picked up Lucky in spite of having those players.  Bailey got a contract this spring.  Lucky did not. 

He is within the budget we should have for receivers considering the 6 game IR savings we have had.  His total salary would likely be less than what we will get back from Schoen's IR $SMS recapture, guessing Lucky's contract would be more affordable, probably what we will save from Lawler's IR time.  Certainly the prorated contracts for both would be less than Schoen, Lawler and Wolitarski's 6game $SMS savings.

I get the choice to not sign him and save that $SMS, but man, he is an insurance policy beyond compare.

I'm just saying I'd rather have Bailey and not need him, than need him and not have him, should something happen.

[theaardvark]

I was surprised that we couldn't get a deal done with Lawler when he signed with Edmonton. We brought him back the following season. I was surprised that we couldn't get a deal done with Bailey when he signed with Toronto. Maybe we bring him back the following season too.

In the offseason, we signed Schoen and Oliviera, completely blowing our vet budget (with Lawler and Collaros already signed).  No one, player, fan, coach or GM would have prioritized Bailey over either of those two, no disrespect to Bailey.  Had either not signed here, Bailey would have been on the opening day roster here, and not Toronto.

Being a proven vet, Bringing him in as #5 on Collaro's checkdown and paying him proven vet $, (more than an ELC) would not have made sense.  Lawler, Schoen, Demski and Wolitarski were our starters and we were planning on a recruit being #5.  Now we are missing Lawler, Schoen and Wolitarski, so the scenario is far, far, far different today.

Wilson has stepped in for Schoen, Clercius for Wolitarski, and Lawler will be back soon we hope.  Lucky takes over the 5th "recruit receiver" with Wilson becoming a legit starter.  Would I rather have Bailey in the starting group over Clercius?  And have the versatility in case Lucky gets injured, or Lawler gets re-injured, or God forbid, we lose another receiver?  For a prorated price having saved huge $SMS with the 6 game stints, I think its a no brainer.


Unless he wants to be guaranteed playing time, and is worried that when our roster gets healthy he will be relegated to back up, I can't see why we wouldn't ensure our depth, especially being back in the hunt.
 

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The team probably also thinks about next season in deciding what to do.

Ie, new Young guys showing promise might be kept for their potential, not what they can do right now.

Four straight grey cup appearances, thirty  thousand at the last game , they do not have any serious pressure to win right now.

This is good for longer term team success. Seems smart to me.

I agree with your viewpoint, Walters is compromising the current lineup a little in order to ensure next season's roster is better prepared, younger and cheaper, something he perhaps neglected to do enough of in the past. 

I'm all for shopping Lawler before the trade deadline to correct the receiver budget in order to retain other critical veterans that might walk away in F.A.  First two that come to mind are Ford and Holm, they're both going to be looking for Demerio Houston sized numbers and Walters can't afford to chintz out and lose them.

[theaardvark]

I agree with your viewpoint, Walter is compromising the current lineup a little in order to ensure next season's roster is better prepared, younger and cheaper, something he perhaps neglected to do enough of in the past. 

I'm all for shopping Lawler before the trade deadline to correct the receiver budget in order to retain other critical veterans that might walk away in F.A.  First two that come to mind are Ford and Holm, they're both going to be looking for Demerio Houston sized numbers and Walters can't afford to chintz out and lose them.

Lawler is in year 2 of a 2 year deal, so no need to move him to free up money for next year, and he will be useful for the playoff run.

I think the $$$ will balance back to the D next year...

[TecnoGenius]

Who the hell is solo?

He's the guy who shot Greedo first.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I think the reality is that, aside from whether he's an easy personality to fit into the locker room or not, he's really a fourth or fifth option. If we are going to spend SMS dollars to upgrade a spot, is that really where we want to allocate them?

[Jesse]

I think the reality is that, aside from whether he's an easy personality to fit into the locker room or not, he's really a fourth or fifth option. If we are going to spend SMS dollars to upgrade a spot, is that really where we want to allocate them?

Aside from Bailey specifically, you gotta take upgrades where/when they become available.

You don't really get to choose which positions other teams cut.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Aside from Bailey specifically, you gotta take upgrades where/when they become available.

You don't really get to choose which positions other teams cut.

But you DO choose whether or not the upgrade is worth it (which is what we've done with Bailey). We're not going to win more games with a slightly better 4th or 5th receiving option.