Rourke released, Signed by Atlanta...and released again AND SIGNS WITH BC

[Lincoln Locomotive]

We'll see if Rourke can overcome the short. practice week with the Lions and take us out....apparently he's a quick study and knows about 90% of their offence.   He will definitely be an upgrade to Dolegala and he I'm sure remembers his last CFL game against us in the WF.....he wasn't 100% recovered from his injury in that game and still managed to keep the Lions in the game, albeit it wasn't his best showing.
Bomber D has to come up big if we expect to win and Zach has to be on his game as well.....and he hasn't exactly been consistent this season.   
This will likely be the most watched game across the CFL this season as everyone wants to see Rourke back in the CFL.   
Bombers will make a statement if they win and likely miss the playoffs if they go to 3-7 as the West just got tighter with the resurgence of Edmonton.

[Waffler]

22 months ago but I bet he remembers.

[J5V]

22 months ago but I bet he remembers.

I hope he has a similar outing against us on Sunday. Rourke and Trevor Harris being thrown into the fire immediately upon their return to the CFL.

[GOLDMEMBER]

We'll see if Rourke can overcome the short. practice week with the Lions and take us out....apparently he's a quick study and knows about 90% of their offence.   He will definitely be an upgrade to Dolegala and he I'm sure remembers his last CFL game against us in the WF.....he wasn't 100% recovered from his injury in that game and still managed to keep the Lions in the game, albeit it wasn't his best showing.
Bomber D has to come up big if we expect to win and Zach has to be on his game as well.....and he hasn't exactly been consistent this season.   
This will likely be the most watched game across the CFL this season as everyone wants to see Rourke back in the CFL.   
Bombers will make a statement if they win and likely miss the playoffs if they go to 3-7 as the West just got tighter with the resurgence of Edmonton.

yah yah. BC SUCKS! That is all.

[TecnoGenius]

It proves the opposite actually. This is how much they were willing to pay him and he still took off to go the NFL PR thing for 1.5 seasons.

That's a big assumption!  You think BC was going to offer him $750k in FA '23 to hang around?  Or is it that they have to offer that to him now to lure him away from the NFL perennial PR squad merry-go-round?

Who's to say that they tried $600 Zach money and Rourke didn't just say "I'll keep trying NFL teams"?

The whole point is going from Zach $600 to $700 (or $800) will draw NFL PR QBs into the CFL.  I still think this proves my point.  The confounding factor is a) BC is cheating off-SMS, and b) there's no big overall SMS increase to justify spending $750 on a QB so it may hamstring BC's roster like in '21.

One more point: it sounds like if another NFL team comes a'callin' next week Rourke can just up and leave that day.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm not convinced we'd win many games if Steveler needed to start.

Uh, didn't Strev win us our first game of 2024 in his only start?  Don't discount Strev.  We haven't seen his best yet.  I am fine with him being our #2 unless it's clear Zach is down rolling into the post-season.

[GOLDMEMBER]

22 months ago but I bet he remembers.

LMAO I forgot about that. " hey kid you can stay down there twerp."

[TecnoGenius]

2024 Dru Brown (4th year in league) - 8 starts, 66% completion percentage, 1936 yards (242 per game), 6 TDs, 4 INTs
2023 Jake Dolegala (2nd year in league) - 10 starts, 65% completion percentage, 2641 yards (264 per game), 11 TDs, 9 INTs 

Take player bias out of it and on paper it's very similar.

If you can watch Dolegala and Brown' tapes and say that, not sure... stats are only part of the story.

Yup.

1) At similar points in their careers Dru got a franchise #1 starting job for big $$, Dolegala got dregs #2 from a team that never expected their #1 to get injured.

2) Most everyone will tell you that Dru gives off a glimmer of "future star" vibes.  Even other teams' fans who hate us, like SSK.  Most everyone will tell you Dolegala is another Jennings/Franklin/Arbuckle (but probably worse!).  How many "future star" vibes have you gotten from Dolegala?

3) SSK fans are so happy they got rid of him.  No WPG fan is happy to see Dru go, nor dissing him.  We all would have loved for him to be the #2 with Strev #3/SY.  But there was no SMS$$.

[TecnoGenius]

22 months ago but I bet he remembers.

Awesome.  Epic.  If we play BC in post-season, someone should attend with a blown-up poster of that pic.

(Not to re-open the heated debate whether it was "right" or not!  Please Lord)

[Jesse]

That's a big assumption!  You think BC was going to offer him $750k in FA '23 to hang around?  Or is it that they have to offer that to him now to lure him away from the NFL perennial PR squad merry-go-round?

Who's to say that they tried $600 Zach money and Rourke didn't just say "I'll keep trying NFL teams"?

The whole point is going from Zach $600 to $700 (or $800) will draw NFL PR QBs into the CFL.  I still think this proves my point.  The confounding factor is a) BC is cheating off-SMS, and b) there's no big overall SMS increase to justify spending $750 on a QB so it may hamstring BC's roster like in '21.

One more point: it sounds like if another NFL team comes a'callin' next week Rourke can just up and leave that day.

I don't think it's a big assumption that BC was just as willing to offer Rourke the same amount now as they were then.

I do think it's a big assumption (and a wrong one) that any amount of money the CFL can offer will lure QBs from the NFL until their options have been exhausted.

[TecnoGenius]

I do think it's a big assumption (and a wrong one) that any amount of money the CFL can offer will lure QBs from the NFL until their options have been exhausted.

Then you're assuming Rourke's NFL options are exhausted?  Almost everyone thinks he'll return to the NFL, even if it'll take 1-2 years.

I have no doubt Rourke would get onto another PR within a few weeks.  I think he looked at $500k PR and no play vs $750k starter much-loved fan-favorite.  I bet the money was the clincher.  You think Rourke would have come back so fast if he could only make $500k in 2025?

[Jesse]

Then you're assuming Rourke's NFL options are exhausted?  Almost everyone thinks he'll return to the NFL, even if it'll take 1-2 years.

I have no doubt Rourke would get onto another PR within a few weeks.  I think he looked at $500k PR and no play vs $750k starter much-loved fan-favorite.  I bet the money was the clincher.  You think Rourke would have come back so fast if he could only make $500k in 2025?

I think he'd be playing for a different team if BC tried to low ball him for 500, but he only left the NFL when he his options had run out, yes.

The Lions were in contact with him when he was cut from the Giants, but he still said no and joined the Falconsdespite them having their QB room already set.

[TecnoGenius]

The Lions were in contact with him when he was cut from the Giants, but he still said no and joined the Falconsdespite them having their QB room already set.

I think it was the bad showing in the PS game that convinced Rourke & his agent that he wasn't going to see the field this season no matter what.  I think part of the decision process is being stuck in #4 with no hope of advancing.

Do you really think no other NFL team would take a stab at PR'ing him this season?  So do you then think he won't get another NFL shot even if he wins the next 2 GCs?

Farhan thinks he 100% is at least NFL #2 material.  He called him "top 20 in NFL" just the other day.  Of course, that's Farhan, so who knows.

I think it's safe to say that there's a ton of factors going into Rourke's decision-making.  But I do know that money is a top-3 consideration.  So it's imperative he can earn the same or more here as #1 as he can as NFL PR #4.

[The Zipp]

I think it was the bad showing in the PS game that convinced Rourke & his agent that he wasn't going to see the field this season no matter what.  I think part of the decision process is being stuck in #4 with no hope of advancing.

Do you really think no other NFL team would take a stab at PR'ing him this season?  So do you then think he won't get another NFL shot even if he wins the next 2 GCs?

Farhan thinks he 100% is at least NFL #2 material.  He called him "top 20 in NFL" just the other day.  Of course, that's Farhan, so who knows.

I think it's safe to say that there's a ton of factors going into Rourke's decision-making.  But I do know that money is a top-3 consideration.  So it's imperative he can earn the same or more here as #1 as he can as NFL PR #4.

I probably watch more football than Farhan - I don't think Rourke is top 20 in cfl/nfl QB

[pdirks67]

I probably watch more football than Farhan - I don't think Rourke is top 20 in cfl/nfl QB

I don't know about Top 20, but it's hard to believe he couldn't be much better than the Raiders QBs. I'm biased, but I'd also definitely take him if I was the coach of the Patriots, Panthers, Titans, Steelers, Broncos, or Vikings. But as an undrafted guy, it will never happen. I'd actually love to see him as an understudy for the Lions. Campbell seems to give guys a chance regardless of where they come from.