Bomber Free Agents

[theaardvark]

Personally, I'd be looking to move on from Wilson.  Guy is a decent talent, but he's always hurt.  He's only played 51 games over 7 seasons with the Bombers - that's 7.x games per year.  Can't make the club from the tub.  At 32 he's on the back end of his career now anyway, and we need guys we can count on to play 15+ games every year.

Bet there is no upfront money or guaranteed money, so a look at TC, competition/guidance for players coming in with no cost?  No brainer. And if he is healthy, and can be the force we've seen at WIL, then its probably an amazing deal for us.

Gauthier is a ST demon, and will have a place here as long as he can motor downfield.

[Blue In BC]

Bet there is no upfront money or guaranteed money, so a look at TC, competition/guidance for players coming in with no cost?  No brainer. And if he is healthy, and can be the force we've seen at WIL, then its probably an amazing deal for us.

Gauthier is a ST demon, and will have a place here as long as he can motor downfield.

I was 50/50 on whether we'd re-sign Wilson. Like I said, he can play at a high level but he needs to stay healthy. The question was about our other LB's that are potential free agents: Bighill and Cole along with the issue of whether Ayers is back.

SMS, ratio and roster size all come into play. That said, Wilson could have a monster season.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I was 50/50 on whether we'd re-sign Wilson. Like I said, he can play at a high level but he needs to stay healthy. The question was about our other LB's that are potential free agents: Bighill and Cole along with the issue of whether Ayers is back.

SMS, ratio and roster size all come into play. That said, Wilson could have a monster season.

Ayers is under contract and there won't be too many teams pursuing a fringe player like Cole, so I expect them both back and playing bigger roles next season.

[Blue In BC]

Ayers is under contract and there won't be too many teams pursuing a fringe player like Cole, so I expect them both back and playing bigger roles next season.

The issue with Ayers is whether he gets a future's deal in the NFL. The issue with Cole is the potential number of import LB's we might have and roster availability. Cole showed some promise but so did Ayers. Ayers is on and ELC and Cole won't be very expensive. It wouldn't be a bad thing to get both back and injuries happen in TC.

It's too early to tell what happens with Ayers, Cole or Bighill. Just guessing we lose Ford and it means we have room for 1 less import than in 2024. We had several imports that were not full time starters and were not DI's due to being able to start 8 or 9 Canadians.

[theaardvark]

Has the NFL signing window closed?  IIRC it is the first week of Feb, before the tampering window.

Ayers has had look see's but no offers yet, right?  He is still on his ELC, so not a huge $SMS hit for what we're getting.

I think we will be fine on D, there's enough beef in the pipe to compete for Willie's bookend, and we might get competition for them falling to us through FA.  Would have been interesting to bring back a refocused Kongbo, but no doubt he got a good contract in CGY.

Cauz is suggesting the FA we should look at is Ceresna. Not sure he fits the personality profile as a Bomber, and has he been healthy?  Averaged 12 games a year in the first 4, but 18 and 17 the last 2, was that play, injury or other? He's going to be expensive as well...

[Blue In BC]

Has the NFL signing window closed?  IIRC it is the first week of Feb, before the tampering window.

Ayers has had look see's but no offers yet, right?  He is still on his ELC, so not a huge $SMS hit for what we're getting.

I think we will be fine on D, there's enough beef in the pipe to compete for Willie's bookend, and we might get competition for them falling to us through FA.  Would have been interesting to bring back a refocused Kongbo, but no doubt he got a good contract in CGY.

Cauz is suggesting the FA we should look at is Ceresna. Not sure he fits the personality profile as a Bomber, and has he been healthy?  Averaged 12 games a year in the first 4, but 18 and 17 the last 2, was that play, injury or other? He's going to be expensive as well...

NFL option window still open for a few weeks. IDK if Ayers will get a futures deal or not. Yes his ELC is not an issue, it's just whether he comes back.

DL options are very open. I think we have 4 DL as potential free agents. Not all may be asked back. Which will be back is a work in progress. I'm not sold on anyone we had replacing Jeffcoat but nobody had an injury free season and that resulted in a revolving door.

Ford has no obligation to return to the CFL at all even if he doesn't get an immediate offer. He may take longer to decide and there is no guarantee he returns to Winnipeg as an actual free agent. The organization might have an idea of what his intentions are but obviously won't make that public.

So he could be re-signed, or lost to NFL or test CFL free agency in February and move elsewhere. I can see Edmonton making a pitch to improve their defence and ratio options.

[BLUEBOMBER]

Streveler is totally unncessary... he shouldn't have returned in the first place.

[blue_gold_84]

Streveler is totally unncessary... he shouldn't have returned in the first place.

Couldn't disagree more.

[Blue In BC]

Couldn't disagree more.

Why? Clearly he's never going to be a legit # 2. So he's not the future and not even a really good short term back up. He's a SY specialist and that's where you want your development QB. He's not that either so again I ask why other than he's a fan favourite.

We don't know / don't have a solid immediate #2 QB. That may be Wilson but we don't know. If he's the next Brown, then we need the " next " SY / development guy on an ELC.

Steveler isn't getting big money but it might be $40K more than an ELC rookie.

[blue_gold_84]

Why? Clearly he's never going to be a legit # 2.

Was he brought in to be QB2? I don't think so. He's a known commodity and contributed positively before he was injured by a serial scumbag. His being a fan favourite was merely a bonus.

I just do not agree with the assertion he was an unnecessary signing.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

The issue with Ayers is whether he gets a future's deal in the NFL. The issue with Cole is the potential number of import LB's we might have and roster availability. Cole showed some promise but so did Ayers. Ayers is on and ELC and Cole won't be very expensive. It wouldn't be a bad thing to get both back and injuries happen in TC.

It's too early to tell what happens with Ayers, Cole or Bighill. Just guessing we lose Ford and it means we have room for 1 less import than in 2024. We had several imports that were not full time starters and were not DI's due to being able to start 8 or 9 Canadians.

As far as I can figure they really only have 1 LB too many if all are healthy and that includes Bighill. Cole is a multi-position player who could play, WIL, SAM, DB or Safety but may not be consistent enough to start anywhere.  Depending what they decide to do with Biggie could determine somebody else's fate.

[Jesse]

Was he brought in to be QB2? I don't think so. He's a known commodity and contributed positively before he was injured by a serial scumbag. His being a fan favourite was merely a bonus.

I just do not agree with the assertion he was an unnecessary signing.

I was very excited to see Strev come back last season, but he was either not used effectively or for some reason couldn't be as effective as his first go around with us.

It was a very disappointing showing.

[blue_gold_84]

I was very excited to see Strev come back last season, but he was either not used effectively or for some reason couldn't be as effective as his first go around with us.

It was a very disappointing showing.

Maybe that problem's gone now that he's HC of the Lions. I dunno.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Was he brought in to be QB2? I don't think so. He's a known commodity and contributed positively before he was injured by a serial scumbag. His being a fan favourite was merely a bonus.

I just do not agree with the assertion he was an unnecessary signing.

I'm sure Strev. thought things would turn out better when he re-signed in Wpg. and he'd be in good position to qualify for a starting job somewhere in the CFL after one year back.  It didn't work out that way and I can't see him progressing beyond his role as a 3rd down specialist now.  A new OC, may be his last chance to change the course of his career.

[Blue In BC]

Was he brought in to be QB2? I don't think so. He's a known commodity and contributed positively before he was injured by a serial scumbag. His being a fan favourite was merely a bonus.

I just do not agree with the assertion he was an unnecessary signing.

No but he was listed as the # 2 QB because we had a rookie with no CFL experience. I listed why I don't think he fits the role as either a # 2 or SY  QB.  I agree he filled a need positively however that doesn't change my opinion that it's time to move on.

Preferably Dolegala earns the role as our # 2 QB and Wilson becomes our SYS and development QB.