Blue Bombers re-sign veteran offensive lineman Pat Neufeld

[ModAdmin]

Interview with Paddy Neufeld...

[TecnoGenius]

For those who don't watch:

- He got roughly the same $ as usual for the new contract

- His early/mid-year poor performance (my wording) was due to a knee injury (his words), it sounds like he was dealing with for a while and not just when he didn't start for a few weeks

I'd say it's all good news and this interview makes me happier with his re-signing.

[Blue In BC]

I'm not sure what the thought about Dobson will be for managment. In theory it would be good to get him back. OTOH, it depends on what the team sees going forward. We have Eli and Wallace + I'd expect we might see a 2024 draft choice and a 2024 draft choice in TC.

Originally I would have thought Dobson would be a higher priority due to age and upside. OTOH, that equates to a higher SMS and we don't know where that line might be.

Yes good to get Neufeld back and I'd prefer to see Dobson back as well. That said, who knows whether they are close to an agreement.

[dd]

I'm not sure what the thought about Dobson will be for managment. In theory it would be good to get him back. OTOH, it depends on what the team sees going forward. We have Eli and Wallace + I'd expect we might see a 2024 draft choice and a 2024 draft choice in TC.

Originally I would have thought Dobson would be a higher priority due to age and upside. OTOH, that equates to a higher SMS and we don't know where that line might be.

Yes good to get Neufeld back and I'd prefer to see Dobson back as well. That said, who knows whether they are close to an agreement.

Dobson quietly had a very good year, but our club is not big on spending big $$ on interior lineman and we've lost alot better players over the years Sung, couture, dejarlais etc. if he wants big $$, chances are he lands in his hometown Ottawa and will spend the rest of his career losing but getting paid well.

[Blue In BC]

Dobson quietly had a very good year, but our club is not big on spending big $$ on interior lineman and we've lost alot better players over the years Sung, couture, dejarlais etc. if he wants big $$, chances are he lands in his hometown Ottawa and will spend the rest of his career losing but getting paid well.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Obviously getting him back would be a good thing. But if he wants $200K+ it's an issue potentially. To some degree it depends on how he graded out compared to Eli and Wallace. Wallace is still on an ELC but Eli got extended in 2023 to a 3 year deal. I doubt it was for a big raise but might have an annual escalation.

Either way, if he re-signs great, it not we move forward and use the SMS elsewhere.

You can't always control what players will do.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm not sure what the thought about Dobson will be for managment. In theory it would be good to get him back. OTOH, it depends on what the team sees going forward. We have Eli and Wallace + I'd expect we might see a 2024 draft choice and a 2024 draft choice in TC.

My thought is you have to keep Dobson, or sign a super high DP start-week-1 OL, or snipe a Lofton-level affordable FA.

Eli is too small and has skills suited to a 6th, not a starting OG.  Wallace is still too green IMHO, and still a big question mark.  Of course I said both about Dobson, lol... but I feel even stronger on these about Eli/Wallace.

Since we're unlikely to score a high enough DP, that leaves giving Dobson decent $, or "settling" for a Lofton level.

Why is it we draft these guys, get 1-2 years of dev and then just 1-ish years of playing out of them and then they all walk?  We're doing all the work, the other teams reap the reward.  Sigh.  It kind of strikes me as a bad system.  Should draftee first contracts be 3 years, maybe with guaranteed small bumps if they start?

[Blue In BC]

My thought is you have to keep Dobson, or sign a super high DP start-week-1 OL, or snipe a Lofton-level affordable FA.

Eli is too small and has skills suited to a 6th, not a starting OG.  Wallace is still too green IMHO, and still a big question mark.  Of course I said both about Dobson, lol... but I feel even stronger on these about Eli/Wallace.

Since we're unlikely to score a high enough DP, that leaves giving Dobson decent $, or "settling" for a Lofton level.

Why is it we draft these guys, get 1-2 years of dev and then just 1-ish years of playing out of them and then they all walk?  We're doing all the work, the other teams reap the reward.  Sigh.  It kind of strikes me as a bad system.  Should draftee first contracts be 3 years, maybe with guaranteed small bumps if they start?

I think we have the 7th pick in the 1st round of the 2025 draft. I have no idea what the talent level of OL in this years draft looks like. A decent chance we draft an OL with that pick if we keep it. That happens long after free agency so signing Dobson makes sense regardless of our draft decisions. It could even mean we trade one of our back up OL to move up in the early rounds. IIRC we have an OL from 2024 that will be back in TC fighting for a role. Can't keep everyone.

IIRC 1st round draft picks do sign for 3 years and most take a year or more to approach being able to start. A starting Canadian OL is the basis of how most teams find 3 starting Canadians in the ratio mandate.

However we're seeing more good Canadians in other spots starting across the league. To some degree that reduces needing to pay so much SMS so soon across the spectrum.

I'm not sure that money will be the primary issue in re-signing him. He may want to go back east.

[Ridermania]

CFL has issue's with young players finishing there mandatory 3 years with drafted team, then moving closer to home to play.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I think we have the 7th pick in the 1st round of the 2025 draft. I have no idea what the talent level of OL in this years draft looks like. A decent chance we draft an OL with that pick if we keep it. That happens long after free agency so signing Dobson makes sense regardless of our draft decisions. It could even mean we trade one of our back up OL to move up in the early rounds. IIRC we have an OL from 2024 that will be back in TC fighting for a role. Can't keep everyone.

IIRC 1st round draft picks do sign for 3 years and most take a year or more to approach being able to start. A starting Canadian OL is the basis of how most teams find 3 starting Canadians in the ratio mandate.

However we're seeing more good Canadians in other spots starting across the league. To some degree that reduces needing to pay so much SMS so soon across the spectrum.

I'm not sure that money will be the primary issue in re-signing him. He may want to go back east.

The vast majority of draft picks (including first round selections) don't/shouldn't/can't start in year one. Not saying you're suggesting that's the plan but that shouldn't be the plan. Even if there is someone on the OL that could maybe start in this draft, he won't be around by pick 7 and that's 100% certain.

[Blue In BC]

The vast majority of draft picks (including first round selections) don't/shouldn't/can't start in year one. Not saying you're suggesting that's the plan but that shouldn't be the plan. Even if there is someone on the OL that could maybe start in this draft, he won't be around by pick 7 and that's 100% certain.

No, I wasn't suggesting that. I was suggesting that our pick MIGHT be better in the long term than either Eli or Wallace. I don't have any insight into how well those two graded and whether either are long term or short term plans.

For that matter the same applies to Dobson. He's the current solution if we re-sign him. In that sense, it's possible that we might trade depth to move up. Neither were high draft picks but might have some trade value as part of a package.

It's also possible that our depth inside our OL might be an import starts before either Eli or Wallace except as for an in game injury. Our ratio would allow that in 2025. I'm not suggesting that per se, just speculating where everyone stands up to and including the SMS spend.  Injuries are not predictable.

Lots of moving parts starting with does Dobson re-sign.

Bombers traded their 1st pick down last year for what turned out to be an OL. Then we picked Wallace in the 2nd round. This year's draft rankings don't show very many OL at the top, so pickings could be slim. Lots of DL and DB's in the top 20.

Currently we have 8 Canadians as potential free agents. It's debatable how many we want back and how many we get back. Overall we might be a bigger player in free agency than in previous seasons.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

No, I wasn't suggesting that. I was suggesting that our pick MIGHT be better in the long term than either Eli or Wallace. I don't have any insight into how well those two graded and whether either are long term or short term plans.

For that matter the same applies to Dobson. He's the current solution if we re-sign him. In that sense, it's possible that we might trade depth to move up. Neither were high draft picks but might have some trade value as part of a package.

It's also possible that our depth inside our OL might be an import starts before either Eli or Wallace except as for an in game injury. Our ratio would allow that in 2025. I'm not suggesting that per se, just speculating where everyone stands up to and including the SMS spend.  Injuries are not predictable.

Lots of moving parts starting with does Dobson re-sign.

Bombers traded their 1st pick down last year for what turned out to be an OL. Then we picked Wallace in the 2nd round. This year's draft rankings don't show very many OL at the top, so pickings could be slim. Lots of DL and DB's in the top 20.

Currently we have 8 Canadians as potential free agents. It's debatable how many we want back and how many we get back. Overall we might be a bigger player in free agency than in previous seasons.

Can't say status quo was good enough last year, the O-line was not as dominant as they have been in years past, so some level of change probably needs to occur.

Not sold on Dobson as a starter and still think he was a major downgrade from Jeff Gray in both size and mobility, if they can find better I hope they do, same goes for Kolankowski at C.  Two Imports to watch if they want to adjust the ratio, are semi-proven Kendall Randolph and Chris Walker a big body out of Montana.  Hope they can re-sign Lofton to reduce change along the line, he was steady if not spectacular and has established chemistry playing alongside Neufeld. 

[Blue In BC]

Can't say status quo was good enough last year, the O-line was not as dominant as they have been in years past, so some level of change probably needs to occur.

Not sold on Dobson as a starter and still think he was a major downgrade from Jeff Gray in both size and mobility, if they can find better I hope they do, same goes for Kolankowski at C.  Two Imports to watch if they want to adjust the ratio, are semi-proven Kendall Randolph and Chris Walker a big body out of Montana.  Hope they can re-sign Lofton to reduce change along the line, he was steady if not spectacular and has established chemistry playing alongside Neufeld. 

I agree and those are my same concerns. However Dobson might still have some upside and whether we currently have a better option is a question, including the imports. Free agency, trades and possible draft choices are all in the mix.

I think we are more likely to see a change at RG by one or our PR imports but I also don't want to see 2 changes at the same time!!>

Maybe they are working on getting Gray to return after 1 year off.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I agree and those are my same concerns. However Dobson might still have some upside and whether we currently have a better option is a question, including the imports. Free agency, trades and possible draft choices are all in the mix.

I think we are more likely to see a change at RG by one or our PR imports but I also don't want to see 2 changes at the same time!!>

Maybe they are working on getting Gray to return after 1 year off.

Nope, he's moved on with his engineering career.

[blue_gold_84]

Nope, he's moved on with his engineering career.

That and he'll be 31 this year. I think that ship has sailed.

[Pigskin]

We also still have Vlahogiannis 6'4" 308, who returned to McGill last season.  And, Ethan Kalra  6'3" 320 , who was said to be CFL ready, returned to Waterloo last season.