Bombers extend quarterback Zach Collaros through 2026

[theaardvark]

Terry and Chase seemed much better at going through the reads and picking targets than Chris, and after the first bit of trouble with Terry, he seemed to settle in nice.

I was very, very impressed with Chase.  It will be nice having him on the roster for the opener, getting him a game cheque before he moves to the PR.  I can see why Dolegala and Paterson were let go.

Not going to make Dru Brown comparisons yet, and Terry has years in our system that will keep him on the AR unless Chase really, really outdoes himself.  EIther way, its a great thing to have this much real competition in the QB room. 

[Pigskin]

Zach had a bit of an off year in 2024. 2023: 422/4252, 33TDs, 15 Int. 2024: 488/4336, 17 TDs, 15 Int. Yardage up a bit, TDs cut in half.

Castillo was in the same boat. 2023: 51 FGA, 90.2%, 2024: 64 FGA 79.7%. But, with that said Castillo was asked to kick a lot of long FGs in 2024.

This season we need to be better at finishing in the red zero. More 7s, less 3s.

[Jesse]

I suspect Walters may have initiated the extension, no proof but as soon as the draft is over he likely begins to think about next year and what the team will look like. If you take Zach off the table, the only established vets that might be available next season are Maier, Fajardo, Arbuckle and MBT, all of which had to settle for second best coming into this season. 

Jeff Hamilton said that Zach has been pushing for an extension for a while.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Jeff Hamilton said that Zach has been pushing for an extension for a while.

Probably got to thinking about his future career and drew a blank.

[markf]

either throwing into tight coverage of multiple defenders or throwing the receiver into dangerous situations.

I think Most cfl quarterbacks do both of those things, including Zach. Some of the passes to Schoen for instance.

[blue_or_die]

Well, I love this. The debate over how good he is at this day and age is fine and I'm here for it, but I have not forgotten the dark days pre-Nichols without a proper QB. You just can't win without one.

As long as Zach is here, we have a chance. Let's #ride this as long as we can regardless of SMS, future development, etc. Win now.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Well, I love this. The debate over how good he is at this day and age is fine and I'm here for it, but I have not forgotten the dark days pre-Nichols without a proper QB. You just can't win without one.

As long as Zach is here, we have a chance. Let's #ride this as long as we can regardless of SMS, future development, etc. Win now.

It's encouraging the team is looking stronger as a whole with excellent personnel on both sides of the ball, many of them new replacement players. Last season they were restricted by the amount spent on 4 big names, the losses they suffered outweighed the gains, it could be referred to as "the year of treading water".

[Blueforlife]

It's encouraging the team is looking stronger as a whole with excellent personnel on both sides of the ball, many of them new replacement players. Last season they were restricted by the amount spent on 4 big names, the losses they suffered outweighed the gains, it could be referred to as "the year of treading water".

Treading water at the Grey Cup, doesn't really add up.  We were exceptional after a terrible start.  Agree we are deeper this year, see if that brings us the Ws.

More like drowned at the big show lol.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Treading water at the Grey Cup, doesn't really add up.  We were exceptional after a terrible start.  Agree we are deeper this year, see if that brings us the Ws.

More like drowned at the big show lol.

Injuries played their part but talent wise they dipped last season, they beat the inconsistent West Division teams easy enough but failed to compete against the 2 best Eastern teams.  If they can't beat them in the regular season, unlikely to beat them in the playoffs.

[blueandgoldguy]

BLM has basically been hot garbage since we embarrassed him/them in the '19 WSF.  You can't compare top-of-his-game record-yardage-year 5-straight-GCs Zach to BLM.

As such I guarantee Zach got a contract the same or more than whatever he gets this year.  It may even be as high as $50k more than this year.  That's why I hope we are making BC-level use of MMM (TM).

Stop being silly.  Bo Levi Mitchell was good last year and outplayed Zach.  Bo played on an inferior team hence the poorer record.

Why would you pay a clearly declining QB more money?!  That's nonsensical.  It makes it that much harder to replace other areas of weakness on the club with quality free agents in the off-season.

[blueandgoldguy]

Disagree with most, overstating the negative on Zach imo.  His numbers as a Bomber are exceptional.  Older, less mobile yes but he can still sling it just fine imo.  He will earn his salary if healthy.  He will help groom the next gen.  If the OL can start strong, so will Zach.

Terrible comparison with BLM, who went from hero to zero after injury trouble.  Zach will never be a zero. 

Zach has a lot of weapons this year, just needs to be protected and he will be a top 3 QB imo.  He will throw some ducks but who doesn't.

His numbers for the past year and half have not been exceptional.  Look at his Tds to Ints per game ratio since the middle of 2023 season which are in the bottom-half of the league.  In addition, if he was so good, why does he put up mediocre numbers in most playoff games?  Why does the opposing QB in the Grey Cup continually outperform Zach?

Bo Levi Mitchell took a significant paycut in 2024...something like $350,000 for the season.  He put up 5400 passing yards and 32 TDs leading the CFL in both categories playing on a bad Ticat team.

[blueandgoldguy]

So, I think you may have been spoiled by Zach's MOP seasons. Looking around the league, Zach's performance hasn't been league average. He still deserves to be paid as a top half of the league QB and, over the last couple of years, that's in the 550k+ territory. With the salary cap going up, top QBs will easily clear 600k+. And that's just earning the same percentage of the cap as before. Maybe Zach takes a hit; but that is not how he, his agent, and the Bombers have negotiated in the past and I don't expect it now.

We clearly had a rough start to last year. There were umpteen different reasons for that. We were able to put it together and make another Grey Cup appearance. We made different roster building decisions going into this year and some of the rough patches we lived through last season with too many rookies will also help out this year.

Whatever Zach negotiated for 2026, it makes no difference on 2025. FA has come and gone, the only thing a pay cut helps is the Bombers bottom line, which doesn't help us on the field.

A salary of $550,000 would be the most he should make even with a rising salary cap.  His TD to INT ratio has been pretty bad since the middle of 2023 season.  A pay cut in the offseason would have helped the Bombers sign better players for the D-line or linebacker...or maybe bring Janarion back which was a big mistake by Walters as our returns were awful pretty much all season.

Speaking of which, imagine having janarion back there for the Grey Cup in 2024 instead of awful Lucky Whitehead whose boneheaded play played a big role in losing us the Grey Cup.

[Blueforlife]

His numbers for the past year and half have not been exceptional.  Look at his Tds to Ints per game ratio since the middle of 2023 season which are in the bottom-half of the league.  In addition, if he was so good, why does he put up mediocre numbers in most playoff games?  Why does the opposing QB in the Grey Cup continually outperform Zach?

Bo Levi Mitchell took a significant paycut in 2024...something like $350,000 for the season.  He put up 5400 passing yards and 32 TDs leading the CFL in both categories playing on a bad Ticat team.

Over stating the negative on Zach imo and terrible comparison imo.  A true vetern leader that yes who's production maybe have peaked but his run as a Bomber great all time will continue.  His numbers as a Bombers are exceptional.  If he get protection this year, Hogan figures out the offensive and our weapons are healthy, I see a good year for him with a little duck hunting along the way.  I'll keep my positive take on Zach and the club, seen your consistent posts on the other side.  That's good though we need balance here.  Zach is worth every penny, always has been, always will be (as long as he is healthy).

We have a good DL and exceptionally deep at LB, non issue handled internally.

Those that turned on Zach early last year enjoyed some choice bird.  I believe it will be served again.  I'll eat humble pie of I'm wrong but I doubt it and would put money on Zach....being money yet again.  Go Blue! I see us cooking something special, again.

[blueandgoldguy]

Over stating the negative on Zach imo and terrible comparison imo.  A true vetern leader that yes who's production maybe have peaked but his run as a Bomber great all time will continue.  His numbers as a Bombers are exceptional.  If he get protection this year, Hogan figures out the offensive and our weapons are healthy, I see a good year for him with a little duck hunting along the way.  I'll keep my positive take on Zach and the club, seen your consistent posts on the other side.  That's good though we need balance here.  Zach is worth every penny, always has been, always will be (as long as he is healthy).

We have a good DL and exceptionally deep at LB, non issue handled internally.

Those that turned on Zach early last year enjoyed some choice bird.  I believe it will be served again.  I'll eat humble pie of I'm wrong but I doubt it and would put money on Zach....being money yet again.  Go Blue! I see us cooking something special, again.

  He was not worth $650,000 last year, not even close...not with 17 tds and 15 ints and poor yardage for many of those games.  More like a 450000 QB.

[Blueforlife]

He was not worth $650,000 last year, not even close...not with 17 tds and 15 ints and poor yardage for many of those games.  More like a 450000 QB.

Yeah I hate making it to Grey Cup.  I had struggling and then being the best teams in the West.  I hate consistently getting home field advantage and the buy.  I get my nice roasting pan out for later in the season when we cooking lol.

He earned every penny and will again.  It's the going rate for a top tier QB.  You can continue to over state the negative on him and I'll be here pumping his tires.  My compressor is plugged in.