1st & 10 | The Blue Bombers Pending Free Agent List

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Ok. Here is my list I think of players we will re-sign. This is about what I think we'll do rather than what I think we should do or can do. Not everything is within our control. At some point age and SMS draw new lines in the sand. The teams expectation versus the player expectation for SMS and playing time.

I have a 2nd list of players I don't think we'll re-sign. It's about half of the total list. It's easy to determine who are on that list.  Let the poop flinging begin. lol

Obviously these are just conversational opinions. If you're curious and want to discuss a specific opinion I can elaborate. That said I'm not wanting to start a war so perhaps some of this happens on PM's?  Opinions are only based on things like age, SMS, injury history, declining performance and possible replacements in free agency or signings of rookies.


BRYANT, Stanley
CADWALLADER, Tanner
CASTILLO, Sergio
HOLM, Evan
HOUSTON, Demerio
JEFFERSON, Willie
KOLANKOWSKI, Chris
NEUFELD, Patrick
SCHMEKEL, Tanner
SHEAHAN, Jamieson
STERNS, Jerreth
VAUGHTERS, James
WHEATFALL, Keric
WOODS, Jamal

Fixed your list!  Other than that nothing very controversial.

[Blue In BC]

Fixed your list!  Other than that nothing very controversial.

I think we're all ok with Kolo being released but what the plan going forward is a TBD. Also interesting that he was released rather than allowed to hit free agency. Courtesy I imagine giving him a head start possibly.

Schmekel seemed obvious as depth behind Lawson.  Trey Laing now competes for depth on the PR barring injury.

If there is any controversy it's more about those I didn't list on who I thought would be re-signed.

[Tecno]

I don't mean this in a bad way, but we may be considering players like Bryant and Neufeld from the aspect of age, SMS and performance. The entire OL status is not exactly clear.

Both Brady and Zach made it pretty clear they want the core back, and Neuf/Stan are pretty much the only guys mentioned by name.  Regardless of what MOS or KW says, I think Brady/Zach making demands on who they play with will be a factor.

Plus, I see no reason to ditch either one.  Stan is still 90% of peak awesomeness if he's healthy.  Neuf is trailing off according to many.  But he's as integral to the off-field aspects of the team as Fatboi is/was.

[Tecno]

I'd add Jefferson to that thought as to whether it's time to move on or not. He's no long a slam dunk to re-sign.

Never letting Willie go.  Do you know what Willie would do if you put him on a legit DL like SSK's??  He would light the league up and wreak terror on QBs.

The only reason Willie appears neutered on our team is we have no DTs, so every snap they double/triple-team Willie.

[Tecno]

Your list is pretty good.

I'm not so sure on:
- Ko-man (if we do a line shakeup)
- Schmekel (we might do a DL blowup)
- Sterns (REC corps is a bit shaky beyond the obvious re-signs)
- Woods (we need a real, established, monster DT, not a "maybe" like we've had for 3 straight seasons)

Edit:
I just saw your post Ko-man was released.  That answers that question.  Please Lord, don't tell me our plans at C are now Eli!  Yikes.  I'd start an IMP there instead.

[Blue In BC]

Never letting Willie go.  Do you know what Willie would do if you put him on a legit DL like SSK's??  He would light the league up and wreak terror on QBs.

The only reason Willie appears neutered on our team is we have no DTs, so every snap they double/triple-team Willie.

Never is a longtime. Yes we have to fix the rest of our DL and strategy, but he's overpaid now IMO. There is no guarantee we change our strategy on how we use him.

[Blue In BC]

Your list is pretty good.

I'm not so sure on:
- Ko-man (if we do a line shakeup)
- Schmekel (we might do a DL blowup)
- Sterns (REC corps is a bit shaky beyond the obvious re-signs)
- Woods (we need a real, established, monster DT, not a "maybe" like we've had for 3 straight seasons)

Edit:
I just saw your post Ko-man was released.  That answers that question.  Please Lord, don't tell me our plans at C are now Eli!  Yikes.  I'd start an IMP there instead.

We needed Schmekel for Canadian depth behind Lawson and he did seem to be improving before his injury.

I don't know that either Sterns or Woods are locks to win starting AR roles. For the moment I don't think they'd be expensive to bring back to TC and could end up as PR players. Of course neither may accept that role.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Never letting Willie go.  Do you know what Willie would do if you put him on a legit DL like SSK's??  He would light the league up and wreak terror on QBs.

The only reason Willie appears neutered on our team is we have no DTs, so every snap they double/triple-team Willie.

Top banner on the Bomber site right now, he's either integral to the team's promotion or they're having a blow out on his merchandise.

I don't think they would part ways with Willie unless he thought he could make significantly more elsewhere in FA.  But one thing to note, both he and Neufeld negotiate their own contracts and are always first in line  when it comes to locking in a deal in place that provides them security, so they're a bit behind schedule.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I think we're all ok with Kolo being released but what the plan going forward is a TBD. Also interesting that he was released rather than allowed to hit free agency. Courtesy I imagine giving him a head start possibly.

Schmekel seemed obvious as depth behind Lawson.  Trey Laing now competes for depth on the PR barring injury.

If there is any controversy it's more about those I didn't list on who I thought would be re-signed.

Trey Laing?  Who is that?

[Blue In BC]

Trey Laing?  Who is that?

2025 draft choice that returned to school as far as I know. In theory he'll be back for TC 2026. And / or we'll draft another DL this draft as well.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Willie will, unfortunately for us, be even worse than last year.

We need to completely rebuild both lines and I see no really good way to keep him unless we decide to use the roster rules for once. He would be a candidate for that, and frankly you could argue he's earned that opportunity.

But as an every down American starter? No way that works out for us in 2026.

[Pigskin]

2025 draft choice that returned to school as far as I know. In theory he'll be back for TC 2026. And / or we'll draft another DL this draft as well.

Trey Laing 6'2" 240lb, DL. Decided not to come to camp due to personal reasons. One site shows him signing with the Bombers on 5/2/2025 and released on 5/20/2025. He has no stats for 2025 that I could find.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Bombers sign Evan Holm to a 2 year extention!

https://www.bluebombers.com/2026/01/06/blue-bombers-sign-all-cfl-halfback-evan-holm-to-two-year-contract-extension

[Pigskin]

Bombers sign Evan Holm to a 2 year extention!

https://www.bluebombers.com/2026/01/06/blue-bombers-sign-all-cfl-halfback-evan-holm-to-two-year-contract-extension

Really like this signing. Would have been better at 3 years.

[blue_or_die]

Holm boi is huge. Absolutely needed but never a guarantee (until now). This is worth getting excited over, for sure.