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as mentioned the 8th guy can be a nationalized American and we have multiple options as to who to use there I also agree I'd be shocked if Wallace/Eli/Neuf are not the 3 starter on the oline...and it serves us much better roster wise if we do that. On defense then we only have to have 1 Canadian on the field on any given play and we have so many nice moveable pieces on defense who are imports we could really have a crazy good defense...and thats without seeing who we have brought in who are new. And I know a lot here think Kramdi is all that and then some but he is probably looking at our roster the 4th best option we could put at SAM....I dont care how smart they say he is...and that he knows all the positions....doesn't make him default good/the best...Stick him at safety and let him focus his smarts in one spot and be the best safety he could be...even that being said he isn't even the best option for there as well. He's a nice piece you can rotate in and around the defence and in situational spots and is a bonus to have on the roster....but he is not the best secondary player in our roster...not even close Unless some rookie draft pick or second yr guy really blows the competition away in camp Our starting 7 true Nationals should be Demski...Bo...Neild..Eli..Neuf..Wallace and Lawson on defence as our declared starting Canadians....and pick one of whoever you want as the 8th nationalized one Starting any more than that and giving lionshare of reps...just cause is pointless and doesn't make us better...Use your 7 best and sub accordingly....and start your best 17 imports, and again sub accordingly....You can if you have quality starter type Canadian back-ups sub in then for an import on some sets/schemes and or to spell off Lawson...Thats where kramdi is key/essential and hopefully where Smith..Shay..Bailey get work too And not to pile on him...but look at his stats as a starter....his take aways...tackles...ff's...etc....Is that production worthy of his pay and his reps?....With all the reps he gets and the spot he plays...where the SAM is , or should be involved in a heck of a lot of plays during a game...his stats pale in comparison to pretty much every other SAM in the league...but he is paid the most...make that make sense to me

Im not sure why people think Wallace wont be on the OL. Am I mistaken that he played every game he could have last year?

Arniel's presser was slightly better only in that his chuckles were enjoyed by the media while Chevy was the only one laughing. Not sure who i dislike more.

Do you think Vaccaro will sign a FA contract with an NFL team if he isn't drafted?

Even without the new contract, Dunigan still got a 40% raise with the exchange rate had the money stayed the same.

Dunigan got a fat contract to leave, biggest in CFL history at the time I believe.

Helle said exactly what every guy in that locker room is thinking. Is it the fact he said it out loud that people are angry about?

Meh...O'Leary Orange didn't exactly keep his job either. On his rookie contract sure his production was acceptable but coming off of it he wasn't worth much of a raise. However, you are correct he was a better fit. We have not drafted well the past few years at NAT receiver for sure. What's better for offence is that we add another NAT starter on defence, safety perhaps. We could move Kramdi to S and start one of our young guys we drafted last year at SAM, or keep Kramdi at SAM and let one of several guys we have fight it out for S. Or maybe we put a NAT at field corner etc. etc. Ultimately what would be best and easiest is if we get a stud like Vaccaro that can go onto our line as a rookie and and give us the 3rd NAT there. The likelihood of finding a suitable 3rd NAT receiver in a pass heavy offence seems remote to me and Condell runs a passing heavy offence. We need to make ratio elsewhere imo.

A lot of big stars left. We lost Matt Dunigan & Elfrid Payton to US expansion teams. Tracy Ham, Damon Allen, Mike Pringle all left Canadian teams. Don Matthews left the Riders to coach the Baltimore team. so there was drain for sure.

Better would just be a nationalized American for the 8th spot https://www.cfl.ca/game-rule-ratio/ Nationalized Americans Nationalized American players are defined as having played with their current team for 3 years or at least 5 years in the League. One Nationalized American player may be listed as one of the eight National starters. National Players A Club must start at least eight Nationals, however one of these Nationals may be a Nationalized American. Prior to the game, each Club must identify how many National starters will be playing on offence and defence and that number cannot be deviated from.

Doyle Orange's son (Brendan O'Leary Orange) was a much better fit & more versatile than Clercius. We let him go to Hamilton. He had the same size Clercius has with better hands & speed. Go figure. Not surprising though considering how Walters managed our roster the past few years.

Brady+Demski+Nield+Neufeld+Eli+Kramdi+Lawson seem to be locks, so where do you get your other Canadia starter? Which is better for the offense, a third NI receiver or a third OL? Do we have another defender who can take a spot?

The American teams didn't want them. They could go American at a fraction of the cost and same talent level. Gotta remember that back then most NAT players wouldn't have made the roster on any CFL team if it weren't for the rules. Nowadays, you probably would have NATs going south but back then if it wasn't required there were better Americans out there that could be had for cheaper. Look at the CFL these days even, how many NATs would be starting in our league if it weren't for the ratio rule. Maybe a couple per team and that is the honest truth. Look at OL over the past 10 years, most teams now are dressing a minimum of 2 IMPs and a few teams going 3, and almost all those teams would go all 5 if they could.

I think I might have been too fast to dismiss this. Did any established Canadian players try to catch on down south during the expansion era? Canadians heading south for lower taxes and harder currency is totally a thing, so it's hard to imagine that someone didn't try.

Was anyone impressed with any of our offence last year though? Context is everything in this case possibly. I do agree that field wide is not really where I would want him playing but I can't see how he wins time inside though. He's a guy that really doesn't fit our roster very well.

Why the roll eyes, Noeller? Bighill has a career as a financial planner. He has a list of clients he has to serve & will be taking on new ones. Now, that he's retired he needs more income so he'd want to ramp that up. Not be a Bomber assistant coach. Some guys don't want to coach. I was a financial planner for IG in the 1980's & it was damned hard work. Lots of long hours, evenings & weekends. I didn't have the connections Bighill has with the CFLPA. I could see him handling a lot of CFL players & coaches money & financial affairs. When I worked at IG in the Investors Building on Broadway, I had the pleasure to know the top rep in Canada named Ted Foreman. I assume he is no longer with us as he was in his 50's back in the mid 80's. Foreman was a former hockey player himself who got a huge break career wise when he was introduced to Bobby Hull after his signing with the Jets in 1972. He became his financial advisor. Hull spread the word & soon NHL & WHA players were calling him for advice. He handled investments & tax advice for all the big NHL players back then. Gretzky, Messier, Hull, Hawerchuk. All kinds of NHL stars. Walking into his office was like visiting a hockey shrine with photos & awards. Almost every photo had an autoghraph with the saying, "To Ted. Thanks for the Big Save!!" The guy was a frigging legend.

Clercius actually has good hands to be honest. He isnt straight line fast but more than adequate speedwise...just not twitchy fast but if we use him the rightway he doesnt need to be a fast twitch kinda guy...We have failed in utilizing hi,....and MCI for that matter as well. I think he would be better served as an inside guy as well as he is hard to take down when he has the ball and has shown he can run thru and over guys getting those gritty dirty yards. Also it's hard to truly gauge a guy when not used much, and when you do use him it's not in the best way for the player

Was anyone really impressed with Clercius last season? Big target but slow as molasses. His hands are okay but nothing special. Not sure about his route running although he just never seemed to be open. I think we can do better. Hogan had him lining up as a wide receiver when he should have been inside where his big body could be used more effectively. He might shine as a slotback. At wideout, I can't see Clercius ever being more than a 25-35 reception guy & maybe 400 yards receiving. Barely enough to make a difference.

I agree that we are probably eyeing a US expansion once Trump is gone. Also agree on Biggie. Winnipeg is his home now, has been for a while and he doing great with IG apparently. His CFL most outstanding defensive player awards with Winnipeg say differently. lol. I'm not surprised at all he went out a Bomber. We set him up for life after football as well.

We have a high draft pick and this is a good draft year, no reason we can't find a way to not have to go 3 NATs. That and we already have some good NAT depth ready to go.

Great to hear. he's from the State of washington as is his wife & family so I thought he may have wanted to return. Why the roll eyes, Noeller? Bighill has a career as a financial planner. He has a list of clients he has to serve & will be taking on new ones. Now, that he's retired he needs more income so he'd want to ramp that up. Not be a Bomber assistant coach. Some guys don't want to coach. I sense some big, big changes coming after this season that the CFLPA will be powerless to stop. Once the new field is in existence...

yup...That route would not give us our best roster...

There is an SMS now. Whatever currency you are paid in must fit into a CAD cap amount. That violates nothing. However, the ratio rules can never be worked out. It's against the US law. However, knowing the CFL they would do something stupid and put the teams in Florida and Texas where the taxes would constitute a massive advantage especially for guys making near league mins.

Yes, that & the fact the US teams were paying their players with American dollars. The Canadian dollar in 1995 was similar in value or maybe a little worse so players signing from Canadian teams to American teams got a 40% raise for the same numerical number. I.E: One year deal worth $100,000 Canadian or ! year deal deal worth $100,000 US. Canadian teams didn't stand a chance. I don't how they could make it work today.