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Ok, now I think people are going too hard in the other direction here. Last year Brady was absolute crap for the first half of the season and clearly made changes to be the incredible back he was for the last half of 2022 and all of 2023. It is not all the OL and not every back will have close to his success. Augustine had a high average at the end of blow out games. It's not an equal comparison.

I'm all for player safety but wildly against being like the NFL. Kick returns are one of the things that make the CFL more exciting than the NFL.

Anyone else find this kind of comment annoying?

Augustine has barely played since a couple games in 2019 in anything but garbage time. Not even worth bringing up to try to make a point.

I would think that his recent twitter comments may rub more than a few players the wrong way too. A lot of the guys in the Bomber locker room have taken less money to come back here for the betterment of the team. Passing up more cash elsewhere to win with their brothers. And then youve got BO throwing up money bag emojis online essentially teasing about going to the highest bidder. Not great optics and bound to irritate the guys who have done the complete opposite for the better of the team.

I like Augustine. I actually think he has game breaking ability. That being said I'm not convinced he has the grit to get the tough yards. Maybe a committee could work. I won't say running backs are a dime a dozen but I'd say the talent out of the usa is typically vastly better. Running back being no exception. As good as Olivera is and has been, I imagine there's plenty of Americans that could fill the role. That being said, I like Brady. Home town kid . Good for the franchise. And seems like a good dude too. He deserves to get his BUT the comment does rub people the wrong way, myself included

I am not sure why Brady is looking for top money? He wasnt even MOP for gosh sakes.

Looks like Brown is down another potential landing spot. https://3downnation.com/2024/01/11/stampeders-give-qb-jake-maier-six-figure-signing-bonus-in-exchange-for-salary-cap-space/

I'd be somewhat on board if the team that scored the TD got the option for those kickoffs...or ball at 40 for other team. After a FG let the receiving team decide. Otherwise up to the last 3 mins of the game you penalize the team that just scored if they want to maybe try an onside or gain field position.

Its pretty common knowledge that Bailey, Jefferson, and Lawler were offered more elsewhere. Hardrick as well. And im sure there are more guys who could have gotten more but didnt bother going to free agency in order to keep the dynasty alive with their brothers.

US RB's are getting better as the years go by and more schools are running Spread type stuff in pass protection and receiving, but that can be a huge issue depending what kind of offense they've played coming up. CFL is a lot different.

The issue at his position is the likelihood of injury and availability of replacements. The guys at that position turn over in all leagues every 3ish years. Nobody wants to commit a ton of money when most years teams need 2-3 or more guys to get through a season at that spot. The only place I could see him be the kind of missing piece is BC. But they will have to spend a lot to keep their D somewhat intact.

I think that's how it worked out, but they certainly didn't pay him those big dollars to just stand on the sidelines and watch. They wanted the every-down back that Harris was 5 years ago.

We can always try to pry LaFrance out of BC.

Brady is being a bit of a dink. You can chase a contract without being a tool about it. Ready to move on. Lock up Schoen and spend that money elsewhere.

Please don't make the rules more like the NFL. This is one of those things that would make me like the product a lot less

I would imagine you can find a dozen American running backs who can do what Oliveira did in our system (hell we had a American we cut who looked good in preseason) . Love that he's local, love that he's a Canadian, he was absolutely the teams MOP last year... but RB is the most easily replaced position in football IMO.

Talking about money and seeing a handfull of QBs around the league restructuring their deals, is there any chance Zach does so as well? Shaving 100k off Zach's contract would definitely help bring some of the other guys back.

Yup, Bighill (although he's very well paid) is another one who has basically said he took less to stay in Winnipeg in the past. He's never gotten to free agency since being here so we'll never know for sure what offers he could have gotten (I'm sure he does though). Here's a quote from him about it from a couple years ago.

Don't steal Danny mac's gig...

I think a rookie impact Imp Rb is exactly what we need. Cap friendly rookie contract locked up for 2+ years. Disperse the savings to other areas of need.

Cfl can’t even manage regular in season stats for 3/4 of the year lol

Yeah, he's really done a 180 attitude wise by the looks of it. Went from a humble guy crying in the RB coaches office, wondering if he can even be a professional football player, to a money bag emoji guy looking to go to the highest bidder. Its amazing what 1500 rushing yards will do. Ummm, its 100% true that there are numerous Bomber players who have taken less money to come back during the current almost-dynasty.

Fred Reid would have monster stats with this Offense...

That first Super Bowl was coaching his defense carried that team. People forget he is one of the biggest defensive minds to ever coach the game.

Go to Florida and say, you're recruiting for running backs. Take the best one (heck take three). Profit.

Brady is an all round great back. What he does is repeatable and he'd continue to have success for a long time. He'd break records and he's do it as a local kid. So, it would be tough to lose him. We will probably not fall backwards into another great back, you may get a good percentage of the the production at a vastly different price point though. It would be nice to add home run speed into the equation, as that's an element Brady doesn't bring (and why he shouldn't reset the market, imo - even if there's an RB who does). But it's likely that we go by committee and cycle through different backs in the future if we're unable to retain Brady's services, and that just sucks.

The thing I’d miss most about Brady though is his work in the pass game both receiving and blocking. Blocking in particular, I’m not sure if any of those guys can match. Strictly running the ball, yes I think any of the 3 you mentioned would do as well or better than Brady.

Time: Thursday, 7PM, TSN3 Stats: 12-26-2 @ 27-9-4 Streaks: L1 @ W7 Notes: Broissoit to start. FWIW: After 40 games 2023/24 27-9-4 = 58pts 🤯 Most wins/points, fewest losses including OT 2022/23 26-13-1 = 53pts 2021/22 17-16-7 = 41pts 2020/21 24-16-3 = 51pts 2019/20 22-15-3 = 47pts 2018/19 25-13-2 = 52pts 2017/18 23-11-6 = 52pts 2016/17 18-19-3 = 41pts 2015/16 19-19-2 = 40pts 2014/15 20-13-7 = 47pts 2013/14 17-18-5 = 39pts 🤢 2012/13 19-19-2 = 40pts 2011/12 19-16-5 = 43pts Bonus FWIW: Season is half over.

The QBs in question are terrible and renegotiating so they aren't cut outright, Zach equaled the performance that got him the contract in the first place.

Yup. Lawler took a discount https://3downnation.com/2023/04/16/bombers-kenny-lawler-took-hometown-discount-told-his-agent-i-want-to-be-in-winnipeg/

Reading the The Golden Knights are struggling right now. Awwwwwwwwwww. Man there's a team I would love to see drop real quick right out of a playoff spot.

Oliviera is at least a couple levels above Butler and Mills. And Canadian which is a big deal when they are struggling to fill OL. So play another cheaper and likely better import OL on the interior and pay the Canadian back,

Great question. Reasonable to ask so decisions are evidence-informed not a small group of people cooking something up.

Maybe in a very literal sense some players were offered "more". This just might be me, but if Toronto offers Kenny 310 and we offer him 305 (especially considering the cost of living between the two cities, I don't really feel as if the player accepted less to be here. Same thing with Willie. We made him the highest paid defensive player in the league when he came here. If teams ever offered more than we did, it certainly wasn't by anything significant.

You could go to Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, either Carolina, Arizona, Maryland, or Tennessee and have a free agent camp for RBs, and get 5 nfl roster quality players, 2-3 starter to star calibre cfl RBs, and 0-1 nfl star quality RBs. Seriously. The main issue will be how many can cross the border, will do the work to come up here, are willing to pay the taxes and actually come up. Cut those numbers in half for those guys, and you still have 60+ available guys under 26/27 with reasonable to minimal wear. Rb is that deep currently. Also in the cfl basically all style of back are viable. cut back runner, scat back, power back you name it. Sub par top gear? Not a prohibitive factor. Probably. I wonder what fair price is though.

It is true. Yes, we've paid fairly but just off the top of my head both Lawler and Jefferson took less money than they were offered elsewhere to be in Winnipeg. Both players confirmed that they had better offers on the table in FA and chose to be here. That, of course, doesn't mean we didn't pay a ton for them just that others would have paid more.

Team building wise, that would be huge. But it only works if you hit on the rookie. Get a Dalton Schoen at the RB position.

Money makes the world go around and he wants his, can't blame everyone else would do the same, it's a short career and after football I don't think he'll have the opportunities that football gives him.

Was quite disappointed when I saw that........

Exhibit A: Eric Lindross

Christ, even a guy like Garrett...

If that was the real reason why he wouldn't sign then the kid is a moron and I wouldn't want a diva like him on my team. I'd hope it was for other reasons why he wouldn't sign.

Can't wait for more of the 'running backs are a dime a dozen' posts. After that, do linebackers.

Does the CFL have actual hard numbers on how many injuries occur on kickoffs?

Oh I think there's better RBs out there to be honest. Brady is a bruiser but he's also a guy you need to give a pile of touches to in order to get the most out of him. Not sure where else that happens but winnipeg... if someone over pays him they will have buyers remorse.

Probably the Oilers, they seem to enjoy make work projects (see Evander Kane). Sorry I haven't given a shot to the Oilers lately. Taking a break from the Leafs.

honestly, I'm as big on "we have to keep our locals!!" as anyone, but if he really wants to get grossly overpaid, then let him go try. I truly believe he's not irreplaceable. I think he's really good, but there's options there, including going back to IMP at RB...

If you had to pick one, is is Brady or Schoen? I’m taking Shoen 100%