Blue In BC

Smart move yes but O'Shea won't move away from Ayers to open another spot.

Yeah, those are among my thoughts as well. I am leaning towards Kelly as the odd man out and Stuart in for ST work and versatility. Munier-Bailey is an asset. Gatkouth makes the roster almost by default. I like the idea of Jenkins and Dixon both on the roster. What this means for Fletcher or Young is probably PR to start the season?

Was it Clinton or Cretsinger that had the pic 6? I thought it was Cretsinger. We're likely to retain 1 or more on the PR anyway. Didn't we have a defensive player that had a scoop and score in pre season last year only to get released? He was in the right place at the right time against a back up QB. So he gets some credit and perhaps more than immediately obvious. Hard to say, but we do need extras on the PR and those 2 are ahead of Addison IMO. To some degree it also depends on whether we bump K. Wilson and or Ayers from the game roster. If they are here on reserve or 1 game IR, then less need for 2 many LB's on the PR.

I don't think Vaval will be the starting CB and I don't think we'll use a DI spot for a DB. It's all LB's, Castillo and Vaval as DI's. We didn't have 2 import DT's last year or the year before IIRC. It's easy to do that if they just stop using an extra spot for Ayers.

I'm not opposed to starting Smith at WIL. However I think Woodbey would be the next man. If we do that, then I'd replace K. Wilson with another import DT where we're really thing. The whole nationalized import is of limited value IMO. The players listed ( except Wilson ) will be starting virtually every down barring injury. It's of value if you have a veteran as a back up but it comes at the cost of another import that could give more reps without any count limitation. Smith didn't get many reps on defence last year. Going from that to starting regardless of upside is interesting and pros may outweigh cons. I think Singer made the AR on the weekend even if that was still in question before the game. He's just way better and more versatile than Cobb or Corcoran.

How would we get Fletcher on the AR? He may be better than Kornelson but it's a ratio issue on how to do that. The Canadians that can rotate on defence doesn't change that dilemma. I predicted both rookie kickers would go to the PR to start the season. Does Sheehan have trade value? I don't see 2 punters on the roster at the same time. We'll see who does most of the punting in the next game. I agree we CAN'T have 3 Canadian receivers starting. Not much to choose for a 3rd import except for Singer who played well. I didn't get the impression we're planing on a 3 import OL so that frees up making Singer a starting receiver. When has making sense played into some of O'Shea's choices. Injured previously or not, it's a short practice week and final cuts this weekend.

I don't know if Vaval is really being considered to start at CB. He might be capable but he's very valuable as our returner and can be an in game injury replacement if necessary. You'd think one of the remaining 6 or 7 rookie import DB's will win that role. Or they are giving serious thought to moving Allen and shuffling the SAM and safety roles. Reports from TC might suggest who is winning which battles.

The norm is to sign them now so they can attend rookie camp. Yes we'll be adding and deleting as TC progresses, but we're a little thin at some roster spots.

I'm surprised we haven't signed a few more players after the tryout camps. IIRC we've only added 2 newbies. Yes we're a bit short on a few more import WR's.

Our draft in on April 28th and still no word on the 2025 SMS spend. IMO that suggests nobody is over or if so only by a nominal amount. Why they can't just report this info in a business like fashion is bush league.

I'm not sure his suspension starts ticking down until he's under contract. Anyway, it was a minimum 6 games and could be more. Not a great opportunity for other teams to considering a player not available for that extended period.

Bombers post $12.1M profit in 2025. Excellent work and support by the fans selling out every game.

I wasn't expecting any team to lose a draft choice or to go over the SMS by any significant amount or at all. OTOH it would be interesting to see the results and compare the SMS spend to the standings. The problem is we only see overages. Even that isn't a direct relationship to season ending roster. Money left could be spent re-signing players and that could include and overage I'd like to see what each team spent after final game and then amount spent in December before free agency.

Bombers have sold out a lot of games over the recent past including all in 2025 IIRC. Safe to believe they made a very good profit. Nothing to worry about in that regard.

Why haven't we heard whether any teams have gone over the SMS and by how much?

I didn't get the impression from O'Shea that moving Kramdi was in the cards. Ratio wise Kramdi switching with Griffin offsets but it eliminates an import safety ( Allen to CB ). That would give us 3 changes in the secondary and 1 at SAM. Yes there is some experience and ability to do that. However we also have 3 changes on the DL. I think your bias against Kramdi is influencing your thought on changes. It's not the math of how many Canadian starters we have. It's the fixed number of imports allowed on the roster. I'm not convinced we go we 3 Canadian receivers although that would create the ratio switch from receiver to OL. For that matter I'm not entirely convinced we do go to 3 import OL. Considering the number of OL signed it may turn out as more likely than I believe. Even you suggested an import rookie receiver starting. Anyway. We've added some great talent this week and I'm not sure which combinations we'll see when all is said and done. Lots of choices to be made.

I don't think they move Kramdi to safety or Griffin to SAM. I don't think they'll have Vaval as a full time CB as well as our returner. Lots of " if's " in your thoughts. Not sure on the math whether 3 import OL is doable with some versions of the moves. While I don't like Vaval at CB in a dual role it does free up an import spot. So in that sense it makes the 3 import OL possible. The other versions I'm not as sure. None of these suggest having another DL as a DI. Going with raw talent outside I'd question and little DL depth inside scares me.

A great start to the morning that's for sure.

Bryant.

We'll agree to disagree about the upfront money especially for a player I wouldn't expect to have a high salary. I think most posters don't think Kramdi to safety is the best idea but the combination of changes you suggest is possible. None of them would be my 1st choice but it's all guesswork at the moment. That's good to know as one of our choices.

The catch about upfront money is if an injury occurs ( like Schoen ). He did miss 5 games in 2025 and 10 over the last 3 seasons. You don't have to provide a significant signing bonus or have an off season bonus. It's all risk analysis. In theory he won't be a target in either Hamilton or BC so his options are becoming limited. We should speak with his agent and find out.

I don't know about the reasonable deal thought. IIRC he was released after 2024 in Hamilton due to a large bonus payment coming due. Now the same happens in Vancouver. However IMO he'd be an upgrade and we should speak with his agent to see what his expectations might be.

The 2026 SMS increased by the $400K that was implemented in 2025. Most teams didn't get a chance to spend all that was available last year. Regardless the new SMS is being spent on some players being re-signed to higher level contracts.

Some RB's also are very good returners / receivers. However as you pointed out a DB or WR COULD have more value as depth whether or not Vaval is lost for the season. Peterson is our depth at RB but it seems we bring in an import every TC just to have a look see.

Not sure about Logan. His SMS was reported at $107K. Obviously if Vaval comes back then we're looking for a PR player as injury insurance and development on an ELC. Saving $26K on Logan not a big deal but we don't know if he's asking for more either. There will always be DB's, receivers looking to win a spot that includes depth as a returner. A few players coming off serious season ending injury: Streveler, Schoen, Case and Bonds to name a few. I'm not expecting any of them back but we'll see if that happens or not. A few players like Hallett and Gauthier might not be extended. Both still good on ST's but we added Ball and 3 LB's in the draft to take on those roles. Overall we added 3 LB's, 1 DB, 1 receiver and 1 OL from the 2025 draft. Some SMS savings potentially. 2026 draft will add some new players to the roster and room will need to be made. However younger and ELC options is an annual situation.