Mike

I said as soon as Chris Jones was hired that the worst thing he could do is keep Darian Durant if he did not view him as the future of the franchise, for at least the length of Jones' initial three year deal. If he didn't want to roll with Durant, it was incredibly foolish to burn his first year (and his grace period with the fanbase) on a quarterback he had no intentions of keeping, especially if they were going to suck anyways which Jones pretty much guaranteed with his nuclear approach to roster building. Rider fans told me it was bad optics to cut ties with Durant coming off injury, but to me, it's worse optics to cut ties this year and basically declare 2016 an entire waste of a season. Seriously, it may have had the makeup of a front office rebuild, but on the field, it was a burnt year. Nothing was accomplished. Not a single QB on the roster currently got any meaningful time to develop last year and they go into 2017 (the inaugural year of their new stadium) without an evident plan at the QB position. Sure, they have a great contingent of receivers. Roosevelt is probably the best receiver in the league and if his head was on straight, Duron could be in the conversation too. I wholeheartedly predict Duron does not go the whole year without becoming a problem though, because he's not going to be the #1 guy in Riderville as long as Rosy is there. I also have no idea how they're going to get all these other guys on the field, unless it comes at the sacrifice of playing time for guys like Holley and Edwards, which I encourage. They're essentially starting over in 2017 and even with an improved (we'll see) offensive line, the way they've built their roster is going to allow teams to essentially ignore the run game and pressure whatever QB they're able to put out there. Really, the only way they can save themselves in this scenario is by acquiring James Franklin, otherwise they're going to be in trouble.

Jeffcoat has my vote for potential DI in the role of Shayon Green last year. He's a guy that I think is going to benefit strongly from the Canadian rules. Very surprised (pleasantly) to see this level of recruit at the DE spot from Walters.

I have to be honest, mbrg might be my favorite poster here.

lol this is going to send him back out on the ledge, he was pretty adamant DLF was the one guy he DIDN'T want.

Cameron Marshall to Saskatchewan Pete Dyakowski and Jeff Fuller to Toronto

Didn't realize he actually played 11 games as a backup with Hamilton last year. Glad he's in with us now, he's got a good shot at being a starter here. Just needs an opportunity.

Well, there's our middle linebacker.

Honestly, I think a major part of it is because he's huge, he's got big bushy hair and he's got a cool name. I'd hope it's not because of his football ability. He's about as raw as they come.

If they waste even a minute negotiating a contract for that over the hill tub of goo, it's a mistake. That being said, nothing would make me happier than if Vince Young started week 1 of the 2017 CFL season for them.

We're pretty much done, man. We have big money invested in a lot of guys and while you're seeing teams sign guys now (coughMontrealcough) what we haven't seen yet is the fallout. We're in a position where we don't have to cut any bait right now either. Look at the big ticket names on our team: Nichols, Harris, Bryant, Chungh, Adams, Dressler, Smith, Westerman, Nevis, Okpalaugo, Wild, Leggett, Medlock ... we've got plenty of money invested and they're going to want to retain some flexibility. I suppose Laing is possible, but I'm guessing we're done with the big name tickets for now and if we're not, you have to assume someone is going out the door.

How are they convincing all these Canadian defensive tackles to sign there? That's 5 now.

Jackson got 220k a year for 2 years according to Gary Lawless Almost a sure thing this spells the end of SJ Green for the Alouettes

Sign everyone why don't you

Wow. Horrible.

Interesting to see how they handle this, considering the Nyquist suspension is still pending and it really sends the wrong kind of message if 1/100th of the violence is given a stiffer punishment just because it's against a zebra.

They also gave Owens a raise and a "sizeable" signing bonus.

lol why? That's a horrible signing. They don't even have room for him. Carter, Roosevelt, Holley, Edwards, Collins and now Owens? With the need to play a Canadian? Not a smart move.

Why would you doubt that? There's zero chance he got the same deal as before.

We just signed him to a new deal, he was a free agent. Not sure why you're not talking about now, what do old contracts based off old expectations mean?

The benefit is that he's great on special teams. Not saying this is your perception, but it seems like there are a lot of people who have this idea that just about anyone can play special teams at a high level as if the positions are not as important as the positions on offense or defense. There is value in having guys who are responsible with their assignments, can play multiple teams and can do it at a high level. That's why guys like Hurl and Boulay make six figures. They've earned it with the high level of play they bring on teams, and they're competent enough as backups in a pinch as well. The salary cap is what, $5.15 million? A guy making 100k makes 1.94% of that so quite frankly, I'm not all that worried about it.

uhhh when? We're talking about his new deal with us.

I'm not a big Hurl guy either, but do the research ... Canadians on their third deals make six figures. Even Nic Boulay just got 100k+

As we become a better team, people will need to keep in mind we're never going to be better on paper in February than we were at the end of the previous season. If we're filling holes with recruits, how can we do that in February?

Things didn't go his way, so he's losing his mind. They've made a decision to go to a more traditional middle linebacker instead of two WIL specialists, so Bass is gone. He's a great player, not a good fit for what they're trying to do. I respect their decision to go in a different direction and the reality is, it's going to give us some savings as well. Burnett is solid, he should be a great player but he also reminds me of a guy like Alex Hoffman-Ellis in the sense that he's a great teams guy with potential to fit into a starting job - still has to get there and he wasn't going to get it here. Those are the two big losses. Now you look at what we added and the big one for me is Drake Nevis. I've been a huge fan of this guy ever since he started terrorizing offensive lines last year. Just so that there's no accusations of that "he's a Bomber now so you think he's great" bias coming from any Rider fans, here's what I said about Nevis last July: And I believe it. He's got the ability to be an elite defensive tackle in the CFL. If you had asked me prior to free agency who I'd want between Micah Johnson and Drake Nevis, it's Nevis all day every day and we got him for 35k less than Micah Johnson. Hodge thinks we overpaid? On what basis? Nevis' impact on our D can't be overstated. Cummings, while a very good player, was not an every down defensive tackle for us. Nevis will play a heavy majority of the snaps. He's a dominant run stopper and for a defensive tackle, he's got some serious pass rushing abilities. There was a club move he laid on Chungh last year that was one of the most dominant snaps from a DT I saw all year. And he'll do that all game. We're going to be a much tougher team in the trenches. High energy, high motor, wear-you-down kind of guy. Exactly what we needed. Then there's Okpalaugo. Solid, solid rush end. If he can come back without skipping a beat, he's going to be exactly what we need on the other side opposite Westerman, because now all of a sudden, you can't just scheme away from our strength. 25 sacks in two seasons tells you all you need to know, this guy is going to get after the quarterback. --- I'm happy with what we've done so far.