Mike

I'm not suspending him because he's the coach. I'm suspending him because he's the GM, which means he's responsible for player personnel, which means ultimately he's responsible for ILLEGALLY PAYING player personnel. I don't think Rider fans have fully grasped the severity of these allegations yet. Could be denial. Not really sure. But this could be bad.

That would be a good start. You HAVE to suspend Jones for an extended period of time too.

They're going to get hammered. You just watch.

http://3downnation.com/2016/08/11/sources-riders-paying-non-roster-players/ Ho. Lee. ***.

SECTION 8 - ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS 13. A Member Club shall not permit a player to participate, directly or indirectly, in any of its practice sessions unless: (a) On the Member Club’s current roster; or (b) On the Member Club’s Injured Players List; or (c) Entitled to participate under the provisions of Section 5 of these By-Laws; or (d) On a Member Club’s Non-Active List as described in paragraph 12 of this Section 8. Without restricting the meaning of “a practice session” a player shall be deemed to be participating therein if: (i) In attendance at a Club lecture, film session, or chalk talk; or (ii) Physically present at the same time and place as the other team members for a conditioning exercise; or (iii) Subject to the direction of the coaching staff in any manner whatsoever, except to the extent necessary for the supervision of treatment of an injury sustained while previously a member of the Club roster. 14. A Member Club permitting a player to attend a practice session other than a player described in paragraph 13 hereof shall be liable for a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500) or, at the discretion of the Commissioner, up to One Thousand Dollars ($1000) for each such practice session attended by such player. In order to ensure compliance with Member Club roster limits, an Officiating representative may be utilized by the Commissioner in a monitoring capacity. Member Club Officials shall respect the mandate of the Officiating representative by providing access to Member Club practices, and where applicable, participate in reasonable discourse with the Officiating representative.

But there are limits. It's right in the by-laws.

... like not even remotely close.

I don't think it's where I "draw the line", because the rest of the stuff is pretty bad too but I do agree, you can't have unsigned players on the field.

... so under the table, illegal employment that breaks Canadian immigration law is okay with you, but they sure as heck better not be running skelly?

It's not just practices. Are we really going to suggest Cole didn't sit in on team meetings and film studies while he was in town? They'd be foolish to NOT have him do that.

Before we get all up in arms, just keep in mind we do this too.

This isn't the military.

The one I'd like to see us get is Terrell Sinkfield.

But Walters won't do that. But why would he free up cap space now to force a vacancy in an incredibly important area of our roster just in case something comes along for him to spend money on? I don't think you have as good of a grasp on our cap situation as you're implying. Mainly because you're off on your cap number for Moore+Denmark by about 100k and you're completely forgetting that we got rid of a few other veterans as well, like Dom Picard, Graig Newman, Bryant Turner, Zach Anderson and Demond Washington. Those guys weren't cheap, especially Picard and Turner. We spent a lot of money this offseason but we also got rid of a ton as well. You keep saying "here's what he'd likely do with the cap space", and the question has continually been "who fits that criteria" and you haven't been able to bring up any names. It's the same thing that happens when you go on about firing O'Shea and hiring somebody experienced as a HC and people say "like who?" ... we can't just do things in hopes of an opportunity popping up.

Can you cash in leftover cap space in November for points in the standings? If the answer is no, cutting Drew Willy simply to let Davis/Bennett move up the depth chart would be incredibly irresponsible management for a team that is very much in contention for a playoff spot right now.

and like I said, if you have 150k in space after cutting Willy, you STILL have to pay a third string quarterback, which means a third of that 150k is gone right away. You're also forgetting the fact that there aren't just game cheques to be paid. You can sign someone to half a year's salary, but chances are anyone worth signing is still going to want a signing bonus for showing up. You're getting ONE player for the cap relief we'd get from Drew Willy. I was never not factoring in the concept of paying a guy for half the year.

I think at some point that was the case. And I don't think the move to Loffler/Bond was a choice that was based on anything but injury. But they definitely weren't ready to go week 1.

Messam for sure

I am. Unless you think putting out a complete rookie who still doesn't have all the scheme concepts down pat and a guy who was too injured to play would've been a good idea.

Do you think we can find 200k (I'll dispute that number, by the way, because I doubt that's even close to what's left on his contract) in players that are going to improve our football team? I'm imagining Willy would likely have about 150k owing to him by the halfway point of the season. Then you gotta promote Bennett to the active roster, which means you're giving him 50k for the rest of the season, since CFL QB backups don't play for league minimum. So all of sudden, you're in the neighborhood of 100k left to spend. Even 120k if you're being generous. That's gonna get you what? 1 really good player? Is there a hole on our team that could be solved by signing ONE player for the rest of the year that makes us a better team as opposed to keeping Drew?

Not this year it doesn't. Next year, yes. This year, no.

I can't understand beyond emotion why anyone would suggest Drew Willy is a useless football player. Too much "what have you done for me lately" clouting logic right now.

#5 makes sense if we weren't in the thick of things THIS year.

I'm glad you think it's more important to save money than it is to have depth on your football team at every position. ... are you SURE you don't live in Winnipeg?

... close to it