Mike

I may get crucified for saying this but no, it shouldn't be incredibly difficult to replace Ian Wild. He's one hell of a player, but you scout properly and you should be able to find a guy to fill that need. Dexter McCoil. Travis Brown. Jasper Simmons. Taylor Reed. Greg Jones. All first year linebackers who had a very positive impact for their teams last year. Could name a handful more too. Linebackers are out there waiting to be found. Wild is a heart and soul, glue kind of guy and I'm not discounting his value as a double duty guy (replacing that will hurt the most) but as far as a pure LB goes ... they're out there.

That's not what I heard at all at the presser. After hearing his later comments, I'll have to retract what I said He was talking about all the negotiating they were doing on the 31st and brought up "wasn't sure if Demond would re-sign, wasn't sure if Johnny ..." and kind of stopped himself as if he had let the cat out of the bag. But clearly his later comments indicate otherwise.

Will likely release him before February to allow him to sign that.

I also think he just let it slip that Johnny Sears has a new deal.

Reading between the lines ... Walters is still going to take a run at a Canadian guard. And reading even more between the lines ... I tend to think Morley's big contract is going to be gone.

It's simply unrealistic to not expect upfront money for players like Banks and Picard. There are nine teams in this league. There's upfront money in most deals any competent agent can negotiate for a veteran.

Morley is soft and part of an offensive line that has been a huge problem the last number of years. The fact he played his best ball at center doesn't mean that he was particularly good .. it's just that that's where we were able to get the most out of him. Picard, even at this stage of his career, is an upgrade. He's physical. Nasty. He can still drive people off the ball. One of our biggest weaknesses last year was consistency running the ball. And a large part of the problem was the soft interior of our line. Is Picard the same guy he was 5 or 6 years ago? No. But, for a lineman, he's still got a few years of highly productive play in him .. he's also nowhere near as bad as many posters are making him out to be. He's an effective short term upgrade .. a bridge player .. that will allow us to overhaul the attitude and makeup of our offensive line. One of the people I look to for quality OL analysis so hey, if you like it, I like it.

Color me surprised. I still think Morley was better than Picard at center last year, but if they view this as an upgrade then hey, why not

Very awesome news

MILANOVICH, SCOTT lol I'm pretty sure I know where to get a hold of him.

They did a very Proulxy job of the whole thing.

You know Ottawa already has Jon Gott at Center. Picard isn't good enough to beat him out. Center is not one of their weak spots on the OL. Didn't you just suggest he'd go to Ottawa like two posts above this one?

huh? Ohio is OSU ...

You know ... as a real estate professional, I thought you'd be a lot better at using the proper variables in this conversation.It's not strictly size that has to be looked at. Your right, it's not strictly size. It's location, location, location. Downtown works for the Leafs, the Raptors, the Blue Jays and the FC. All venues are within 15 minutes of each other. It's not where the stadium is that hurts the Argos and building a new CFL only stadium elsewhere in the city makes almost no sense. If the Raptors and the Leafs are tying up the downtown dollars, attack another portion of what is a huge sports market. Leafs get the corporate dollar, that much is a given. Don't compete with the Raptors for the family or individual dollar, identify and target another area within the GTA. It makes sense.

You know ... as a real estate professional, I thought you'd be a lot better at using the proper variables in this conversation.It's not strictly size that has to be looked at.

Is there a list anywhere of team-by-team 2014 re-signings? Not that I'm aware of. I wish.

Maybe but I often feel like that's just us noticing Bomber news more than news on any other team.

A 500k increase once most rosters were set will do that to you.

Maybe if this was 2012. Picard has been trending downward for a couple seasons and I'm positive Rider fans will not be sad to see him go. He was sheltered by the overall line strength of Saskatchewan, but if you isolate his performance, it's easy to see why they got rid of him. One of the most predictable moves of the offseason but I'm sure if we don't go after him, plenty of people will lean on his name brand as proof we should have. If we get him, great. It's always good to see if a change of scenery, scheme, etc can revitalize a valuable commodity. But I wouldn't get rid of Morley for him.

Smart cap work by the GM

Morley is a better center than Picard at this point.

You sure went in an odd direction. The idea isn't quaintly prairies, it's reality for a city like Toronto.

I'm ok with not seeing a middle linebacker come our way in free agency, although if I was going to get one, it would be Taylor Reed anyways.

All the talk of this draft being deep has gone totally in the tank.

and….. that was a Great game. score 59 to 20? at one point, I thought it was fixed. pass interference on number 35 in the end zone, he was grabbed, and tackled, referee right there, no call. I'm sure some people think that was a turning point. The next game was exciting, but sure shows the difference between NFL, CFL, and college, even the top level college football. How did Ohio state let them back in the game with a touchdown in about twenty seconds at the end? fun game though Between that and Jaboowins falling all over himself leading to another Oregon score, I'm sure some folks out there will be wondering. I was so glad to see Herbstreit announce to a big time audience that he thinks people need to drop the 'Oregon is soft' nonsense. Oregon is a tenacious football team and yeah, sometimes they play track meet football, but that defense of theirs is not soft.