TBURGESS

I love the Bryant signing. Best player available in FA and he filled a huge need for us. Hurl got more money than he's worth IMHO. Good special teams guy who couldn't make the leap to starter in Regina last year. I know we have to overpay, but $130K? The rest of the signings are C level players or B level with questions about durability. Hope one of them works out, but I wouldn't bet big that they do.

Nik Lewis of 2 years ago and any time before that, you bet. Nik Lewis of last year when he couldn't even keep his starting job... No thanks. I'd much rather go with a young up and comer as our 3rd import receiver.

I wish you guys would just ignore him. He'll eventually just go away on his own.

Romby Bryant is a pending free agent. And yes, so is Aaron Kelly. Thanks to Kuale for his contributions to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Football Club (established 1930), and best of luck in all his future endeavours. I missed that. Thanks.

Good news. Shoulda happened a couple of days after the end of the season. Mr. Bryant... Your on deck.

You're starting to slip. Your attempts to stir up arguments are usually less transparent. I mean everyone knew he would find a way to poo-poo on the trade but i agree, his attempt to bring others into his angst-flock seemed.. like he was going thru the motions lol.. I'm not poo poo'ing the trade at all, nor am I trying to start an argument. Folks were asking what Taman's rational was. That's what I was replying to. Go back a little further and you'll see that I'm for the trade. Not surprised at all that the same folks are misreading what I type and then complaining about it yet again.

Taman's rational... He traded his 2nd round pick for an NI starter, which he'd never get with the 2nd round pick this year. Fits in to his philosophy of taking a known starter rather than a possible future starter. He dumped a receiver who couldn't crack the roster last year for a 3rd round pick this year. Frankly I'm surprised there isn't more angst around here. Lots of folks thought Watson was a star in Winnipeg.... If he could only stay healthy. Kinda like Buck and Neufeld. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. Once a player's not a Bomber, all their negatives are highlighted on these forums.

Sounds like Watson's 'Cost / Benefit Analysis' didn't go well this off season.

I don't mind getting a second round pick for Watson. Not sure we needed to give up a 3rd rounder and I don't even remember Bastien playing last year. Getting something for an expensive NI receiver who couldn't stay healthy and wasn't a threat anymore is a good move IMHO. I doubt it changes Walters philosophy towards taking an O lineman high and low. Still think we will take an O lineman with our #2 overall unless we can sign a NI starter in FA.

Good for Wild. Bad for us. Good luck to him though. He'll be greatly missed.

I think we will only sign 2 or maybe 3 FA's this year and Picard is one of them. That means just one or two more. I'm hoping for another NI OL upgrade. Heenan would be my, and everyone else's, first choice. If we got no one else in FA, I'd still be very happy. Holmes would be my second choice. Although I don't like to use Free Agency for imports, I'd spend on Stanley Bryant as he'd be a huge upgrade for our O line and he can play either tackle spot. Donny O for the right price and Chris Rwabukamba would also be on my radar.

That's a good to great coaching staff in BC. (IMHO)

Good news. Now on to the defensive staff.

Is Hall in Mobile with the rest of the coaches?

Thanks Gbill.

Different tweet. Post it. I didn't find anything else in Lawless' twitter feed that was any better than those two.

gary lawless ‏@garylawless Jan 11 Richie Hall has a contract in hand and #bombers are just waiting for it to be returned before announcing him as new DC #cfl gary lawless ‏@garylawless Dec 31 Bombers in contract negotiations with Richie Hall Contract in hand and signed contract are two different things.

See this is what happens where there are no facts to go by. Folks make up their own version of reality which may or may not be anywhere close to the truth. For the record, I seriously doubt that this forum comes up in any of the Bombers decisions.

You agree that it doesn't matter to the casual fan and yet you call it impatience by those who want to know what's going on. Wait for the snow to melt to make an announcement? That doesn't help the people who care about the Bombers in the off season and it doesn't help those who simply don't care until training camp. The Bombers being in the news tomorrow is no different than being in the news in February. Make the decision, sign the candidate, and make the announcement. We've heard what the decision is and that the top candidate is Hall. If we've already signed him, I expect there would be something in the Twitterverse or those with inside knowledge would let something slip. That leads me to believe that there's some snag. Maybe Hall figured out that he's worth more than he was when Benevides was still in the picture and the offer we thought was a slam dunk isn't. Maybe another team is thinking of changing out their DC and Hall has other options.

The DC announcement is for the 2% of the fans who are on the message boards. The average fans girlfriend, parents and people like that don't care. Even the casual fans themselves don't even think about the Bombers in the off season unless there's a major free agent signing. Some may read about the draft. Most will wait until it's close to training camp.

Stamps was a great receiver who had a bad year. I expect him to bounce back in Montreal and hit the 1000 yard mark again assuming he doesn't get injured. Edmonton wasn't using him so getting a younger, cheaper receiver in return is a good deal for them. I'd call this one a win win.

JFG's a special teams player and a decent backup. He got a big fan base here by making a couple of big catches late in games early last season. I don't see him making the jump to starter. Kohlert is our best NI receiver. Legit starter, but not a go to guy or a game breaker. Watson was a good receiver and a great blocker, but his time has come and gone IMHO. Even when he was in the lineup for most of last season, he wasn't a difference maker. He may have a couple more years left or he may just get hurt yet again.

You're right, the best way to market the team to the public is just to send out a mass e-mail about the hiring of a new coach. Maybe they can just include it as a hidden message in the wanted ads next week. You think a presser to announce the hiring of Hall would help market the team? Really? The only folks who watch the pressers are the rabid fans who you don't need to sell the Bombers to. The 'news' papers would certainly carry the story. That's where the non-rabid fans get their info anyway.

It is pretty funny. One or two folks want an official notice that we have a DC signed and a bunch of folks get upset about it, call it 'entitlement' and make up 'reasons' why it may not have happened yet. Personally i'd take an official text from the club. No need for a presser on this one. What are they going to say? Hall's only choice for a DC job was Winnipeg and once Benevides turned us and Regina down, there was no one else with experience even in the running.

The way I see it... Chamblin wants a different type of defense than Hall runs, so he ended up taking more and more control during the season. Neither Hall nor Chamblin is going to change the way they think, so it's best for everyone if Hall isn't there anymore. That doesn't make Hall a bad DC, just one who prefers a different style of defense from his HC. Benevides runs defenses the way Chamblin likes, so he'd be a better fit, but he doesn't want the job. That leaves a newcomer as DC to run Chamblin's defense and Regina picked Quick. It remains to be seen if this is a good or bad choice. We likely won't know for sure until late next season. As for Hall in Winnipeg... His defenses need serious pressure from the front 4/7 to be effective. We don't have the players to make that happen so I expect to see changes in our front 7 right away. We'll get a bend don't break, wait for the other team to make mistakes type of defense. Not as exciting as an attack defense (My preference), but played well, it should be effective. Certainly more effective than Etch's.