James

One for sure positive I can think of for signing Picard, is that it almost guarantees we'll be able to keep at least 3 Canadians on the OL every game.

Doug Brown seems to be pretty impossible to replace We could have drafted several since he left, but we didn't. What Canadian DL in the CFL is just as good as Doug Brown? I certainly don't know of any

Doug Brown seems to be pretty impossible to replace

Unamba had a real rough start on defence, but really, really improved as the year went along...

Walters basically committed to Picard as our starting centre this season at today's presser.Banks was our SAM too.All of this is how I feel. I tweeted this morning that the whole thing reminds me of Banks last year, and I got shouted down by a few people. I'll believe the Picard hype when I see it in the summer.Situations aren't similar at all. Banks was released because his GM thought he was washed up. His GM was right. Picard was released for cap reasons, the season after winning his teams top OL award. And Riders tried to bring him back on a restructured contract. If the award was an accurate one... which I'm obviously not convinced of, then you would obviously find someone else to release to relieve your cap stress. Not your supposed "best" offensive lineman, who also happens to be your Center.

Although…. ugh.... If only he could hold onto the ball.... so fast

We were all frustrated with Kahn and not having a Center that can block his last few years here.... That's exactly where Picard is at. We complained about Morely because as a Gaurd he is mediocre. As a Center he is a better blocker then most in the CFL.

K-Groh is just not good enough... Gott or Picard can play guard as well - nothing wrong with an interior of Deane-Gott-Picard, move McMillan to RT, draft more OL Picard will probably cost $130-150k - not sure that breaking the bank on Holmes or Heenan is the right move for Ottawa, they need receivers and DBs Burris may die this year if Picard is one of his Gaurds

You could go with this for one year: LT - January/Daniels LG - Greaves C - Picard RG - Goossen RT - Neufeld 6th - Morley IMO, Picard is not as good as Morely, so I'd swap Picard and Morely.... If there was an injury, Morely would have to slide out and Picard fill in at Center. I just don't think he's worth it. I'd wait till FA and try and get Holmes

Picard is not an upgrade though... Morely is a much better blocker and his snaps are just as good. Plus we already have our future center, who is also a better blocker. Picard has no value for this team, unless they want Morely to be able slide out to Gaurd as an injury replacement. But I don't think Picards salary, or ego, would allow him to be a 6th lineman

If we make all the right moves and have a little luck with our Canadians south of the border, I can see us going as high as 11-7... but if we fail to upgrade the O-line substantially, lose Wild and fail to get a good enough Linebacking Corps, i don't see us getting anymore than 8 wins

Picard is not worth whatever signing bonus it would take to sign him

No interest in Picard... We need OG's... We'll be good at Center for a while with Morely and Goosen. Picard would get killed at OG.

Holy smokes, these salaries are getting crazy! I don't even think we should bother with Heenan... I'd go straight for Holmes, and maybe a guy like Wojt if he's healthy and we want a second guy... If Hall is going to be our DC, I wonder if we'll be interested in T. Brack.....

I like Hall more... He's been a great DC in this league over a longer period of time... I want more of a sure thing and Hall is what that is

guys, you gotta wait untill... at least the very minimum of after the draft to be able to even have a slight idea on what the years going to be like.... Right now we don't even have a DC

Iso, Vega and Peach were primarily the DE's last season... Also I suspect that our rush defence had a lot more to do with scheme and our DT's and LBer's than DE's..... Anderson was out the majority of the year and was our only real big man on defence. Plus, Peach and Vega are both primarily run stopping DE's anyway, and that really didn't help matters... so to try and pin the blame on Fraser and Booker holds no ground whatsoever...

I definately like the guys we have over Odell... Booker and Fraser are going to be dominant ends for us next year... We don't need Willis

Dunns spot was basically a coverage Linebacker just like the SAM wasn't it? And I'm not selling either short, I'm just saying that we wont be screwed if they left. They are both exceptional players in my mind.... especially Sears

In regards to our own FA's.... If Sears and Washington were both to leave it would suck for sure, but I think we would be alright on Defence if they did... I love me some Johnny Sears, he could be the top SAM in the league... But Unamba really came along by the end of the season as a coverage LB and would be a pretty good replacement IMO. Sears obviously is better right now, but we won't be screwed at the position if he's gone... And I think Leggett would be a great HB in this league if Washington bolts. And though unknown, I think Newman/Sherman would be excellent depth at Safety.

I thought Bucknor proved to be pretty good last year... He actually surprised me in man coverage and his ability to lay the ball(probably because I had really low expectations). His Tackling is what disappointed me, but it got better as the year went on. sure he's not a spectacular player, but he's capable, and he's Canadian who starts every game, and can play most/all game. That's what makes this a huge re-signing for this team. Hell, we've had worse American DB's starting for us over the years.

Hey man, happy to hear it... congrats and I look forward to reading your posts for many more years!

think that guy will want Washington?

Not sticking up for Banks here but its a good idea to look at it from both ways.... Sure Leggett and Anderson re-upped and may have no prob with Etch. Maybe they had no questions and just followed along. But Banks as a leader and vet may have felt he had questions about things that maybe rookies might of asked him and he wanted to have answers and help. I'm under the impression Korey Banks was brought here…for that exact reason..for the experience and passing on veteran knowledge. Seems like a no-brainer. But somewhere, somehow, things went astray, and we only have KB's version of his "asked-a-question-things-went-sideways-they-don't-respect-me-things-went-to-hell" story. I'd back Banks up on his account, if I could believe his version of on-line moans and his line of credibility, but it seems it's not the first time he has "trashed" a former employer. He is right about one thing though…he's done with football. True enough. Im just trying to look at things from both sides i guess. Etch was put out of the CFL for some reason tho. Its not like he was this highly touted DC with huge respect around the league. Thats easy... it's cuz he's a terrible DC

I'd take Hall, Benevides, and of course my first choice, Washington... are all upgrades over Etchevary. Saskatchewans defence was pretty damn good last year IMO. When you have a QB like Sunseri or Joseph at QB everything else is going to look worse than it is.