JuranBoldenRules

Nasty Nate numbers aside, the highest contract ever signed by a #1 pick is for 70k a year. That contract wasn't signed by Jade Etienne. Keep digging.

Kohlert's the player we sign of the 2 (Etienne & Kohlert). If I was going to gamble, I'd protect Kohlert then make sure he gets signed but leave Etienne exposed to Ottawa. If Etienne isn't selected & wants to come back here then he has to take a significant pay cut to do so based on his numbers the past 3 seasons. All first rounders get paid $85-95,000 a season. He then takes a 25-35% pay cut on a new contract. If he balks then sayonara, kid. Best of luck as he won't get any better offers even in his beloved home land. No they don't. None of them do. If they are lucky they can make that if they reach performance bonuses. Muamba isn't making close to that in base salary on his current deal.

Is Robocop a free agent to play QB? Parenteau and Morley won't be back for sure. It is really too soon to speculate on anything...let's figure out who will be managing the team. If we have a sane coach/management, we won't be starting 4 NI's on the OL from this current group.

Edmonton's competitive. Our team hasn't been competitive for months, and has steadily declined. The lack of effort put forward by the players should put more than enough nails in Burke's coffin. I probably won't be renewing my season tickets just out of my general disgust for the Football Club as a whole and my terrible experience as a customer this past off-season before this 2013 team even stepped on the field, but if Burke is retained there is a less than 0% chance that I will keep my tickets.

I'll give you a chance to go through that list and actually think before you make a fool of yourself.

Neufeld is a fine addition, a prospect. The problem for him here, and will be from the first day he sets foot on the field for practice, is that he's been labelled a "starting Canadian offensive lineman" by the fans and media, which he isn't. The Riders tossed him in last season because they had ratio issues and he performed a little better than a speed bump. He can't play inside, so he is going to have to make it at a position where it is tougher for NI's to make it over the long term. Depending on the philosophy of the management and coach next season, Neufeld might be completely useless to us. Trading for someone's 7th OL who is a fairly limited player on a 6 figure deal isn't a miracle.

So any NI who started some games at tackle is a "starting NI tackle?" There's no variability in quality? Paul Swiston is therefore a NI starting tackle now. That's about the level of player we're getting, so don't get your hopes up too high. Neufeld has much to prove. The only reason this trade isn't a total fleecing is because we dumped a 14 pick for a 15 one when there will be a full draft pool, but there's no way we should have had to give up 2 rounds in that swap. Neufeld isn't a top 6 OL for the Riders and had very little chance of making their team next season regardless of Ottawa. Should have been no need to sweeten the pot, and if it was insisted upon, play hardball. Neufeld started 13 of 17 games in 2012 and the West-Semi...Pretty different from Paul Swiston's situation. He occasionally breaks into our terrible starting line. Steve Morley was a starting tackle for Calgary and started all of 2009 at tackle for us. Not an indicator of ability, nor an indicator of current ability.

So any NI who started some games at tackle is a "starting NI tackle?" There's no variability in quality? Paul Swiston is therefore a NI starting tackle now. That's about the level of player we're getting, so don't get your hopes up too high. Neufeld has much to prove. The only reason this trade isn't a total fleecing is because we dumped a 14 pick for a 15 one when there will be a full draft pool, but there's no way we should have had to give up 2 rounds in that swap. Neufeld isn't a top 6 OL for the Riders and had very little chance of making their team next season regardless of Ottawa. Should have been no need to sweeten the pot, and if it was insisted upon, play hardball.

Neufeld is a marginal starting OL. He's shown no ability to play guard (see Banjo Bowl), he's a pure tackle, and he's struggled at that spot this season too coming off of injury.

I'm not impressed at all. Saskatchewan is the desperate team. Hall for Neufeld straight up would have been fine. Any pick exchange should have resulted in us getting a higher pick or more picks. The only good thing with the picks is that the one we're getting back is in 2015 when it will be a full draft, the 2014 draft pool will be shallower with the eligibility changes.

Still blinded by your hate of a certain individual eh... This is the worst team in my lifetime. Daley's teams were not close to being this bad, although those secondaries were all-time bad. Kelly's team won 7 games without a QB, they were a decent football team. The only teams that come close to this are 97-98, 98 particularly.

You mean the recess offense? Best part of that is our coach telling the entire world that we're cutting the playbook in half. Should make film study a lot easier for the Stamps. The guy just can't control himself.

It's actually 2017 before they start fully paying off the loan co-signed by the province. 5 years behind schedule.

How does any community organization function? A lot of Castro fans in this thread.

Or his agent was in negotiations with the redskins and he was trying to influence those negotiations with social media? That's usually a pretty solid strategy.

A pre-selected pool of candidates chosen by whom? Someone who actually knows what the hell they're talking about (ie - not fans) -- Whether it's the government, or whatever. Fans are morons and can't be left in charge... I wouldn't let any government agents near these selections. You may as well keep the board the way it is if that's the case. The city and province both appoint board members currently. Some strong arguments for communist dictatorship here from some of the most conservative posters.

The fact that they needed Asper to write a cheque for $350,000 to finish the press box tells us everything about the financial situation. That's about a quarter of one game's gate receipts, and the Bombers can't afford it.

Well, if you want real confirmation that the organization is a mess... http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/2013/10/ticats-to-play-post-season-game-in-guelph-should-they-host-one-that-is.html

I envision some kind of "option-year", where the player can try out for the NFL while a CFL team maintains his CFL rights. No kidding. This situation and the ones we've had recently with new imports could have been avoided if the league could have just left well enough alone. The number of players the league lost to the option year window paled in comparison to the number of guys who came up here thinking "I'll play a year up there and be back in the NFL next year" but ended up playing several seasons in the CFL. The fact that guys have to lock themselves in for at least 2 seasons is a disincentive.

Nice compromise, but how does that fit within the CBA? Why can't any other player just hold out and say, "don't worry, if I play in the CFL, I'll play for you."

Good post, if you are willing to ignore all context. Why did everyone know and understand that Milanovich would be a good head coach? Why did everyone understand that the "hotshot" co-ordinators Burke and Marshall would be awful? With respect, that’s completely revisionist. Check the archives when the Bombers went with Mack instead of the Barker/Milanovich combo. Lots of people doubting Milanovich. Then go back and google some articles about Burke and Marshall before they flamed out as Head Coaches. Lots of love for their prospects. Check out Stubler too. And then check out hotshot coordinators who got NFL head coaching jobs. Lots succeed. Lots don't. And they all look like Dave Dickenson looks now until they get the big chair. The point I was trying to illustrate is not that Dickenson will fail as an HC. Just that if you take away his playing career his resume isn’t that much better than a bunch of guys that have failed as HC’s. I don’t think he’s the obvious choice or that he’s necessarily in position to turn up his nose at the Bomber job. p.s. GC100 Chris Jones beat the ever loving poo out of him. You are totally missing the point. Resume matters little when you're looking at a guy making a jump from co-ordinator or other assistant coaching position to head coach. You are actually making that point, yet completely missing it. The context you are missing is leadership and an ability to galvanize a group toward a goal, the ability to manage a team. Everyone in the league knew that Milanovich had it, everyone wanted to interview him and he wasn't selling himself out for just any shot at being a head coach. Everyone knew he'd be a head coach, and a good one. Everyone knew that Burke is a milquetoast personality who is better off in the background, everyone knew that Greg Marshall has no management skils, everyone knows that Doug Berry has trouble developing a productive relationship with his players, everyone knew that Lapolice could break down tape and make the right calls, but that he probably couldn't inspire a lot of confidence and manage a team. The stops on their resume don't fill in these gaps, and those are the differences between very good and great head coaches and crappy ones. The feeling now is that Dickenson fits the Hufnagel-Milanovich mould, Calgary believes in that feeling enough to pay Dickenson more than our head coach to call plays. That Grey Cup has little bearing on Dickenson or Jones going forward as potential head coaches. The Stamps got there with Kevin Glenn, not a surprise that he choked, the better QB won that game.

Good post, if you are willing to ignore all context. Why did everyone know and understand that Milanovich would be a good head coach? Why did everyone understand that the "hotshot" co-ordinators Burke and Marshall would be awful?

Bullshit. Don't tell me we can't afford him. We've got just as much money as anyone, even if a lot of it's "hush hush" under-the-table stuff. If we've gotta overpay to get the right guy, then they'll do it. I'm certain Miller knows the story, and the mucky-mucks have learned their lesson. They'll target the right guy and make sure he's taken care of. The only way the Football Club can afford a marquee staff is if they are not even going to put up the illusion that they are attempting to meet the obligations on the two loans or if they pull a few hundred thousand out of player salaries and spend at the floor. They don't have as much money as anyone. When there are teams with private owners underwriting $5-$10 million a year in losses and the Bombers have to turn a $4.5 million a year profit to meet the obligations of the stadium loan (after paying back the $10 million loan), they aren't on equal footing.

Dickenson won't be leaving Calgary. He's head coach in waiting there, we might be able to match what he's making now, but if we pay him Milanovich or Hufnagel money we won't be able to put a staff together. Not to mention the mess he'd be wading into her vs the stability in Calgary. It doesn't hurt to try to get an interview with him, but like Milanovich in 2010 it is a high probability that Dickenson has no interest.

Really? Coaching doesn't matter? Reilly had two years in BC. Collaros has Milanovich, Maas, Brady and Ray who all played in the CFL at QB. You think that doesn't make a difference in terms of developing a QB? 2 of our offensive coaches are in their first CFL job as a coach or player, the other 2 are Howell and Bellefeuille, essentially a rookie and a coach with a so-so record as both an OC and head coach, and no track record of developing quarterbacks, other than failed ones. Mostly leaned on scrapped vets like Marcus Crandell and Kevin Glenn.