Atomic

Cool!

They didn't HAVE to use an American, they used Schmitt because he was the best punter in the league last year. Bartel isn't far off, but Schmitt is better. Schmitt wasn't going to be on their roster this year so that's kind of irrelevant to the trade

From a pure football point of view, I say the Riders won this trade. #9 pick for #8 - Obvious win. #11 pick for Shomari Williams, a Canadian they can rotate in on defence and great special teamer, and Josh Bartel, a proven Canadian punter, at a spot where they had to use an American last season. That's a win too, IMO. And they still have another pick in the second round because that was the pick they got from the Bombers in the Neufeld trade.

Probably because they've spent the better part of the last 3 years cutting down Shomari Williams

The Ticats also gave up the #8 pick in addition to Williams and Bartel, for #9 and #11. i'd prefer that we don't make a trade like that. The only reason the Ticats did it was that it was likely a salary dump in Williams' case and Bartel became expendable when they signed Medlock.

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I'd still prefer to bring in McCune. Just to be sure.

Did you mean Butler, not Ferri? No. The poster didn't name name the two Canadian starting LBs in his post, so I named two. If he meant Butler, well I consider him a safety first and if he was serious on whiffing on him, then what can I say? Ferri isn't Canadian. Yes I was referring to Butler and Emry. Either one could start at linebacker for us.

I give you an F, for low expectations. Getting Kohlert doesn't improve the team over where it was last year. Just maintains it. I thought we did a good job of playing Ottawa and getting Kohlert back, but the fact remains that it is hardly an "addition". Why is replacing Muamba unrealistic? There were two free agent starting Canadian linebackers out there. I'm sure you will try to tell us all that it was "impossible" for us to land them, but they were out there, we swung and missed. Like I said, A for effort, but C+ for results. An F would have been landing no one. Getting an import receiver wasn't a huge need, but we landed a really good one so that gives us a C right there. Getting Kohlert back and signing Graig Newman helps with Canadian content and upgrades us to a C+. Randle fills a need in the secondary and I liked our aggressiveness in landing him, so I could maybe stretch for a B... but I stick with a C+ because we lost our starting Centre and didn't pick up any OL at all. IF we're planning on moving Morley to center, it would have been nice to have a Myddelton or Andrew Jones to compete with our young guys for the right guard spot, so we aren't left with our pants down if Pencer and Swiston can't hack it. To achieve an A or A+, I would have liked to see us land one of the stud Canadians and improve the depth on the OL... also, landing kicking help and another import defender would have been nice. Besides, a C+ isn't that bad. Many of our trusted professionals in society made it through university on C's and C+'s.

On 1290, Walters said they are pretty much done signing free agents.

Not quite, nobody has a bye in week 8.

Mini camp won't be in Winnipeg this year, it will be in Florida, more for prospects than veterans

http://globalnews.ca/news/1144531/bombers-to-face-questions-about-anti-gay-tweet/ Live video of press conference

Could be an upgrade on starting Kowalczuk. Nobody said it would be an upgrade over Sorensen.

If they move Morley to centre, Pencer might just end up starting at right guard.

5 day turnaround. Barely time for a practice. Hopefully the Thursday night time for the Saskatchewan game deters some of the dirty Rider fans from making the trip to Winnipeg.

Edmonton Eskimos ‏@cfl_esks 3m #Esks Sign Free Agent DB Patrick Watkins. #CFL

Morley could probably extend his career by a couple years if he learns how to play Centre. But can he do it, I don't know...

I gave them a C+... but an A for effort. I feel like they did a good job of getting out there and getting some guys signed and at least letting the players of the league know that Winnipeg is back in business. But we are hurting for Canadian starters and we didn't really gain any, outside of Kohlert. On top of that, we lost one, in Justin Sorensen. We're also gambling on potential to some extent. Nick Moore has only had one good season. Chris Randle has only been in the CFL for two seasons, as part of a good, stable defence. Kinda funny, if you watch the Nick Moore highlight video that CFL.ca put up, you can see Moore beating Randle several times. Signing Graig Newman is purely based on potential. I like all these players but for a really high grade I would have preferred to see the Bombers spend money on some more established veterans. I'd still like to see them bring in an experienced linebacker, and maybe kick the tires on Keron Williams, Jock Sanders, Anthony Parker, and Etienne Legare. We'll see who gets a real NFL shot, but I'd be interested in any of the guys out there who are kinda on the bubble - Ted Laurent, Chris Matthews, Cordarro Law, Kory Sheets...

Muamba is never coming back

I wouldn't expect Dyakowski to start the season, he will still be rehabbing from his injury at the end of the year. They also lost Hage which opens up a spot.

They are saving some money by not having Burris, Marwan Hage and Jamall Johnson anymore. Koch and Stewart likely weren't incredibly expensive. But yeah, I imagine they will be shedding some salary to pay for Myddelton and Butler. They have too many good DBs and LBs to carry into the season. Might see them drop a couple guys like Brandon Isaac and Dee Webb.

He punched Samuel Giguere in the head once, that was pretty funny.