Bigblue204

A little of column A) a little of column B)? I'm also not changing it!!!!! SOOOO **** you!

That's pretty much how football works...one year a team like say....the Raiders have a solid defence and look to be rounding a corner...the very next year they basically suck, their D has taken a huge step back and they need to rethink things, making them go looking under all rocks/leagues etc to see about someone who might be able to help them. Interest isn't "COME PLAY FOR US, YOU"LL BE A STAR!!! LIFE LONG TEAM MEMBER!!!" It's probably more in line with, "hey you put up some nice numbers, wanna come try out?" considering the money any player would basically be dumb to say "no sorry you didn't like me last year". So yes, one year someone might have no NFL interest, the next they might. I mean Jeff Fisher kept getting head coaching positions for christ sake.

Sorry I should clarify. I don't want Rookies in the LB core. I'm all for a few new faces as long as they have CFL experience.

Reed would be a fantastic signing. We don't need new blood on in the LB corpse or the secondary. They need vets back there that know the game. Reed and Heath or Leggett are must signings if you ask me. On O I'd like to get Posey or even a cheap Bowman. Honestly, wouldn't mind making a cheap trade for Wilder at this point. Let him go get denied in the NFL. lol worth the shot, him and Harris in the back field would be damn near unstoppable. No offence to Flanders who is a solid back himself.

Their response is likely "LOL ok there little cfl, good luck with that." NFL's legal team would slaughter the CFL. Legal contracts in the CFL are basically jokes to the NFL. And coaches/gms know it. Honestly what is the CFL going to do? sweet **** all.

Again, I'm not talking about his earning power. Simply stating that pro athletes don't stop working on their craft once their sport is in an off season. It's not a 6 month job.

No one is saying that. You've specially said he gets paid for 6 months of work. That is not true. Even if he's working out 1 hr a day (which is probably a bit modest but regardless) he's still working. He's not training to get better at selling TV's. He's working to get better at football. That's all I'm saying. He's working year round on his football career. And he, like everyone other pro athlete, has to in order to compete at a pro level.

Sure hope not, sounds very unprofessional.

No, that part of it doesn't matter. You're claiming he only "works" at football for 6 months. And that's not true, and hasn't been for over 2 decades.

I'm honestly surprised players actually want to re-sign in TO. Regardless of the money. The way he describes their practice facilities etc sounds like complete trash. Especially when you compare that to what WPG and SSK has. Even CGY/BC/HAM. Pretty pathetic.

I'm surprised that in this day and age people still think pro athletes only "work" during the season of the sport they play. Lol this isn't 1980.

add training/recovery.

Go find a professional athlete that only works on his craft for 6 months.

And you can't act like a CFL players salary sets them up to have an above average life style. If you read his interview, he says he needs to pay for room and board himself. Anyway, I've basically said all I want to about this. It's his life/money good luck to him either way. And **** the argos!

again, that's before taxes/exchange rate. And in the TO area.

go check the around the league off season thread.

basically, they gotta get something in the rules that state, if a player and team agree to allow a player to leave for NFL opportunities mid contract, the player when/if they return is still property of the team they left and must complete the contract unless the they can agree to another one. Seems like that's the most fair thing and would avoid this type of situation. I'm not sure why either side wouldn't want to do this.

Well he said he's working 60 hr weeks in construction, and then training at the Y as they have child care. Also most Pro athletes go broke fairly quickly after their career is done. I'd be cautious about assuming his dad is well off.

Things change over the course of a year. But sounds like he got a job that pays more than the CFL. He has NFL options, but TO won't let him explore. So then he's left with making less with risk of injury and being away from family, or staying home making more money. Of course he could likely play another year and be set in either league. But he could also play one more snap and have his head taken off. You gotta weigh the risks/reward. And he's taking the sure bet that will help his family the most. It's shitty for the CFL, but I can't blame him.

So basically Wilder is saying, he has a choice. Stay home take a higher paying job with less risk of injury. Or leave home for less money and serious risk of injury. He's gotta do what he feels is best for his family. And from the sounds of it, the CFL isn't that right now. I can stand behind that. Gotta do what you gotta do. I can relate, in that I had to leave a job I loved dearly due to lack of pay. It was at a non profit so obviously different situation. But I didn't want to go, my employers didn't want me to go. But at the end of the day I had a child on the way and I have to take care of my family. Not sure how anyone can fault a guy for that.

http://3downnation.com/2018/01/24/james-wilder-qa-im-putting-family-dreams/

Could also go the other way. Is an extra 40k a year for a player who has proven he's got at the very least middle of league talent a big deal? Especially when this is the alternative? His year was short, but what he did doesn't happen very often. Don't let some posters on here fool you, Wilder is no joke. The only thing going public does is make both the Argos and Wilder look bad in some eyes. Had he just sat out without an explaination, must would have likely just blamed him. Could also help out the other 8 teams when it comes to signing FAs and or Rookies.

welcome to football/the real world.

I see both sides of the coin on this one. And honestly I don't think either side comes out shining. Wilder should obviously negotiated his contract a bit better, but also, we'd all be naive if the argos didn't basically give him a take it or leave contract for a rookie. And when you're chasing your dream, you're entire life work has go towards you jump at every opportunity. I don't blame Wilder, like has been said every player has a short amount of time to make as much $$ as possible. Lets not forget how Hefney is living after years of great play. How is the CFL helping him now? Again I'm not trying to choose a side, but it's more than just a few bumps and bruises. You could legit end up permanently disabled and unable to make a decent living after your short (even if it's long) career. That proves again how much these guys want to play and how that want/need is 100% used by gms when it comes to negotiating a rookie contract. I think a lot of people assume rookies have even some pull when negotiating their 1st contract. And reality is they don't at all. again not saying it's bad or good. Just reality. Also I don't agree that releasing him would set a precedence for other rookies to get out. Everyone here seems to be down playing his season. He was rookie of the year in the CFL. And helped his team to a grey cup win. That's the precedence it would be setting. So basically a player would have to only play 9 weeks, lead his team at his position, be the CFL rookie of the year and win a grey cup AND have the same type of NFL interest (whatever that may be). Can anyone else name a player who did all that? On the other side of the coin. The argos are in a tough spot. If they let him go south they risk losing their biggest up and coming star. If they don't, even if he doesn't go to the media, he likely will hold a grudge ESPECIALLY if after his 2nd season there is no longer any NFL interest. Making him less likely to sign after his 1st contract is done. And now that he has gone public and is sitting out, they 1)have no starting RB 2)look like they are holding a player back from making serious $$ 3)will likely have to talk about this with most FAs this up coming feb. Had the Argos let him go, they come out looking clean. While admittedly taking a shot at losing one of their best players. However it's not unheard of for players returning from the NFL to go back to the team that let them go mid contract. Don't get me wrong, players will often look for $$$ coming from the same situation. It's a risk. But letting him go, the Argos can ONLY be seen as the good the guys. Now it's at the very least up for debate. "we let him go chase his dream and he turned his back on us and signed with another CFL club, we don't need that in our locker room" etc etc OR "we let him chase his his dreams, unfortunately that didn't work out, and we are more than happy to have him back here with us." etc etc etc. Of course this would also mean a pay raise for the player, but after their 1st contract they are likely getting one anyways so as a GM you shouldn't be blown away by a negotiation. Either Way Argos look good. however it plays out I'm happy, if anything this hopfully plants some seeds in FA that TO may try to **** you, so you should sign with the bombers! sorry for the novel.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. but you legit need to make around 200k before most people would consider they're able to live a comfortable or well off life style in the GTA, even 100k doesn't go far.