Armchair GM

I don't mind starting him, but if he isn't moving the ball then it becomes time for Hall or Boultus. Don't leave him in if he is being innefective. Even if he is pulled for a series and goes back in. Disagree with this entirely. We're too impatient here in Wpg with QB's and being ineffective in the short-term. Need to leave him in there to try to work through the kinks, and see if he can develop. The Bombers and Walters need to see a body of work from Goltz... he's a developmental passer, he's not going to show you enough in small, segmented periods of time to form a basis for judgement.

Goltz at times looks like a broken passer out there. But with what we've seen of the guys we have, he has the best tools to win us some games. And I think Mike is on the right track when he says the stuff Goltz struggles with is the stuff that improves with experience. I don't love what I've seen out of Goltz, but I think he's worth investing the rest of the season in to see what we've got; given the extreme unlikelihood of another team dealing us their #2 QB midseason, as opposed to after the season and before the cutoff before the expansion draft.

Oh please. I don't think anyone here is saying Buck Pierce harmed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His presence on our roster though harmed the team in not being able to move forward as an organization, because our coach and previous GM were inclined to use him, because they were fighting for their jobs, and would rather go to battle with a veteran who has won before, than a rookie who hasn't. Good person with a lot of willpower, in a bad body, in a really bad situation not of his making. And our new regime to their credit are looking to the future without a noose hanging over their heads, and are making moves for our future. Buck was collateral damage. I wouldn't wish his situation on anybody.

Oy. Elliott showed ability to move the football through the air, and a penchant for turnovers. Goltz has showed an ability to be able to win games with his legs, but is a terrible passer. Neither guy is the answer on his own, but Elliott as starter with Goltz coming in the red zone would be a decent hybrid attack. Too bad neither would be terribly interested in being options 1A and 1B.

Oh boy, this is a great question. The answer I can assure you is not "work 18 hour days," at least if you're asking what he has to do for ME to want him as our GM next season. But let's not flog that dead horse anymore. Walters has made some in-roads, but he wouldn't be able to do enough IN-SEASON to warrant my selection. There's just no incentive for the playoff teams to deal even surplus talent in-season for draft picks for a Poblah or Kohlert type. The only way I see is if they suffer a key injury and need to acquire a quick fix from us. So the Riders likely won't deal Chris Best, the Argos won't deal any of their surplus OL talent, and the Stamps likely won't deal any of their QB's until the end of the year. Walters will likely have some clock before the GM search is concluded and the guy hired, and he'll also have Wade Miller's ear for inside information. If Walters can engage other CFL GM's towards pre-dispersal draft deals to be made at end of season; that would be in his favour. If he has a clear-cut free agency plan with contingencies, that will be a key piece as well. If he has done all the CFL Draft scouting and has a plan of attack ready, that too would help. And if he does all of these things, and has a few of his in-season acquisitions pan out successfully and project well for the next 3-5 years; it might just be enough to win the job. I like Walters, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and appears calm, cool, and collected. My main concern is whether or not he's too green for the job, especially a rebuild of this magnitude. He's got skin in the game though, and is making what appear to be some upside moves right now. I think he's doing the right things. I'm interested to see how it plays out.

Wow my argument has been misconstrued. Iso - I have no crystal ball, and nothing I said was with any strain of being remotely prophetic. BriceDream's contention was that he was resigned to the Bombers anointing Walters GM at the end of the season because he's a hard worker. Walters could work 24 hours a day... all I am saying is that a GM should not be picked based ONLY on how hard he works. You've trolled my post pretty good here... somehow pitting me against Walters and hardworking people everywhere. Somehow you've twisted my words into meaning that Walters won't be hired, and that I can see the future. As a football fan, I want a smart, well-connected GM, who has experience managing football operations. Not just a scout that works long hours. Not just a capologist/Ross Hodgkinson contract type. Etc. I can see many Bomber GM candidates being hard workers... I just really don't see how hard of a worker Walters is being the defining characteristic that gets him the job. There's a lot more to success as a sports franchise GM than just how many hours you put in.

Unfortunately, I am of the mind that this decision is already decided. Walters will continue to sign like crazy, Blue will win one or two more games, and everyone will say "Boy that Walters kid works hard!" And with that we'll have our new GM. I realize the Bombers haven't given us anything to look forward to this year... but your negativity and being resigned to us absolutely making the wrong decisions for the wrong reasons is impossible to listen to anymore. GM's have never, and will never be judged based on how hard they work. I know janitors, painters, drywallers, and roofers that work harder than most people. There's a reason those guys aren't CFL GM's. It's because there is so much more to it than how hard you work. It's how smart you work, how you put the right people in the right roles to do a great job, how you deal with the **** that flies across your desk daily, and probably most importantly, good judgment. Among many, many other things you and I have no idea about. Don't think for a second the Bombers will leave him in charge just because he's a hardworking, relentless birddog. There's lots of those in football... they're called scouts. And scouting is only one part of the job. Give your consistently negative head a shake.

Unfortunately I don't think the Bombers would be interested after just adding two receivers You don't think the Bombers would have interest in adding a CFL all-star?? Because we signed a CFL cast-off and an NFL cast-off? Don't get me wrong, MSW and Kelly could definitely succeed here, but your reasoning is so flawed it is painful. Winnipeg is and should be a testing ground for the rest of the season. As many posters have said, throw a bunch of **** at the wall and see what sticks. You're saying we wouldn't want to bring Chris Williams in; because we've got 2 new receivers we haven't assessed yet, and we are satisfied with Pierce and Denmark?

I'm sure that's not far off... except for Poblah. Not much use for a receiver who can't seem to catch the ball right now. If Denmark and Poblah are both useless... at least Poblah's got the passport, and we maybe look at Bo Smith at safety. Or an american-made saw horse to replace Morley/Swiston.

Did I say "no #1 receiver?" I meant no #1 receiver, AND no #1 kick returner.

Yeah. We don't need him.... One would have to assume that he would have no interest in coming here. Winnipeg isn't a place for people with options sadly enough. Winnipeg does not have a bonafide #1 CFL receiver. Matthews was last year, but I'd argue this year, we have no identity or guys worthy of double coverage. If I'm Chris Williams, that represents opportunity.

Clever nickname you came up with there, Atomic. It's a meh move as far as I'm concerned. Dude can't stay healthy and has proven to be an average player. Harris hasn't made much noise lately. The only real positive I see is that Harris is just another one of a few guys, that are now being held accountable for not performing

Peach was fairly highly touted when he came in with the Esks, but hasn't really done much. This is a great big, MEH. PEACH, G 2009 EDM 45 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PEACH, G 2010 EDM 28 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PEACH, G 2011 EDM 21 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 13 13 0 PEACH, G 2012 HAM 36 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1

awesome patio there. muskoka chairs all lined up right in front of the lake... Just had a case of Amsterdam Boneshaker and one of their 650 ml Framboise brought up by my buddy from the Hammer, with a side of a team set of Tigercats cards. The cards made nice kindling for the backyard fire pit. The Boneshaker is just fantastic... lots of malt balancing out lots of hops. The Framboise was out of this world. Better than Mill St.'s Frambozen, if you ask me. Might need to try their patio later this fall when I'm down your way.

Palardy's fallen out of favor... his sucking this year and subsequent release leaves us with no apparent plan for the future at K. It would be prudent to take this approach with Buck Pierce, Denmark, Poblah, Cauchy Muamba, and our entire O-Line...

Bellefeuille's going with what he knows... former Ticats that at least I am hoping, he felt never got a fair shake to make their mark. For the record, I prefer this approach to "Avoid other CFL cuts because they weren't good enough to make someone else's team." It may or may not pay off, but at least you would have to think Bellefeuille has a reason to bring these guys in. You wouldn't think he would bring in guys he didn't like, or didn't think would ever make it in the CFL.

MSW was at one point the lead dog receiver on the Jags. 2009 he had 63 rec. for 869 yds and 7 TD's. 2010 43 rec., 562 yds and 7 TD's. Didn't do much in 2011 and was out of the NFL in 2012. Signing in the CFL indicates he may still have some fire in his belly. At a minimum, when you score 7 TD's a year for the woeful Jags, you know your way around the end zone. Love this signing. We have to take some shots to get better. Hope MSW pays off!

I guess if you're Bellefeuille, and you've inherited this mess... you go with what you know. Hopeful he can make an impact, but more excited for MSW.

Okay. Please explain why Wally would not let ANYBODY talk to him. All it could do is increase the return he could get in a trade. I just don't see how it's remotely plausible that Buono would favor Edmonton over Winnipeg. We're talking about an all-time great GM, favoring trading a surplus player of his (that he would lose in FA in a week's time) to a division rival; rather than either trading him outside the division (to Winnipeg) or letting him go to FA and presumably eat up more of one of our cap's. It just makes no sense that Wally would do that. Wally was trying to create value in a trade, he had to realize that there were only 2 teams with needs for Reilly. So why not wait til as long as possible, and offer them the right to talk to him first, so they can negotiate deal. Clearly, BC's going to get more value when the other side is guaranteed that Reilly will sign. EDM agreed to it, Mack didn't. Regardless of whether EDM was Reilly's preferred destination, I doubt it had anything to do with Buono trading him there. Wouldn't Buono prefer to trade him out of the division? Wouldn't Reilly jump at a chance for his first professional starting gig, no matter where it is?

I think it's pretty clear cut why Reilly would take the deal and run... he was only ever going to have an opportunity to start here or in EDM. That's exactly the point...Reilly wasn't going anywhere but Edmonton. He had made up his mind. Way to cherry pick my posts to make your point. If Reilly got to free agency, he was going to the highest bidder with the best starting opportunity. Wally Buono is not in the business of making sweetheart deals... he could give a f*** less where Reilly wanted to go. Wally's only interested in getting a return for something that 2 days later would bring him nothing... and if WPG and EDM were equal, he was dealing the negotiating rights to WPG, because he'd be dealing Reilly out of his division. He just got the best deal from EDM. There's nothing more to it than that. Supply and command, Ricky. If Reilly got to Free Agency, I would agree with your point. But he didn't, and Buono made the best deal for Buono... you can guarantee that Reilly's preference played exactly 0% into where Buono would have dealt him.

Edmonton did not have a1st rounder to trade. BC got an offer from Edmonton for an asset they were going to lose. BC simply tried to get more for Reilly through Wpg. (swap picks plus another pick) BC had nothing to lose. Nobody can adequately explain why Reilly wouldn't wait 2 weeks to optimize his deal. I think it's pretty clear cut why Reilly would take the deal and run... he was only ever going to have an opportunity to start here or in EDM. We're also tied at the hip to the anchor that is Buck Pierce, and that's common knowledge across the CFL. Worst case, he was signing on for competition against either a club that loves its Pierce or one that isn't terribly confident in their Nichols... which one looks more winnable? Bottom line: WPG could not have looked any more appealing that EDM, and Reilly had a good deal on the table for his first starting professional gig. Is it really worth rolling the dice on a potential $20-30k/year more in Free Agency, against the possibility that EDM may sour on him because he didn't take their deal, and that WPG may (as per Joe Mack custom) low-ball him afterwards, and choosing between that and being stuck signing again as a backup? EDM's play for his negotiating rights was smart... because the market for Reilly's services after them was so weak.

The Lions wanted a 1st rounder for Reilly's negotiating rights, period. They had the hottest commodity in CFL free agency... one would think they were trying to maximize their return. After all, wouldn't it be in Wally's interest to deal him outside of his division? (ie.To Winnipeg)? When it became apparent that not only could they NOT get a 1st rounder from either WPG or EDM, but that the best they were going to do was EDM's 2nd rounder, they most likely tried to get WPG to up our offer, and we most likely balked. Keep in mind that this was all done with every GM having knowledge of the new TV deal coming down the pipe, and the cap and cash flow impacts to each team. I sincerely doubt money had anything to do with trading or not trading for Mike Reilly. Mack most likely followed his M.O. to not ever even come remotely close to overpaying a free agent. Reilly could have waited for free agency and refused to deal with either team, but why would he do that when he was assured of being handed the keys to an offense in Edmonton? You're a backup QB in the CFL, you're a pending FA, and you get offered the opportunity you've been waiting for to take the keys to your first professional starting gig. You take that and run, all day, every day. I realize I'm disagreeing with a lot of posters with strong opinions to the contrary, but my God man, Wally's not going to deal Reilly within his division unless he has to, to maximize his return. That's all he did. There's no conspiracy to cut Winnipeg out of the loop into an endless spiral to futility. We hired Crowton for that...

I don't care how effin strong his arm is... if he puts it on the money consistently, he'll move our offense, and we will go places. See: Ray, Ricky.

There are always exceptions to the rule. In football, you're living dangerously if you think the best strategy is to try to pluck through the haystack to find the needle. The whole philosophy of the upside play, is to find younger players that can play close to the level of a declining veteran, and hopefully develop and flourish as the veteran player gradually loses a step or two. So when you've got 2 younger QB's with upside that are already playing at least at the same level as the declining veteran........ Buck should not be starting unless both Hall and Goltz are hurt, and there are <2 games left in the year, and we can't airlift Joey Elliott in.

It rarely happens, and when it does, it rarely goes well. A boss that couldn't handle top management gets demoted back to middle management. Wouldn't you think there may be some respect and motivational issues, even though Burke is a tried-and-true great DC? Secondly, do you think a new HC would want someone who could possibly undermine his authority? Thirdly, would the new HC even want him; even though the WBB are on the hook for his salary. In the case of HC's, they all get there by being great at one phase of the game. Most instances, it's just better to eat the loss, and start fresh.