GCn20

Was just reading an article by Dave Naylor stating he does not know if an extension is allowed next year or not but that it cannot be worked out before the NFL window when he enters his option. He stated the exact same thing that the wording is ambiguous and that league sources had not replied to him on his inquiry on the matter. The article was from August.

If you believe someone could turn it around, I suppose you are right. I am not sure there was time enough to do it. Throwing the party under the bus is exactly what he needed to do. Therefore, he will be seen as an agent for change both within but most importantly from outside the party. Also, I believe he had to get his profile up a little higher so that he is a household name not just an up and comer when he makes his run.

It was a no win situation for anyone coming in after Pallister and the pandemic. Stefanson is a place holder, and imo knew she was coming in as one. This is just my opinion, based on talking with people associated with the party, that they felt the tide had moved too far in Winnipeg to be able to recover in time for the next election. They did not want to tarnish a new long term leader with what is surely going to be a big defeat next year. I think the party felt the only person who could smooth things out with the electorate and stop the seat bleed in Winnipeg would be Heather but the best she could do is make it a close election. They were dead wrong because she just isn't a particularly good leader.

Exactly. Our team has proven time and again that it shows up in the big games.

It is right now for sure, but I don't see Wab Kinew having a long reign as premier. From what I have heard people in the party asked him to step away from the race and wait for a later time. The PCs wanted to throw Stefanson out as the sacrificial lamb first. Anyone taking over from Pallister was going to be starting way behind the 8 ball because the pandemic was a tough road for all governments and especially in Manitoba where our health care problems really had a light shined on them,

At any rate, Rourke's 3rd year is a moot point anyhow. The Lions are unable to do any kind of extension until his NFL option has expired and it is almost a certainty that he will look at NFL offers and that he will receive them. The state of QBing in the NFL is questionable right now and there is this 24 year old kid out there that just ripped the 2nd best league on the planet a new arsehole. Anyone thinking there will be anything but massive interest in Rourke is dreaming in technicolor. He has demonstrated at a very young age that he can ball, that is an NFL scouts wet dream. If he was 26 or 27 the interest might be lukewarm, but at 24, teams can really take their time and develop him and still get a young QB out of the deal. He's gone imo. The NFL will come for him, not because he is better than a Zac Collaros or BLM in his prime, but because he is so much younger than either of them were when they demonstrated they could ball up here. Even if the Lions throw 600k at him he likely still bolts. I mean, why not if you were him? Take your shot. If it doesn't work out you come back to the CFL to the highest bidder in a couple years and make your bank for the next 10 years. At his age, he would be monumentally stupid to not bolt to the NFL next year and at least try to live the dream. He will, at the very least, be a PR lock for any team that takes him.

My issue with Hodge is the same as my issue with Ballantyne. They are fans first and foremost, so you got to take most of what they write about and remove the bias yourself and to me that is not journalism. They are both excellent communicators and write well, just hard to describe them as media sources because some of what they say is pure homer-ism. Hodge has had the benefit of a Bomber juggernaut the past few years so he hasn't really had to be outlandish with his praise of our team, but before that there were some pretty big leaps of logic with his opinions. Ballantyne is just a joke...way worse than Hodge. It's easy to not appear biased now because he can say pretty much anything ultra-positive he wants and he would be correct. His stuff in the early days of 3DN when the Bombers were good but not great was pretty biased. When he first started he circulated some pretty unfounded rumors and tried passing them off as insider stuff. I think Dunk got on him for that, but helped set him up with some actual reliable sources.

He could hold out for sure. I think that is a very distinct possibility. If, in fact, there is some rule prohibiting him from signing an extension before the end of his contract....and that is an unfounded rumor until proven by TB....then I would think the CFL BOG will scrap it in the offseason at BC's request and for the good of the league. There is less than 1% chance that Rourke is playing in the CFL next year for 85k imo.

3DN when it first started was really good. Dunk is one of the best CFL media guys out there. However, his participation in the venture has noticebly dropped and instead of good CFL insiders they started with they now devote waaaaay too much space to hacks and fanboys like Hodge and Ballantyne. I'm waiting for Stronson and his swelled head to pick up the mantle for the Riders and then the trifecta of worst homers in the CFL will be complete and I will tune right out of 3DN.

Yes, Calgary does present a bigger obstacle to us than BC.

You have not shown anything that suggests it can't happen. The only thing you have demonstrated is that the standard rookie contract is a 2+1. Nothing in there that states a player can't be extended in his option year. Only that if a team chooses to pick up the option on the 3rd without an extension that there are pay limits in effect. I would be shocked if a team couldn't extend a player in his option year. I can't see how the union would ever let that happen. It would make zero sense. I don't thing you understand the definition of letting a team hang around. Of course, it's not a conscious decision. Letting a team hang around simply means that you didn't play your best game and it allowed an inferior team opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have had.

It will be as vanilla as vanilla can be.

Biggie at WIL to keep him starting but out of the trenches so he doesn't get injured.

I doubt he is mayor for 8 years. From insiders I know in the Manitoba PC party they are fairly convinced that if/when Stefanson gets dumped he will be a strong contender and wants the job. Given that Stefanson is likely leading the party to get routed in the next election, she will likely be pressured out of the leadership. I could see Gillingham taking a run at that time.

Gillingham is a small c conservative, and a guy I wish would have run for the PC leadership. He will make a fine mayor. He is well spoken, not controversial, and isn't a whack a doodle.

Sure both organizations look bad. However, one is risking their season and the other wasn't therefore one team's potential mistake is highly magnified.

I am not even sure how to respond to that. Some games far superior teams let inferior teams hang around all the time. Teams put and take their foot on/off the gas pedal all the time. It is quite literally how most upsets happen.

In one game they kind of played us close. I will admit that much. Same could be said about Ottawa at the beginning of the season.

I just find that kind of argument to be such a straw man argument. If the other team had played better and made more plays when they had the chance they would have won. That is literally the difference between winning and losing in every football game ever played. Nah.... we let them hang around.

Seems you are correct about Kongbo being a FA on his return. However, it is because the Bombers had a handshake agreement to release him after his first season to look at NFL opportunities. Only way he would sign I guess.

Shepley opted out of his option year of 2020 when the season was cancelled. Had 2020 season happened he was obligated to return to the RIders if he wanted to continue in the CFL. All players with their option year landing in 2020 were given that right when the season was cancelled. His rookie contract would have expired at the end of 2020, so you are correct that last year or this year he was a gun for hire if he returned. The option year did not carry over beyond 2020 for those that left for the NFL in their option at the end of 2019. CFL teams retaining rights on those leaving in the option year of their contract is in black and white in the CBA. The CFL had closed the option year window for a number of years and you could only go to the NFL when released, or at the expiry of your contract but a few years ago they put the option window back in under the old terms of teams retaining your rights until the end of your option. They felt this would help recruitment when other pro leagues began to emerge and compete for our prospective players.

He would be required to report under his current contract. I would think at that point the Lions would seriously consider extension but don't have to until the offseason. And we retained his rights after his first NFL foray, he was not a FA on his return to us, his only CFL option that year was us. Desjarlais signed his rookie contract before the 2+1 provision existed. His rookie deal was a 2 year deal.

Yes, he would be BC property if he was signed by the NFL prior to next season, released by the NFL while CFL season was still underway. All 3 left for the NFL as their current CFL contracts were expiring. If they left during their option year NFL window allows, the CFL team maintains their rights for the remainder of the CFL contract. They have 10 days after their release to either get picked up by another NFL team, be placed on a PR, or the contract comes back into effect and they effectively cannot sign elsewhere in the NFL and are expected to return to their CFL team.

Nope. Contract goes back to CFL club if you sign in the NFL window. Kongbo left at the expiry of his contracts. Shepley returned to the RIders after his first NFL try, as they held his rights, and then this time left at the expiration of his contract with the Riders. They are released as a formality.

Thanks for the info, I do believe that the team has the OPTION to sign him to a new contract as long as it represents an extension. Kind of what option year means. If they want to pick up the option on his 3rd year they are also free to do that as well.