GCn20

Funny that those same guys who fought Harris are long gone out of the league, and Harris is now their coach. The O'Day/Dickie years were a gong show.

In some spots I agree. Out classed? That;s ridiculous. Out coached...for sure...at times. That being said all signs point to the Bombers recognizing the need for some roster makeover, so let's see what happens.

Retaining Stan Bryant, Adam Bighill in his prime, Andrew Harris in his prime, BO in his prime, Schoen and Lawler last year, etc. etc. etc. were part of our failure? I get that you don't like how long we hang onto some guys. but my point is that we have attracted a lot of stud players, and retained almost all the studs we developed. To suggest we are some also-ran in the FA game is a gross exaggeration. We are a team that is able to attract FA's if we decide to go that route. This year, we should go that route. No doubt about it. Walters has said we will be active, I expect we will be. Is Walters crying poor right now? Yep...as is every other GM because they are all trying to get the best deals on retaining their own pending FAs. I think Walters makes some big splashes in the pool this year. We haven't done it in a few years, but over his tenure he has made some big moves when we needed it. Not sure if McManis is a guy they are targeting, but if he is, I think we will definitely be in the mix.

It's January 20th, relax. For all we know he's got his guy already and it just isn't announced yet. As for the CFLPA gradings, I think we did pretty good. No red flags there. Where we scored high on them are in the areas of importance, and where we scored lower was on the nit-picky issues. You got your poop tied in a knot about OC, but it could very well be that our new guy has asked for time first before the announcement. CFL staffs do not regularly report for work until the end of February. I understand the trepidation about not knowing who will command our offence as a fan, but realistically we don't need to rush this process.

Andrew Harris the football player was too good for the Riders, Andrew Harris the human being shaping young players minds for the Riders....perfect fit.

Over the past several years we have had absolutely no problem attracting high profile players here and have done an outstanding job of retaining our own. I have no reason to believe that any players do not view us a desirable destination. The ONLY one...nope....but certainly agents and players listen when we call and that is irrefutable.

No doubt. It`s literally taught right from Pop Warner.

Nah.,...he was one of the bus drivers of that stigma in recent times. He has to wear it because he was impactful in it's creation. No player wears the modern time locker room problem that the RIders are an undisciplined bunch of prima donnas more than Darian Durant. He was a chief architect of their locker room spiral that they still can't figure out how to correct. However, I do agree that being a Rider, at any time, is problematic. He was outright begging for a job with them this offseason, but Bomber legend Harris got it instead....OUCH! That's gotta hurt hey Darian? Coincidentally, Harris has also gone to the one place they will polish the knob unconditionally. Ego-maniacs and narcissists just love the Rider fan base. Not suggesting that DD or AH are either of those, but I'm not saying they aren't either.

Walters cannot possibly commit to blowing the wad while he tries to get value for every dollar up to the verge of FA. He will spend once that door opens until then he would be foolish to say that he has dollars to spend. Nah....I feel sorry for him. He has to live his life as Darian Durant.

There was a lot of discussion, before his injury, about him being very much in the conversation for MOP. He was having a good season. We don't need to throw dirt on Nichols around here and I'm not sure why people are hell bent on re-writing history about him. He played great in 2019. Would he have gotten us a Grey Cup in '19 if he stays healthy? We will never know but it can't be ruled out. Matt left everything out on the field for us and we owe him at least the dignity of not fabricating history about him. He got hurt and it ended his time here when Collaros came to town. Who knows what may have been if he stays healthy.

Yes...and I wouldn't expect any HC to publicly say anything else.

No surprise there. Gotta shoot the wad on a home Grey Cup

How does history tell us we can't sign both? We literally signed both just last year. Biggie will be back if he accepts a rotational role. If not...I doubt we sign him.

Debatable, although Milligan was very good.

He has many prime years left. Not too old at all. Granted for every year older they want to see some refinement in your game, but if he shows he can play he is certainly not too old by NFL standards.

Yea....I think Ford was one of the top 5 defensive players overall in our conference. Add NAT to that and his loss would be huge.

I can see both Lawler and Schoen being much cheaper this year than last so I am hopeful both return. One is coming off a signficant injury and is unlikely to be ready the first month of the season, and the other had decreased production and a 2nd consecutive year of significant time loss. I can't see how either would be making what they made before. However, the market will dictate I suppose. Not before Labor Day. Will be a welcome addition back tho.

Wilson is gone to the NFL.

Great replacement for Wilson. Well done Kyle.

There is limited time under the CBA to do so without robbing reps from other guys. It's a balancing act. We brought in Dolegala at a time that left us very constricted with what we could expect. Dolegala being a pocket passer offered very limited skills without knowing the playbook well and having reps. He is not a scrambler or a guy that can go sand lot. In retrospect given our timelines it would probably have been wiser to bring in a different vet.

Yes, it is difficult. Arbuckle was about as good a backup as anyone though with the exception of Vernon Adams.

That is true. Not bringing in an adequate veteran backup was a big mistake.

How many people here think we stay with Collaros if Streveler was available? Imo, if anyone thinks that who was available behind Collaros wasn't a massive factor in this decision then they are being biased.

Allstar NAT talent is not easily replaceable at any position. I realize we have a head scratching use of the ratio, but that just speaks to our ability to recruit and RETAIN NAT talent. However, of every one we let walk we lose a ton of flex. Ford is young, improving, and was arguably a top 3 DB in the entire league last year. We gotta do our best to retain him. Yea...he has those kind of skills for sure. Sucks for us if we lose him.

My biggest worry on losing Ford is losing an allstar calibre NAT. At any position you just can't let those walk.