On 2025-12-10 at 12:26 AM, SpeedFlex27 said:

That's the 2018-2022 Walters. This version isn't even a shadow of his former self. He has chosen not to spend $$$. I don't know why as he has the resources to do so if he wants to. We'll see how he does this coming February. 

Couldn't agree more. At one time Walters was aggressive and creative in acquiring and keeping talent, now he just shrugs his shoulders as they go to other teams. Just this offseason he stated that the Bombers don't renegotiate contracts. Why the hell not?  People blame MOS for being overly loyal yet have crickets to say about that very telling GM flaw.

On 2025-12-09 at 9:11 PM, wbbfan said:

Walter’s who brought us two extremely strong draft classes back to back, a couple great canadian talent trades, and a bumper crop of rookies like vaval, allen, woodbey, and the rookie ends who dominated in their one game. The same who already has us with the next group of high end imp ol in rando, who would’ve been an acclaimed all star on any other play off team maybe gotten nfl looks, and vanterpool who barely played but was our best ol when he did. 

The huge majority of the problem lays at the feet of mos. Walters hasn’t been perfect by any means, but we’ve seen him have the best free agent periods in the league while here when he has money to spend. He’s handed out some over pays for sure. And we’ve lost guys. But the team from top to bottom was in a maintain stage. If we are really in a re tool phase and it sure looks like we are, I wouldn’t pick any other gm in the league to do the job over him. 

Walters who saw us go from the elite team to pretender wears the bottom line for all of it. He is the boss. Everything that is done in our organization falls on him. If Osh's handling of the roster is costing us, that's on Walters to address. You guys just want to hand the guy whose responsibility it is to have a championship roster a free pass and that's BS.

He has not provided a championship calibre roster. If your measure of his success is that a couple DE's played great in an exhibition game, Woodbey, and Allen then it's no wonder he's getting this free pass. Talent lost FAR outweighs talent brought in thus our decline. We can say he was in roster maintenance mode, but again that's not what good GM's do and money is only an object if you do boneheaded things like pay a RB 250k and couple it with an over the hill QB making 600k. Is that on MOS too.  As for money to spend, that's entirely and 100% Walters doing or undoing if you will. He controls the SMS and how it's spent.

I still can't believe people are still trying to justify the crap job our front office has done over the past three years with last year being an absolute abomination. Vaval, Allen, Woodbey are a bare minimum for any team for an offseason. 

That being said I think Walters is a top notch GM when he applies himself. I think he got fat and sassy the past few years.  I trust he can rebuild, what I don't trust is his recognition of need to do so. He has been far too happy to let talent go over the past several years without bringing equal amounts of talent back. That has to change....like right freaking now.

7 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

It's such a silly change. If you want to let teams pay to win (or try to) just do it. Make the top end of the cap a soft cap and make teams pay for it. 

This rule was written specifically for the Toronto Argos when they were spending like drunken sailors for a couple years. That's my theory anyway.

19 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Yep, the only limit is that the team has to be able to justify the amount of marketing money being paid to a player.  If BC was allowed to give Rourke 200k, the Bombers should have no problems giving Brady a good chunk either.  

There is a kind of loose justification every team must give the league for the marketing money. According to most reports I've read about the justification to the league it is pretty close to "trust me bro".

2 hours ago, Booch said:

Ouch....pass.....Unless bonus laden or marketing not against the cap

Having almost 1 million tied into ZC and who knows what we are gonna get....and in BO who last 2 yrs has been a bit of an injury concern...as he been playing not 100 percent alot....thats almost crippling...Especially of ZC is just continuing on the blah trajectory and BO is battling injuries again

You can get a FA back for half that at most...or a entry level guy at a quarter of the cost and get just as good production,

As I stated in my last post, SMS impact is my secondary concern on this proposed contract. Almost all of the 3 year contracts being signed now in the CFL are done so that there is a large portion of year 3 guaranteed. That could be a disaster SMS wise down the road. If he wasn't a RB I wouldn't hate it as much, but you and I both know 3 years for a RB is like signing a receiver and offering him guaranteed money in year 10. The odds are higher that the contract will hamper than they are of it working out.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

Walters is doing the same thing he has since we became an elite team. He goes looking for underappreciated players that he can get for 'reasonable' price that he hopes will take the next step. When they work out, he's a great GM, when they don't he isn't.

Name one that worked out in the past 5 years.

16 hours ago, Bubba Zanetti said:

Take this for whats its worth, a friend of mine knows a person very close to Oliveira and he was told today that the Bombers are close to signing Brady to a 3 year 900K contract. Story is if the Bombers wont/dont, then the Argos will.

Without even looking at the 900k, this would be a horrible idea. 3 year contracts are now negotiated so that the player gets some guaranteed money. A RB should NEVER have guaranteed money 3 years down the road. NEVER. Couple that with 900k and you've got a contract that is an absolute farce. If some of that is marketing money, that's great and reduces the 900k part but if any of that contract (being a 3 year deal) is guaranteed that is a very, very bad contract. RBs have a short and unpredictable shelf life that should never see a guaranteed amount in year 3. 

1 hour ago, Booch said:

I actually couldnt agree more..The boot to the plums the Three got was well needed to kick start things

The bolded part....if done...and done right I dont think we even see a hiccup and are right back at the top next yr...sadly if this was the mantra since the end of 2023...we probably win 2024 and were back last yr

Biggest off-season for us in a decade...lets hope we get it right...

Biggest offseason in a decade was last offseason and they screwed it up pretty badly, this is the most urgent offseason in a decade though, and I really hope they understand that.

37 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Not for me.  I don't want to be stuck in the city on a Friday - I want to be at the lake.

I used to love the Thursday games too.

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No, not a single thank you. Typical of TSN. They did the same thing to Chris Schultz. He just never existed. As far as Barker goes, Shallow insight?? Out of touch opinions??? He's the Argo GM now so his opinions count for a lot. What did you actually expect, a Rhodes Scholar?? What does Daviss Sanchez bring to the group on the panel?? Absolutely nothing. 

And who got rewarded instead of being fired for doing such a lousy job??? Kyle Walters. It's not the Canadian Mafia naymore. It's a plush country club. Where no one is accountable & they'll all have a job as long as Wade Miller is in charge. Absolutely no accountability. What in the world has Walters done to rate three more years? 

I am in agreement on Walters performance. He has overseen a massive talent decline since 2021. I wanted him gone this offseason as well and am not particlularly happy he is back. That being said, he's who we got, and from 2013-2020 he did a pretty decent job. He needs to get back to that and I will be happy. If he repeats the same failures as the past few years we are in trouble.

I am hoping the Canadian mafia got a big dose of reality this season and enter this offseason understanding that the work needs to be put in, and that we must utilize all potential advantages in order to win. Walters can't sit back and not be active this offseason, must make tough decisions on players even if it pisses MOS off, and MOS must be willing to utilize the naturalized import rule, and say goodbye to some of the guys he has favored for too long. If we do that we can start climbing up the hill again....maybe even rapidly. It seems to me that they got too comfortable and forgot that winning is more than running it back.

1 hour ago, Booch said:

I'd go as far to say any position this coming yr....open competition across the board...I not saying go all rookies/new guys, but nobody should be a defacto starter like previous yrs regardless if they were here last  YR...2...3...4 YRS.....

Agreed, but at some of the other positions we will have guys pencilled in, not every guy. but certainly we will have guys that are unlikely to be beat out in camp. 

29 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I actually like the pick up of Stewart. He projects as a strong run-blocking RT. He hasn't played in the CFL in the regular season yet, but hes a big, mobile, nasty, strong pedigree in the run game, and is still young. 

I see a lot of Yoshi in Stewart, which I'm sure the other teams who've brought him in and had him around saw too. Love bringing this guy into camp to work with Marty. Maybe you look at sliding Rando to LT if big stan retires or moves inside. Probably means Lofton is done here. Sure makes it look like the OL will be more of a battle than it's been in a long time for camp. 

 

https://www.thedraftnetwork.com/2023/12/22/tairiq-stewart-scouting-report-nfl-draft-2024

https://ncataggies.com/sports/football/roster/tairiq-stewart/3801

 

I would say no one playing in the trenches, or at IMP receiver should feel like they are pencilled in this year. What we saw from those groups was abysmal and if we don't pull out all stops to have our best camp competition in years at these positions we are not going to improve.

4 minutes ago, Mike said:

If you’re offering Hutchings a deal that makes him a top 3 paid DT, he’ll be taking a different offer. 
 

Maybe an offer that makes him a top 3 paid defensive player. That’s the kind of deal he’s going to sign if he doesn’t go to the NFL.

It's going to take a boat load of cash. I'd rather spend that boat load on a generational NAT DL than BO though. Hutchings could be the Doug Brown of our DL for many years to come.

41 minutes ago, Booch said:

My opinion...where he's at currently...what he posses' skill-set wise and his ceiling still to be realized...he's the marquee guy in FA and a top guy to target

I have my doubts he makes it to FA BUT IF HE DOES Kyle Walters needs to be on it and not acting like Sleepy Joe Mack.

13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It's not how many we lose. It's who we lose.

It's not who we lose, it's how we adjust to losing them. Over the past several years we have bled NAT talent and replaced them with no one. We can sustain the loss of top NAT FA's if we go out and bring in other top NAT FA's. What we can't do is let top notch talent of any ilk go and not be aggressively pursuing talent back in return. Last year I really feel our offseason was one of the worst I can remember from a GM of the Bombers. It was really, really bad. We lost 2 NAT all stars in FA, probably the league's top receiver, and a bunch of decent depth guys and brought back ham and eggers to try make up for it. I was optimistic before the season because I'm a Bomber fan,  but my gut was telling me that KW did not really give us much of a chance to succeed last year. 

This year, even if we lose a BO/Demski or both, we can still come out as a better team if KW does his job properly.

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Gittens? Speaking of free agents... This is Kyle Walters we're talking about. We all know DT is another position we need to majorly upgrade. Jaylon Hutchings was a CFL All Star in calgary. My expectation is the bar won't be set very high. We have no chance of signing him but hey, we all know that Walters & Osh will bring back Jake. 

All depends on what Kyle Walters we get, The 2013-2020 KW that hoovered up top FA's with consistency OR the 2021 -2025 KW that swung and missed on just about every FA signing even though they were few and far between. 

20 hours ago, bigg jay said:

And now the numbers are out: $455,300 in hard money & maxes out at $509,300 so yeah I'd say he did the team a favour.

https://3downnation.com/2025/12/06/trevor-harris-contract-details-with-saskatchewan-roughriders-for-2026-cfl-season/

 

Not much of one. 509k is what he is worth. Not a discount. At the end of the day he's a 40+ year old QB. That comes with considerable risk to his team despite performance.

15 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I believe the cap is going up again substantially. By how much, who knows? This time, Walters better be prepared & quit blaming the CFLPA for everything. 

I can agree with that. If we see a massive increase to actual SMS for player salaries then numbers change accordingly

23 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Which two premium nats are making it to free agency do you think?

There will be several. Always is.

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Oliveira was the heir apparent to Harris. It was obvious that he was losing it as he got older. He definetly lost a step at the end of his career. We don't have an heir apprent ar RB or QB. If we let him walk then we'll have another huge hole. Yes, you will lose STH's as we'll lose more than win. Just look west to Calgary. They let their veterans leave. They went from a team drawing 25-30000 a game to 12000-19000 a game. Fans were pissed off. I see the same scenario here starting to happen with the Bombers if Brady leaves. .

I guess we differ in our belief of how important BO is to us winning. 

16 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

You need to keep your star players. Someone like Brady is needed to sell tickets. If he leaves they could lose as substtantial amount of STH's. Other teams have kept their marquis players. Walters has to figure it out. 

They won't lose a substantial amount of season tix. We didn't when Harris left town and we won't if BO does. Losing games does that, not losing players.

If we use that money to sign players that excite and help us dominate again we will be standing room only again

12 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Well, the reality is if you don't pay then you lose. If you were a GM you'd be fired in your third year (standard contract) as your team is losing. It's all about winning. And prioritizing whjo you sign. Taking the money designated for Jake Thomas & giving it to someone else in order to keep another.. 

Not how it works at all. I agree you take Jake's money and reassign it. What you don't do is grossly overpay at any position.

We could spend gobs of money on 12 guys and have 40 others on rookie contracts and win exactly zero games.

The most successful teams since SMS started have been vigilant about not overpaying. 

If letting BO go allows us to sign 2 other premium NATs thats just smart GMing

 

30 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

You guys are dinosaurs living in 2021. Salaries are going up & so is the cap. As a team, if you don't go along with it then you lose out. Every team will have to pay as they have marquis players they want to keep. There are players fans belleve don't deserve the $$$ they are asking for but will get it elsewhere.  

Not a dinosaur at all...just good at math. It's an SMS world and it doesn't matter if the cap goes up. When a player is overpaid significantly it weakens the team.

2 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

He talks about it but there's no number in that article. 

Doesn't want to be top 3, so all the means is less than $600K. 

Big difference between $450K and $590K

He got a bump for sure. Unless his agent is the worst in the world he would have to have gotten one.

3 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Counter point on Brady (I agree on the cost over replacement argument), he's a premium Canadian talent and we are really lacking in that area.

Agreed. Which is why I have stated as a caveat to what I am saying that if we are not signing him that money must go directly to upgrading our starting NATs at skill positions or on the OL. The number for BO being bandied about right now is 300k. If we do that we are blowing our brains out on SMS.

20 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No kidding, Brady loses touches if we're behind. All running backs have that happen. It doesn't mean that we don't pay. Oliveira's a tank. He responds to more work. So, if we have a lead in the fourth qurter, we unleash the running attack & he controls the game wearing down opoosition defenses. Last year, we had a dumbass OC who never used him properly all season long. Like I said, we lose Oliveira it's a clear sign that this is a cheap organization. That they don't spend any money, on other teams or on our free agents. One other question, just what is astronomical when it comes to salary with Lawler, Hatcher, Zach, Harris, & Philpott??

Cost over replacement. That is what makes his cost astronomical. Other RBs at 150k put up very similar numbers to BO last year. I agree Zach is currently overpaid as many QBs in a QB driven league are. Apples and oranges. What makes Lawler, Hatcher, and Philpott different? Cost over replacement. You can't replace the impact those 3 have for any cheaper. BO you can. That's not a slight on BO, just the historical fact when it comes to RBs both in Canada and the NFL. They play a position that there are more good RBs than there are teams to play for. You are trying to employ the same supply and demand across all position groups to justify BO's money and that just is not reality.

Just now, wbbfan said:

100%. This is the best contract situation he's been in in ages, and very, very likely his last ever contract. But I don't think he will end up with a stupid deal.

This whole off-season is gonna end up like the wild west anyway. Montreal is maybe the most frugal of the successful teams today, and they just spent like drunk sailors. I think every premium FA that hits the market is going to get silly money, and every team will likely have a none qb earning nonesensical money. I don't know why I ever thought teams would do anything different with the cap increase. It's the CFL, of course, they are going to spend like drunk sailors on leave. 

Previously, I thought Brady should be under 220k-ish. Maybe a bit of incentive money on top of that. I'm starting to think that line should be around 235-245k, maybe 250k. Still much more than I'd like to pay for an RB, even if he ends up being the best Canadian back ever (and I think he will.) But I think the market for guys like that is going to jump. If Philpot, etc, reset the market with the increased cap, someone may well offer Brady 280-320k. If he hits free agency, I don't think he will be back. Really makes me curious to what guys like demski, kramdi and allen will get. 

Im not willing to go a dollar over 250k for BO, and that is stupid money, but he's a home town guy. Honestly, I don't like mega contracts for RBs in the CFL. It's not a running league. The ONLY time a RB should be compensated like that is if you have a young QB just starting out, or you have a QB like Chris Streveler that is weak in the passing game.  My objection to BO's contract with us is that it makes the two men standing behind centre too expensive. If we had a 350-400k QB....great let's do it.....but with a 600k QB you just can't make your behind centre tandem 900k of your cap.

4 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

He took less last year and talked about taking less so they could afford others.

Last year he had the Kevin Glenn label to shake off. This year no such luck for the Riders methinks.