GCn20

Well we knew the Riders were going to sign players at one point because they can't scout and are quite a bit short of a full roster. Just glad most of the signing are there own fringe players and other teams castoffs. Glad they didn't use the money to improve their club. Hall (if he can re-adapt to the CFL game) replaces Foley so that's a wash, and Emry was about as good as Kilgore last year. Despite some trumpeting by Rider fans today, I fail to see the improvement. Imo, they have done nothing to make themselves a better club thus far this offseason.

Great news for the Bombers!!

I was hoping he would re-sign with them. I am now hopeful he plays.

****! Didn't realize he was even available. Wonder why the Bombers didn't pursue? We gave him a "no thank you" late in the season this year. His asking price was insane. It's funny now that I read reports that we were after him in the Regina media. If so, we could have had him already, Not just Regina media: Kirk Penton @PentonKirk #Roughriders sign defensive end Alex Hall. The #Bombers were hoping to snag him. #CFL I stand corrected. Odd, because last year during one of the games shortly after Hall's NFL release, Irving commented that the Bombers had been in touch with Hall about possibly coming back and were floored by his asking price. He wanted a salary equivalent to John Chick. (We have since learned that is 200k per year), so the Bombers backed away. Wonder what changed? Did Alex reduce his asking price significantly or did we just have more money to spend this year? Could be neither I suppose and the Riders gave him his ridiculous ask. I would love to hear what the Riders are paying him.

****! Didn't realize he was even available. Wonder why the Bombers didn't pursue? We gave him a "no thank you" late in the season this year. His asking price was insane. It's funny now that I read reports that we were after him in the Regina media. If so, we could have had him already,

The funny part is we really didn't spend that much for five players.

My question to the detractors saying we overspent is simple. How much do you think we spent? Is 160k too much for an AllStar LT. I think most non-idiots would agree it isn't. Is 138k too much for a veteran rotational defense/ST Ace NI? I think the market has clearly shown that is the going rate? Do they think that the rest cost us much? I doubt they were very expensive at all. Where's the big splurge they are criticizing us for? Where is the big spend? I'm not seeing it. We took a 20k cap hit on Bryant over January, we took a 50-60k cap hit on Hurl over a complete ham and egger we would have lined up instead of him, and I doubt we took any cap hit at all on the rest of our signings...if we did they were negligible. Where's the big spend? I see spending...but I see smart spending. All together I see an extra cap hit of around 100k. That is a very reasonable number considering the improvements we made. Take the money we will save by dumping Morley now, and we have an even lower cap hit.

I wonder if there is a trade to be made for Gaydosh? Draft pick perhaps? Combo of draft picks?

We're getting to the point where we're probably at one or two more pieces then we call it a free agency. Like I said two days ago, I still feel we need to leave enough room on our roster to allow our scouting to pay dividends as well. We shouldn't be filling every hole in free agency. I'd like to see us get two of Curran, Peters and Sears. At most. Sounds about right.

Terrible news on SVR. Gotta get Bryant now or the day is a bust.

Just excellent news. He was one of the three guys on my wishlist.

Sooo....you are saying there will be no draft news until May? Darn it....thought we had a real inside track going here.

Yea....I'm in a meeting for most of the day and the courtesy internet they provided is blocking the chat room.

I suspect we see a big OL signing, a couple medium type purchases, and a good value pick or two.

January would be an ideal candidate to stay with the club in some capacity.

MY picks above in bold.

Agree with this x1000. LT with CFL experience has to be a priority. Maybe a starting and some depth Canadians, at decent prices. There's tremendous resistance to starting a rookie (no matter how good they look in practice) at the expense of a veteran with a large salary/bonus. No GM wants to look like he signed a contract that has become a sunk cost (see: BANKS, Korey). I don't think we need to worry about contract size determining who plays. Banks is living proof of that. I have no problem with the Bombers shopping in FA only to find better in scouting. As long as the signings don't come with a big upfront payment let's go shopping. I do realize that the upper level FA's will require big upfront bonuses but guys like Bryant etc aren't really an issue to start I wouldn't think. It's the medium class that we need to be wary of.

I agree. Next to us, BC may be the team with the most need along their OL. They definitely could use a Centre. Surprised they didn't offer some resistance for us on Picard.

Carl Volny?

Jones name didn't come up as often as Heenan because Taman announced that Heenan was testing the market and because it was widely assumed that Jones would either go NFL or re-sign with the Stamps prior to FA. However, there is little doubt that Jones is a HUGE fish in a small pond. He will be the highest paid OL in the league for whatever team signs him. 300k? Yea....that's a number that could be realistic.

He is a nice kid, he went to high school with my daughter. I hope he gets a great opportunity. He is 23 and will be a good player for a long time in this league. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love to see him come back home and play here. I have a feeling that he will stay in Calgary. Huff is anything but dumb, he can see what he has in Jones. I can see the Stamps being very aggressive in trying to keep him. I would think that Huf and the Stamps have the inside track for sure.

I know some people are skeptical about how strongly we may pursue players this year in FA, but I believe we will see a real push this year. The Grey Cup does not come to our yard very often and I think the Bomber brass has the green light to spend and I think they have been positioning our team for the big spend for over a year now.

You are assuming that there were actually Heenan dollars to spend. Taman said in his interview after Heenan signed in the NFL, that he was going to outbid anyone for Heenan but that it would have had major effects on his current roster had he done so. I think you are probably right. Taman would have had Heenan's contract money from last year and additional money from sms going up but I believe if Jones comes here someone will have to go or not be resigned to make room for him. If nothing else, I hope Taman drives the price up for the stamps, they've done it to us in the past. If Jones hits FA, Taman won't be the only one driving up the price.

You are assuming that there were actually Heenan dollars to spend. Taman said in his interview after Heenan signed in the NFL, that he was going to outbid anyone for Heenan but that it would have had major effects on his current roster had he done so.

I think that the Bombers and Ottawa will be the two busiest teams of FA day. If that is your definition of active then definitely those two teams will have the most calls in to the most players. Who is the most successful....well we shall see. The only teams I see as not being potential players are Hamilton and the Riders. However, if Taman sees someone he likes he may blow the wad and trim salary elsewhere.