gbill2004

This is THE story of the off season. I nominate you to follow the brewing O'Shea vs Hall fight and keep us updated as things progress. I'm hearing rumors that Hall is about to be fired because of a power struggle between O'Shea and Hall over Kuale....oh wait has he been hired yet? lol

Thanks Rids. This is a nice summary that clarifies Quinn Everett's situation.

Weren't all those guys pending FAs in a couple months though? He released Marcus Ball last offseason when Ball had a year left on his deal, I think. If so, that's actually a perfect example of what I'm talking about. If that wasn't the case, for the sake of this discussion, let's just pretend it was. You shouldn't have to rip up a guy's contract to allow him to pursue the NFL. I understand now. Could just be a thing where the CFL contract rolls over until when/if the player returns to the CFL. With Ball, if he ever returned to the CFL he'd still have one year left on his contract. Dollar value might need to be renegotiated though, depending on player value at the time he returns.

Weren't all those guys pending FAs in a couple months though?

I thought the Bombers retained his rights because of his CIS eligibility last year.It's not automatic, player still has to clear waivers and be placed on team's negotiation list as far as I know. The waiver process is more of a formality though. The player usually wants to go back to school in these cases. The CFL really should get together and adjust this and the idea of allowing teams to own player rights when they go to the NFL. Allow teams to protect their assets. So you're saying David Foucault, who the Als drafted, is a free agent now? Pretty sure that's not the case.No ... I was just mentioning it as an aside from the draft. Situations where teams could allow players to test the NFL in the offseason knowing if they left and wanted to come back to the CFL, the team that allowed them to leave would retain the rights (or even put in place some kind of restricted free agency) Still not sure I'm following. Would Ian Wild be an example of what you're getting at? Or Henoc last year?

I thought the Bombers retained his rights because of his CIS eligibility last year.It's not automatic, player still has to clear waivers and be placed on team's negotiation list as far as I know. The waiver process is more of a formality though. The player usually wants to go back to school in these cases. The CFL really should get together and adjust this and the idea of allowing teams to own player rights when they go to the NFL. Allow teams to protect their assets. So you're saying David Foucault, who the Als drafted, is a free agent now? Pretty sure that's not the case.

I thought the Bombers retained his rights because of his CIS eligibility last year.

He talks like he expects to be on the team next season, and that frightens me, it frightens me a lot....The good news is that Richie Hall cut Kuale when he was with the Riders.

@EJKUALE: Richie Hall is a Good Look in Winnipeg!

There was a bit of that, struggling to find a block that could be attributed to poor work by the line as a whole. But Greaves just got plain beat physically and knocked right into the backfield far too often. Major regression from what he had shown the previous couple seasons. We saw Goossen at guard, and yes he can't block well enough to play there for any length of time without our QB getting killed. That's exactly my point. We don't have a surplus of guards or "interior" guys because at least two of those guys (Goossen and Picard) can't block consistently enough to play anywhere but centre where they won't get isolated 1 on 1 with a defensive lineman very often.I don't think you're giving Goossen a fair shot. I recall him getting beat a few times last year, but they were mostly mental mistakes that can be corrected with experience. He has the ability and will only get better. With a year under his belt now, we will see him improve this year. I think he'd be a very good guard with more seasoning. Your statement that he just can't play guard is unfair in my opinion.

@garylawless: Richie Hall has a contract in hand and #bombers are just waiting for it to be returned before announcing him as new DC #cfl

As the Bombers first pick, I'm liking Groulx, Waud or Durant. As others have mentioned, a lot will depend on free agency (i.e. if we get Heenan than maybe no need for Groulx). Either way, looks like a lot of OL talent in the first couple rounds. Looks like this year the Bombers could get a Goossen-type talent at OL with their second pick. I'm also very interested to see what the Bombers do with Quinn Everet this season. Hearing he had a very good season this past year. I believe he projects as a guard.

As I mentioned earlier, he got a standard severance package when he was fired. Heard it was in the half a year range.

Uh huh. Don't travel much to the US do you? Fly from WPG to NYC and you're looking at basically a full day and over a thousand bucks, due to the connections in TO or MPLS or MON or CHI. Whereas you can fly from Calgary (much further west) to NYC direct most of the year in 6 hours and 400 bucks. Fly from LA to WPG takes at least half a day. At least one connection. LA to Calgary is 3 hours, nonstop, and way cheaper. Not saying WPG is a travel backwater but its certainly not an easy or affordable place to leave. Not true. I just took a flight to LA in June, connected in Denver. Left at 8 AM local, arrived at 12 PM local (6 hours total) I'd consider 6 hours pretty much half a day.

@sskroughriders: #Riders HC Corey Chamblin is expected to name a Defensive Coordinator early next week.

@sportscage: Riders to name DC next week. MTL LB coach Greg Quick had a very strong interview with SK this week.

Etch to the Riders? lol

So Etch to the Riders? lol

According to Farhan Lalji, Benevides has turned down both the Bombers and Riders DC offers. Will focus on family this year.

I was reading that Benevides is taking his time to decide on the Riders offer due to "personal family considerations". Apparently he has a child with special needs, and Winnipeg's Children's Hospital is attractive to him. Regina doesn't have a Children's Hospital.

Don't think anyone was expecting the second coming of Chris Walby. I see him being given every opportunity to win a spot to start at RT.

Yep that's what I recall as well. I think he'll be a solid tackle.

According to Lawless the Bombers are high on him.

Devin Tyler vs Kevin Durant: http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/03/kevin-durant-tries-to-get-past-cfl-offensive-lineman-devin-tyler-it-doesnt-go-well/

This is likely the end of Glenn January.