We are close to having all the ingredients we need to win the Grey Cup next year. The one thing we do need is a bruising run stoppppping middle line backer.

Beyond that we have just about enough to do it all i.e. along with a little bit of luck and good fortune ... and luck comes from confidence ... 

We need tweaks on the D-Line and receiver ... other than that we just need greater maturity and with it a tiny  touch of swagger

I would not trade either of our first round draft picks (our near term future development) for a player that would improve the club immediately, even for a player like Edmonton's QB Franklin

I would not worry much about the free agent market in February ... just concentrate on keeping what we have ... with the money we do have for free agency concentrate it, spend it on Canadians with promise, not on potential Canadian has-beens

The two missing ingredients are a MLB and growing maturity ... that will get us there

8 hours ago, BigBlue said:

We are close to having all the ingredients we need to win the Grey Cup next year. The one thing we do need is a bruising run stoppppping middle line backer.

Beyond that we have just about enough to do it all i.e. along with a little bit of luck and good fortune ... and luck comes from confidence ... 

We need tweaks on the D-Line and receiver ... other than that we just need greater maturity and with it a tiny  touch of swagger

I would not trade either of our first round draft picks (our near term future development) for a player that would improve the club immediately, even for a player like Edmonton's QB Franklin

I would not worry much about the free agent market in February ... just concentrate on keeping what we have ... with the money we do have for free agency concentrate it, spend it on Canadians with promise, not on potential Canadian has-beens

The two missing ingredients are a MLB and growing maturity ... that will get us there

And we could have had Taylor Reed for free when Calgary cut him.

1 hour ago, tracker said:

And we could have had Taylor Reed for free when Calgary cut him.

I feel like he probably would have required a salary 

 

Finding a shut-down MLB isn't as easy as it sounds, just look how many candidates the Riders scrolled through before they settled on Henoc.  I tend to think it's more "system fault" than personnel at this point.  A year of watching Hurl in Hall's D confirms that Bass did much better in that role this year and even having Solly in that position wouldn't change things much unless the scheme is updated to adjust to his talent.

Wish Reed would have come back to us in the 1st place back in 2014, instead of going to Hamilton.  He was on our PR in 2013 but we released him so he could sign with the Dallas Cowboys.

Don't kid yourself about being close. What I saw from both Calgary and Ottawa yesterday were two teams head and shoulders above everyone else.

Anybody else fear we're never going to win a Grey Cup?

1 hour ago, pigseye said:

Don't kid yourself about being close. What I saw from both Calgary and Ottawa yesterday were two teams head and shoulders above everyone else.

That same Ottawa Redblack team that had lost to Winnipeg,  Saskatchewan and Montreal this season? 

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

That same Ottawa Redblack team that had lost to Winnipeg,  Saskatchewan and Montreal this season? 

I'd probably argue the Ottawa team we saw yesterday was not the same team the Bombers beat... not sure about Sask and Mtl though...

4 minutes ago, bearpants said:

I'd probably argue the Ottawa team we saw yesterday was not the same team the Bombers beat... not sure about Sask and Mtl though...

Nor was that Calgary team the one that ran through the regular season. It's the CFL man, one game anything, absolutely anything can happen. Ottawa caught Calgary with their pants down. Stamps bought the hype and Ottawa used the "you got no chance in hell" talk as motivation. 

6 hours ago, bearpants said:

I feel like he probably would have required a salary 

 

Aw, come on. I'm sure if we pooled our Canadian Tire money....

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Nor was that Calgary team the one that ran through the regular season. It's the CFL man, one game anything, absolutely anything can happen. Ottawa caught Calgary with their pants down. Stamps bought the hype and Ottawa used the "you got no chance in hell" talk as motivation. 

Ottawa played out of their minds yesterday on all sides of the ball and whoever is responsible for motivating them and getting them to believe they could do it deserves accolades.

11 hours ago, tracker said:

And we could have had Taylor Reed for free when Calgary cut him.

Just adding fuel to the fire here, but I think Solomon Elimiminien is a pending free agent as well.

42 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

Just adding fuel to the fire here, but I think Solomon Elimiminien is a pending free agent as well.

I would bet Elimimien is going nowhere.

25 minutes ago, tracker said:

I would bet Elimimien is going nowhere.

Solomon wants to stay in BC. Buono wants Eli to stay. However, all teams will be crunching numbers in the new CFL and their one year contracts. So, it will be interesting all over the CFL this year.

For example, this is one of Marquay McDaniel's latest tweets: 

Marquay McDaniel @_McDaniel16
People keep saying you'll get them next year. A lot of us are free agents, it won't be the same next year. Look at the panthers

But, I do agree with your sentiment. They will want to find a spot for Elimimian.

8 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Anybody else fear we're never going to win a Grey Cup?

Ottawa 40 years.