about time to start this thread, and we'll give the first word to Our Man Tait: 
 

 

1 minute ago, Wanna-B-Fanboy said:

Yup, my rage has abated. I had no clue you could score a second rounder in this year's draft- that is not insignificant.

Yes indeed! Today we lament the impending loss of Oleary Orange and crow about the potential in Tui Eli.... both of whom were 4th rounders. More picks in the 2nd is a great thing

I think it's a crazy rule in the first place. 

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Would you rather have a 2 d round draft pick or  grey cup?

I would like both and see no reason we couldn't have had both. The playoffs do not determine the 2nd rounder, it is based on regular season. What part of our regular season let you down? The 1st place finish? What we did with our roster in the post season is completely independent of this. We had secured the extra 2nd rounder before the playoffs started.

Edited January 19, 20242 yr by GCn20

2 hours ago, MOBomberFan said:

 

14-4, first in the West and a championship berth on hard mode! AND a bonus draft pick! Stop bragging!

Precisely why so many of us are angry about how things went down.

12 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I would like both and see no reason we couldn't have had both. The playoffs do not determine the 2nd rounder, it is based on regular season. What part of our regular season let you down? The 1st place finish? What we did with our roster in the post season is completely independent of this. We had secured the extra 2nd rounder before the playoffs started.

Except it's not... no one makes radically different decisions in regular season vs. Post season.

56 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Precisely why so many of us are angry about how things went down.

Except it's not... no one makes radically different decisions in regular season vs. Post season.

Agreed, but a 14-4 record would indicate radically different decisions didn't need to be made.

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

I think it's a crazy rule in the first place. 

It makes no sense. 

If you're not first you're last.

21 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

Seems like there wasn't considerable interest in Brown. Ottawa basically willing to give up a 5th in order to get their QB situation sorted out ahead of free-agency.  Winnipeg took what they could get.

Does anyone know who the team teams are that had the most Canadian snaps last year? Those two teams get an extra 2nd round pick. 

When I read this I was thinking it's hard to imagine the Bombers don't have one of those picks... we basically ignored the nationalize Canadian rule all season...

6 hours ago, Jesse said:

I know we're one of them. Ed Tait slipped it into one of his recent articles. 

Winnipeg now has 10 selections in the 2024 CFL Draft — each of its picks in every round, a bonus in the second round, 20th overall, as a reward for snaps by Canadian players in 2023 and now Ottawa’s fifth-round choice, 40th overall, secured from the Brown trade. The Blue Bombers will pick 8th, 17th, 20th, 28th, 37th, 40th, 46th, 55th, 64th and 73rd overall.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/01/18/dru-brown-traded-to-ottawa-for-draft-pick/

Thanks for the answer Jesse.

Edited January 19, 20242 yr by bearpants

7 hours ago, Jesse said:

I know we're one of them. Ed Tait slipped it into one of his recent articles. 

Winnipeg now has 10 selections in the 2024 CFL Draft — each of its picks in every round, a bonus in the second round, 20th overall, as a reward for snaps by Canadian players in 2023 and now Ottawa’s fifth-round choice, 40th overall, secured from the Brown trade. The Blue Bombers will pick 8th, 17th, 20th, 28th, 37th, 40th, 46th, 55th, 64th and 73rd overall.

https://www.bluebombers.com/2024/01/18/dru-brown-traded-to-ottawa-for-draft-pick/

........gotta be a diamond or two in that bunch......And I know we always pick wisely so Walters will have his cup full and hopefully it brims over

3 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

I’ve thought this for the last 4 years tbh.

A lifetime of watching the Argos and Lions pay anybody and everybody with zero consequence?

Yeah if Bombers are contenders they should go over every year. **** it. 

I think a lot of people league wide forget that this Argos team started out building its resources especially ni talent by over paying to corner the market on lbers. 

BC too, but with DBs and WRs 

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Precisely why so many of us are angry about how things went down.

Except it's not... no one makes radically different decisions in regular season vs. Post season.

Radically different? What constitutes radically different? Changing a NAT for a Naturalized NAT come playoff time is not some epic departure. I agree that not doing that was not the best idea in the playoffs, but it's tough to suggest that doing so in the regular season hurt our chances at a Grey Cup. We finished first in the West. That was our regular season goal. We attained it.

Edited January 19, 20242 yr by GCn20

8 hours ago, MOBomberFan said:

Now that we are being rewarded for it, playing 8 Canadians at times and relying less on the new Nationalized import rules seems like less of a failure to utilize the roster and more of a strategy to lock down a bonus draft pick. Great incentive to play Nationals even when you have Nationalized imports with snaps to spare

What if the salaries of any starting NI over and above the minimum wouldn't count under the salary cap?

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

What if the salaries of any starting NI over and above the minimum wouldn't count under the salary cap?

That’s interesting. I’d love to see some thing like that and maybe the same for globals on the roster in general beyond 1. 

10 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Would you rather have a 2 d round draft pick or  grey cup?

First prize:      Brand new Cadillac SUV. 

Second prize: A new set of steak knives. 

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

What if the salaries of any starting NI over and above the minimum wouldn't count under the salary cap?

That would be a numbers game like any other, and it could work... cap usage is a rolling number that accumulates as the season goes on, an extra column is not that hard to track... teams with the need or desire to free up $ by season's end (maybe bonuses and extensions?) could take advantage and more CanCon gets showcased in the process. Of course it shouldn't come at the cost of winning. Nobody wants to hear we lost but hey at least we saved some cap

The extra second could really come up big the way the bombers might have to manage their cap this season.  Should be able to get 3 quality backups from the draft and a bunch of developmental and special teams guys.  If we end up letting O’Leary Orange and Wolitarsky go for example with a plan to start the receiver we drafted last year to save money we can draft a receiver to backup at rookie salary as well.  Ditto for the offensive line if we let Gray go we’d be in scenario where we’d likely draft one or two backup offensive lineman. Might really have to get creative this season to get all the top players we want signed. 

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

That’s interesting. I’d love to see some thing like that and maybe the same for globals on the roster in general beyond 1. 

I would think that the percentage of the salary that would be forgiven under the cap should reflect what percentage of the snaps that were taken during the season and playoffs.

1 hour ago, Colin Unger said:

The extra second could really come up big the way the bombers might have to manage their cap this season.  Should be able to get 3 quality backups from the draft and a bunch of developmental and special teams guys.  If we end up letting O’Leary Orange and Wolitarsky go for example with a plan to start the receiver we drafted last year to save money we can draft a receiver to backup at rookie salary as well.  Ditto for the offensive line if we let Gray go we’d be in scenario where we’d likely draft one or two backup offensive lineman. Might really have to get creative this season to get all the top players we want signed. 

Gray is a starter & can play multiple positions. We need him.

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Gray is a starter & can play multiple positions. We need him.

He's never been any sort of dominant force that we love to see but he is deceptively strong and verifiably athletic, he plays all across the line, that's not something you discard lightly... size can't be taught... still plenty of time to peak, he's only 29

If we let O'Leary-Orange go, if we let Woli go, if we let Gray go, if we let Schoen & Oliveira go then Colin seems to think we can replace them thru the draft no problem. . If they all go to free agency then we'll be lucky to be a playoff team. And we'll all be wondering what the hell is going on with the salary cap on this team that we can't sign our free agents.

Edited January 20, 20242 yr by SpeedFlex27

7 hours ago, Tracker said:

What if the salaries of any starting NI over and above the minimum wouldn't count under the salary cap?

I’m sorry, but what about the coaches and operations cap makes you think that the CFL wants to increase spending?

18 minutes ago, Jesse said:

I’m sorry, but what about the coaches and operations cap makes you think that the CFL wants to increase spending?

That's the hitch right there, not everyone can afford the extra spending, the field becomes potentially imbalanced again

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Gray is a starter & can play multiple positions. We need him.

He's very replaceable with guys like Tui and Dobsen ready at any moment. There's a reason he's currently unsigned and not mentioned as first priority when they talk about guys like Brady and Schoen.  I don't think that Gray grades out that well in pass protection. He seems to get tricked on what his assignment is too often.

Just now, Colin Unger said:

He's very replaceable with guys like Tui and Dobsen ready at any moment. There's a reason he's currently unsigned and not mentioned as first priority when they talk about guys like Brady and Schoen.  I don't think that Gray grades out that well in pass protection. He seems to get tricked on what his assignment is too often.

Gray's not replaceable. Name me another player who can play Center, Guard or Tackle? As someone said, Gray hasn't reached his peak yet as a player. Thinking draft picks can replace veterans & we keep rolling along is a fallacy.