Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[bigg jay]

12 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Haven’t seen our pending free agents, but if they can I could see wrs not named demski, all the dl we don’t cut, ayers, nichols and maybe even brady taking a long hard look at leaving. Guys like that don’t usually wanna sit around a rebuild, they want to sit on a bad team that won’t decide to rebuild even less. 

Did a quick list based on what I can quickly find from news releases and/or when players signed (I assumed the standard 3 year rookie deals for nationals & 1 year with a team option for a 2nd year with imports unless a specific length was announced).  Might be off on a few and I'm sure the list will dwindle by the time FA officially opens.

• AYERS, Michael
• BONDS, Terrell
• BRYANT, Stanley
• CADWALLADER, Tanner
• CASE, Kody
• CASTILLO, Sergio
• COBB, Gavin
• DEMSKI, Nic
• ELI, Asotui
• GAUTHIER, Shayne
• GRIFFIN II, Michael
• HALLETT, Nick
• HOLM, Evan
• JEFFERSON, Willie
• KELLY, Jake
• KOLANKOWSKI, Chris
• KRAMDI, Redha
• LAWSON, Cameron
• LOFTON, Eric
• MAKONZO, Enock
• MITCHELL, Dillon
• NEUFELD, Patrick
• NICHOLS, Deatrick
• OLIVEIRA, Brady
• PARKER, Jamal
• RANDOLPH, Kendall
• SCHMEKEL, Tanner
• SCHOEN, Dalton
• SHEAHAN, Jamieson
• STERNS, Jerreth
• STREVELER, Chris
• THOMAS, Jake
• VANTERPOOL, Micah
• VAUGHTERS, James
• WHEATFALL, Keric
• WILSON, Kyrie
• WILSON, Terry
• WOODS, Jamal

The following players ended the season on the PR, making them FA's immediately:

Devin Adams, De'Shaan Dixon, Ben Dooley, Matthew Jackson, Jay Person, Hunter Poncius,, Fabian Weitz, AK Gassama, Justin Mayers.
 

[wbbfan]

1 minute ago, bigg jay said:

Did a quick list based on what I can quickly find from news releases and/or when players signed (I assumed the standard 3 year rookie deals for nationals & 1 year with a team option for a 2nd year with imports unless a specific length was announced).  Might be off on a few and I'm sure the list will dwindle by the time FA officially opens.

• AYERS, Michael
• BONDS, Terrell
• BRYANT, Stanley
• CADWALLADER, Tanner
• CASE, Kody
• CASTILLO, Sergio
• COBB, Gavin
• DEMSKI, Nic
• ELI, Asotui
• GAUTHIER, Shayne
• GRIFFIN II, Michael
• HALLETT, Nick
• HOLM, Evan
• JEFFERSON, Willie
• KELLY, Jake
• KOLANKOWSKI, Chris
• KRAMDI, Redha
• LAWSON, Cameron
• LOFTON, Eric
• MAKONZO, Enock
• MITCHELL, Dillon
• NEUFELD, Patrick
• NICHOLS, Deatrick
• OLIVEIRA, Brady
• PARKER, Jamal
• RANDOLPH, Kendall
• SCHMEKEL, Tanner
• SCHOEN, Dalton
• SHEAHAN, Jamieson
• STERNS, Jerreth
• STREVELER, Chris
• THOMAS, Jake
• VANTERPOOL, Micah
• VAUGHTERS, James
• WHEATFALL, Keric
• WILSON, Kyrie
• WILSON, Terry
• WOODS, Jamal

The following players ended the season on the PR, making them FA's immediately:

Devin Adams, De'Shaan Dixon, Ben Dooley, Matthew Jackson, Jay Person, Hunter Poncius,, Fabian Weitz, AK Gassama, Justin Mayers.
 

Awesome list thanks! 
Was holms new deal only 1 year or was that 2 years ago already? 

The lists are soo massive these days. You really have to act quickly and decisively to prevent torpedoing your off season. 

[bigg jay]

11 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Awesome list thanks! 
Was holms new deal only 1 year or was that 2 years ago already? 

The lists are soo massive these days. You really have to act quickly and decisively to prevent torpedoing your off season. 

One year extension for Holm.

https://3downnation.com/2025/01/15/winnipeg-blue-bombers-sign-db-evan-holm-to-one-year-extension/#:~:text=The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have,pound native of Edina%2C Minn.

 

[17to85]

18 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Apparently zach said he wants to play next year with the current core. Doesn’t sound from the quote like the wants to be in a rebuild or tear down next year. 

He also said he has “options” for next year.

Collaros seems to have settled into that comfort zone where he doesn't really care anymore. Was evidenced by the suspension he served. 

There's a whole lot of complacency around this team that needs to get gone. Preseason next year better be an absolute dog fight for spots.

[rebusrankin]

Zach saying he wants the core back is troubling, we need to get better. Gives off the vibe that the vets just want the status quo/they believe they'll be fine.

[Mike]

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Zach saying he wants the core back is troubling, we need to get better. Gives off the vibe that the vets just want the status quo/they believe they'll be fine.

They’re stuck hanging onto the old glory days

[17to85]

15 minutes ago, Mike said:

They’re stuck hanging onto the old glory days

Also why worry about losing jobs or adapting? It just encapsulates everything that is wrong with the team at the moment 

[Goalie]

On O 

new OC and scheme would go along way 

new tackle guard center. (Vanterpool takes one spot there) (Bryant kola neuf are done) 

1 maybe 2 receiver spots. I like pokey Demski sterns and the Canadians. We need an upgrade on Mitchell tho badly. Big time. 
 

QB 2. 
 

most the changes I see are on D. The entire DL. Kyrie Wilson. A couple DBs. Maybe it’s time to find a Canadian kicker. American kicker who only boots fgs is a poor roster spot to waste. 
 

keep. 
 

Zach (pay cut) 

Brady. Peterson. MCI 

Vanterpool Wallace Randolph. 
 

pokey. Sterns. Demski. Clercius. Cobb. Corcoran (he was the rookie) 

Jenkins. Jaworski. KMB 

Shay. Smith. Kramdi. Woodbey. Ayers. 
 

holm. Nichols( maybe, he’s getting older tho) 

I’m not sold on Allen but he can he brought back to compete . 
 

Sheahan can come back. Vaval and Leroux also. I’m missing a bunch of Canadians for sure cuz not like there a million that make it to FA so gotta keep some of the depth but who? Good question. Vibert and guys like that. 

Edited yesterday at 08:43 PM by Goalie

[wbbfan]

2 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Zach saying he wants the core back is troubling, we need to get better. Gives off the vibe that the vets just want the status quo/they believe they'll be fine.

yep, he also said he has options, so maybe it means he is willing to be waived/opt out etc 

[Goalie]

15 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

yep, he also said he has options, so maybe it means he is willing to be waived/opt out etc 

Traded to Ottawa with Elgersma for Dru Brown and an OL but likely means his option is retirement. I wonder if there’s an option to become QB coach here. Zach seems like a guy who could be a coaching candidate. 

Edited yesterday at 09:28 PM by Goalie

[bustamente]

Both lines need a complete overhaul, I think Collaros is done as a Bomber the OC did nothing to warrant being retained. This team has some really good players but the team also has many positions that need to be upgraded. 

[wbbfan]

13 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Traded to Ottawa with Elgersma for Dru Brown and an OL but likely means his option is retirement. I wonder if there’s an option to become QB coach here. Zach seems like a guy who could be a coaching candidate. 

I’d take any of those out comes over running it back yet again. 

As far as trading Id prefer to include manu than elgersma. I love manu, but I’d rather stack it up at qb right now. 

Retiring, Idk who to we would pivot to. I just hope not the pest from toronto 

[Noeller]

I love Dru Brown but his injuries are piling up, and I wouldn't be selling the farm for him at this point...

[BBlink]

Count me out for trading Elgersma. He's the only guy that is really exciting me as a future QB for us. We need to go all in on rebuilding our o line and then pass the torch to Elgersma.

[rebusrankin]

I wonder what Zach options are? Under contract for next year. Is he planning to retire? Ask for a trade?

Agree with @wbbfan, don't want to trade Zach and Elgersma.

Agree with @Noeller on the injury concern with Brown.

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

yep, he also said he has options, so maybe it means he is willing to be waived/opt out etc 

His options are: retire, ask for a trade or play for the Bombers. I do not know who would be interested enough in him to offer a trade of value.

[bigg jay]

9 minutes ago, Tracker said:

His options are: retire, ask for a trade or play for the Bombers. I do not know who would be interested enough in him to offer a trade of value.

Another option: do the team a solid by taking a pay cut so they can spend in FA & get him some help.

[TBURGESS]

Re Zach: Under contract means whatever guaranteed money he has is sunk, but it doesn't mean we have to or even should keep him. He's way overpaid for his performance. 

 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

I love Dru Brown but his injuries are piling up, and I wouldn't be selling the farm for him at this point...

not like we have a ton of horses to pair him with or protect him. Or some great farm to sell. That said, we need to do some thing and options are very few. 

55 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

Re Zach: Under contract means whatever guaranteed money he has is sunk, but it doesn't mean we have to or even should keep him. He's way overpaid for his performance. 

 

His previous deals had very high guaranteed floors too. 

Edited 22 hours ago by wbbfan

[BomberBall.]

5 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Collaros seems to have settled into that comfort zone where he doesn't really care anymore. Was evidenced by the suspension he served. 

There's a whole lot of complacency around this team that needs to get gone. Preseason next year better be an absolute dog fight for spots.

It better be a dog fight, but if this coaching staff is back, it won’t be.  Totally agree about the complacency.

[JuranBoldenRules]

5 hours ago, Mike said:

They’re stuck hanging onto the old glory days

I mean who the **** cares?  Teammate doesn't throw his buddies under the bus.  The only say he should have on personnel is how he feels about certain receivers and just advisory for the personnel guys in free agency or deciding whether to bring guys back.  Doesn't seem like they've done him that courtesy lately based on what's on our roster today.

[wbbfan]

“(In training camp) we repped a lot of things that we didn’t rep during the season. I didn’t get a lot of reps with the guys who were playing. My situation put us in jeopardy there with the suspension and trying to manage that. I think it’s getting reps — reps with the players, reps with what concepts do we like? On second-and-six, second-and-five with the game on the line, what are we going to call because we know we can execute the play? I don’t know if we had that this year, so getting good at something, I think, matters

https://3downnation.com/2025/11/02/zach-collaros-frustrated-by-2025-season-but-plans-to-play-for-winnipeg-blue-bombers-in-2026/

 

That all tracks, but boy is that a pile of red flags. No wonder our go tos ended up being old holdovers from lapo/buck and why zach couldn’t build a repoire with any one this year. And yeah as has been said ad nauseam, the concepts we ran were trash. 

[SpeedFlex27]

17 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Did a quick list based on what I can quickly find from news releases and/or when players signed (I assumed the standard 3 year rookie deals for nationals & 1 year with a team option for a 2nd year with imports unless a specific length was announced).  Might be off on a few and I'm sure the list will dwindle by the time FA officially opens.

• AYERS, Michael
• BONDS, Terrell
• BRYANT, Stanley
• CADWALLADER, Tanner
• CASE, Kody
• CASTILLO, Sergio
• COBB, Gavin
• DEMSKI, Nic
• ELI, Asotui
• GAUTHIER, Shayne
• GRIFFIN II, Michael
• HALLETT, Nick
• HOLM, Evan
• JEFFERSON, Willie
• KELLY, Jake
• KOLANKOWSKI, Chris
• KRAMDI, Redha
• LAWSON, Cameron
• LOFTON, Eric
• MAKONZO, Enock
• MITCHELL, Dillon
• NEUFELD, Patrick
• NICHOLS, Deatrick
• OLIVEIRA, Brady
• PARKER, Jamal
• RANDOLPH, Kendall
• SCHMEKEL, Tanner
• SCHOEN, Dalton
• SHEAHAN, Jamieson
• STERNS, Jerreth
• STREVELER, Chris
• THOMAS, Jake
• VANTERPOOL, Micah
• VAUGHTERS, James
• WHEATFALL, Keric
• WILSON, Kyrie
• WILSON, Terry
• WOODS, Jamal

The following players ended the season on the PR, making them FA's immediately:

Devin Adams, De'Shaan Dixon, Ben Dooley, Matthew Jackson, Jay Person, Hunter Poncius,, Fabian Weitz, AK Gassama, Justin Mayers.
 

Who was that rookie Defensive End I believe from Florida or Florida State who sacked Bethel-Thompson a few times in our last home game? 

11 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

Re Zach: Under contract means whatever guaranteed money he has is sunk, but it doesn't mean we have to or even should keep him. He's way overpaid for his performance. 

 

I think he's guaranteed 1/3 of his salary so he'll be around. I'm one of the few here who still believe in Zach. He was handcuffed by a subpar reciving group, old & slow OL & a **** up of an OC in Hogan. I'd like to see what he'd do with a revamped line, better receivers & JJ calling the plays. 

Edited 11 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

9 hours ago, wbbfan said:

“(In training camp) we repped a lot of things that we didn’t rep during the season. I didn’t get a lot of reps with the guys who were playing. My situation put us in jeopardy there with the suspension and trying to manage that. I think it’s getting reps — reps with the players, reps with what concepts do we like? On second-and-six, second-and-five with the game on the line, what are we going to call because we know we can execute the play? I don’t know if we had that this year, so getting good at something, I think, matters

https://3downnation.com/2025/11/02/zach-collaros-frustrated-by-2025-season-but-plans-to-play-for-winnipeg-blue-bombers-in-2026/

 

That all tracks, but boy is that a pile of red flags. No wonder our go tos ended up being old holdovers from lapo/buck and why zach couldn’t build a repoire with any one this year. And yeah as has been said ad nauseam, the concepts we ran were trash. 

If Hogan comes back as OC for sure we lose Brady. That would be massive & the biggest red flag I see. Hogan has to go. But will our stubborn HC admit he was wrong & actually do it? Will his ego trump what's best for the team? 

[Slimy Sculpin]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If Hogan comes back as OC for sure we lose Brady. That would be massive & the biggest red flag I see. Hogan has to go. But will our stubborn HC admit he was wrong & actually do it? Will his ego trump what's best for the team? 

"If Hogan comes back as OC for sure we lose"...me (a season ticket holder). I was wary when he was announced as the new OC but, at the time, trusted that the Bombers' tall foreheads knew what they were doing. However, I'm extremely disappointed in Hogan, not so much that he was a "rookie" but, to my eye, because he didn't improve over the course of the season.