Permission to talk: Is O'Shea leaving?

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-11-10 at 9:22 PM, Doublezero said:

Of course O'Shea is gone. Kyle Walters should not let the door hit him on the way out either. 

Conceivable that Brock Sunderland, although he only had a .471 pct as Elks GM, or Eric Deslauriers could replace Walters.

They are already here and know the club. Anyone have thoughts about Marc Mueller as head coach?

 

Sunderland or Dejardins, you mean???? PLEASE STAY, WALTERS!!!! 

 

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-11-10 at 8:33 PM, SectionKBlackout said:

Yeah this hot take needed its own thread…

Said the poster with 138 posts since 2023. Thanks for stopping by! Y'all come back now, ya hear???!! Don't be a stranger. 

 

On 2025-11-10 at 9:58 PM, Colin Unger said:

I would like Oshea to return and would even be ok with him receiving gm duties with Brock doing all actually GM stuff save for making the final decisions on players.  This would free up operations cap space to hire LaPolice as OC.  Talk of moving on from O’Shea is crazy to me.  Yes his roster management is annoying but we won’t a lot of games over the past several seasons with his linebacker heavy lineups.   Be carefull what some of you wish for. 

Osh has never done any work in personnel or scouting & we make him a GM? Yeah, sure. What could possibly go wrong? 

Edited 7 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

23 hours ago, bustamente said:

Giving the Argos permission to talk to O'Shea maybe signal that the Bombers are okay with him moving on. 

The Bombers can't say interfere & besides he is probably under contract to just year's end or after the Grey Cup. What can the Bombers say? No??? I must say I have no fear if he leaves as twelve years is long enough. We're no longer a free agent destination anyway as players around the league know Osh plays favourites & fiddles around too much with the game day roster. FIFO is dead. That's Saskatchewan & Montreal now. Not us. 

Edited 6 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

18 hours ago, sportmentary2012 said:

The Bombers are a strange organization. They seemingly let Hardrick and Lawler go when they wanted to stay.  They underutilized Brady O and I think he will bolt. They seem to have an arrogance at the most inopportune times.  I guess it is easier to let him make the decision to go than the other way round

If Hogan isn't OC good chance he'll stay unless Walters undervalues him like he did Lawler. And a few others. Hardrick looked cooked when he left. Bryant is 7 years older & was playing better than Yoshie. If Walters signs a new deal he better be under the gun to produce & not sit on his ass as GM anymore. Or sign someone new to run the show. 

[sportmentary2012]

10 hours ago, wbbfan said:

To be fair, yoshi has back slid into carrying far too much weight, couldn’t stay healthy and wasn’t fairing well when healthy here.

 He put in tremendous work to get back down in weight, get healthy and stayed pretty healthy. 

With lawler we did have to get away from 300k for a wr, but we didn’t do a near good enough job of replacing him. once the cap went up, we should’ve gone up to retain him though.

Fair point about Hardrick but they really have let the oline go. He may have needed the change of scenery.

Don't forget they chose to stay with an injury prone Shoen receiver over lawler. I will guess management knows something about lawler we mere posters Don't know.

[bigg jay]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Sunderland or Dejardins, you mean???? PLEASE STAY, WALTERS!!!! 

No, it's Deslauriers and he's already on staff as Senior Director of Player Personnel .

Eric Deslauriers - Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[sportmentary2012]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If Hogan isn't OC good chance he'll stay unless Walters undervalues him like he did Lawler. And a few others. Hardrick looked cooked when he left. Bryant is 7 years older & was playing better than Yoshie. If Walters signs a new deal he better be under the gun to produce & not sit on his ass as GM anymore. Or sign someone new to run the show. 

I do not recall him looking cooked but you may be correct . I saw him as the heart of the online. Keeping Bryant was a great move no doubt but it could be oshea and Walter's both need to move on. He has seemed complacent or maybe Wade is interfering more than we know!

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, sportmentary2012 said:

I do not recall him looking cooked but you may be correct . I saw him as the heart of the online. Keeping Bryant was a great move no doubt but it could be oshea and Walter's both need to move on. He has seemed complacent or maybe Wade is interfering more than we know!

I think both Osh & Walters thought his career was practically finished so they refused to pay him & Hardrick moved on. At the time, I can't say I disagreed. I think Lofton played well anyway. We miss Hardrick's leadership in the locker room but not his onfield play. Other guys needed to step up as leaders when Adams, Alexander & Yoshie left & haven't. 

Edited 5 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[bigg jay]

6 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I think both Osh & Walters thought his career was practically finished so they refused to pay him & Hardrick moved on. At the time, I can't say I disagreed. I think Lofton played well anyway. We miss Hardrick's leadership in the locker room but not his onfield play. Other guys needed to step up as leaders when Adams, Alexander & Yoshie left & haven't. 

Walters said it came down to money.  They had just shelled out big money to get Schoen & Brady back but that left them without the cap space for a few other players.  Hardrick was coming off a season where he was the West nominee for best lineman so it wasn't a performance issue and he cashed in with the Riders who made him the highest paid American O-lineman.

Quote

The Bombers general manager signed both running back Brady Oliveira and receiver Dalton Schoen to lucrative contracts on the same day last Tuesday. Even Walters was surprised that he was able to get both back, but he is now feeling the effects. Both players signed pacts that will pay them around $230,000 each in 2024.

“It was interesting because, on that day, it was such a high of ‘Holy, I just really can’t believe that it just came together,'” Walters said at a media conference on Wednesday. “But then, it was quickly the next day, when you add the dollar to those, the reality of (it). So, it went to a high of feeling pretty good on Tuesday and not feeling good on Wednesday when you saw the domino effect of what we’re talking about. So, it was short-lived.”

That domino effect mean that Walters did not have enough money left on the $5.6 million salary cap to attempt to re-sign six starters — defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick, defensive backs Demerio Houston and Winston Rose, receiver Rasheed Bailey and guard Geoff Gray.

Bombers feeling pinch after signing Oliveira, Schoen to lucrative contracts | northeastNOW

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Walters said it came down to money.  They had just shelled out big money to get Schoen & Brady back but that left them without the cap space for a few other players.  Hardrick was coming off a season where he was the West nominee for best lineman so it wasn't a performance issue and he cashed in with the Riders who made him the highest paid American O-lineman.

Bombers feeling pinch after signing Oliveira, Schoen to lucrative contracts | northeastNOW

As far as re=signing Hardrick, well I still don't think it was the wrong decision to let him walk. Randolph is doing well in his place. We don't miss Hardrick other than his leadership.

Edited 4 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[ShyGuy]

50 minutes ago, sportmentary2012 said:

Fair point about Hardrick but they really have let the oline go. He may have needed the change of scenery.

Don't forget they chose to stay with an injury prone Shoen receiver over lawler. I will guess management knows something about lawler we mere posters Don't know.

RIders chose to make Hardrick [one of?] the most highly paid Offensive Lineman in the league, at age 34, coming off just his second All-Star season.

The Tiger-cats chose to make Lawler the highest paid receiver in the league, despite 3 consecutive seasons he played 2/3rds of the games and only having one 1000 yard seasons to his name

If we want to keep going on 'players who wanted to stay here'... the Elks made Tyrell Ford the highest paid cornerback in the league (and its not even close). Liam Dobson is making over 200k in Hamilton. Drew Desjarlais is making over 200k in Ottawa

The downside of being successful for such a stretch is that these players are going to go out and they are going to get paid. The Bombers have made some... questionable decisions roster construction wise but it is literally impossible to pay everyone what they are going to be worth. 

[blue85gold]

1 hour ago, sportmentary2012 said:

Fair point about Hardrick but they really have let the oline go. He may have needed the change of scenery.

Don't forget they chose to stay with an injury prone Shoen receiver over lawler. I will guess management knows something about lawler we mere posters Don't know.

This is silly. It wasn't an either/or choice. Schoen signed for like half of what Lawler got. 

[wbbfan]

12 hours ago, Mark H. said:

More weirdness though. I get why they let Yoshi go, but I don't get why others were kept.

Yeah I agree. It’s like we chose to blanket let guys go who hit free agency. 

 And then I really don’t get why we haven’t committed to replacing any of the premium fa losses. 

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, ShyGuy said:

RIders chose to make Hardrick [one of?] the most highly paid Offensive Lineman in the league, at age 34, coming off just his second All-Star season.

The Tiger-cats chose to make Lawler the highest paid receiver in the league, despite 3 consecutive seasons he played 2/3rds of the games and only having one 1000 yard seasons to his name

If we want to keep going on 'players who wanted to stay here'... the Elks made Tyrell Ford the highest paid cornerback in the league (and its not even close). Liam Dobson is making over 200k in Hamilton. Drew Desjarlais is making over 200k in Ottawa

The downside of being successful for such a stretch is that these players are going to go out and they are going to get paid. The Bombers have made some... questionable decisions roster construction wise but it is literally impossible to pay everyone what they are going to be worth. 

I'm not going on & on about Hardrick. If you read what I said, you'll see I agreed with letting him go. What I don't like is Walters re-signing Schoen (& I posted so at the time) but I was very unhappy letting Lawler go. Then Walters not signing an adequate replacement. BTW, did you notice on Saturday Liam Dobson was the starting Center for Hamilton & didn't look out of place. What do we have??? Well, we have an Osh Boy in Kolankowski wasting a roster spot & money there. Walters couldn't keep Dobson? Yeah, right. What ****. 

Edited 3 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, wbbfan said:

Yeah I agree. It’s like we chose to blanket let guys go who hit free agency. 

 And then I really don’t get why we haven’t committed to replacing any of the premium fa losses. 

Time for Walters to be shown the front door. 

[ShyGuy]

It definitely comes down to roster construction and paying year-over-year to keep the team together.

 

Hopefully some hard decisions are made this off season and there is a bit of a soft reboot. There are definitely some players who are being paid above market value compared to the results they give on the field and there is a correction. Collaros shouldn't be the 3rd highest paid QB in the league. Willie J over 200k doesn't make a lot of sense. Demski being the 4th highest paid receiver in the league at 33 probably doesn't make a tonne of sense.



 

[voodoochylde]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

As far as re=signing Hardrick, well I still don't think it was the wrong decision to let him walk. Randolph is doing well in his place. We don't miss Hardrick other than his leadership.

Randolph was addition by subtraction.  He was better than Lofton but he still wasn't particularly good. 

To be honest, I don't think there's a single "untouchable" or cornerstone guy left on our offensive line.  I'd say Big Stan (for his leadership more than anything) but I his days as a premier tackle are behind him.

[sportmentary2012]

1 hour ago, blue85gold said:

This is silly. It wasn't an either/or choice. Schoen signed for like half of what Lawler got. 

I do not think it is silly. I believe it was one of the reasons they felt Lawler was expendable. Here is a quote from him about it .."But for that receiver room, I just wasn’t prepared to be able to do that for that amount of money.”

And link to the article https://3downnation.com/2025/02/13/blue-bombers-gm-kyle-walters-winnipeg-priced-out-on-free-agent-losses-lawler-dobson-ford/

[GCn20]

2 hours ago, sportmentary2012 said:

Fair point about Hardrick but they really have let the oline go. He may have needed the change of scenery.

Don't forget they chose to stay with an injury prone Shoen receiver over lawler. I will guess management knows something about lawler we mere posters Don't know.

There is absolutely no reason in the world we couldn't sign both Lawler and Schoen. We had just done it the year before.

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, ShyGuy said:

It definitely comes down to roster construction and paying year-over-year to keep the team together.

 

Hopefully some hard decisions are made this off season and there is a bit of a soft reboot. There are definitely some players who are being paid above market value compared to the results they give on the field and there is a correction. Collaros shouldn't be the 3rd highest paid QB in the league. Willie J over 200k doesn't make a lot of sense. Demski being the 4th highest paid receiver in the league at 33 probably doesn't make a tonne of sense.



 

Does it make sense to have Kolankowski & Thomas on the roster? Even paying them each a single dollar is an overpayment as they have no business being on the roster. Yet if Osh & his Boys come back then they'll start no matter how useless they are on the field. 

1 hour ago, voodoochylde said:

Randolph was addition by subtraction.  He was better than Lofton but he still wasn't particularly good. 

To be honest, I don't think there's a single "untouchable" or cornerstone guy left on our offensive line.  I'd say Big Stan (for his leadership more than anything) but I his days as a premier tackle are behind him.

I don't recall seeing a lot of guys coming from Randolph's side. I think he held his own pretty well. I saw a lot coming through on Kola's & Neufeld side as well as Wallace at times. He at least has an excuse: his experience. Kola jiust plain sucks & is terrible while Neufeld is 36 years old & his skills are eroding.

[Stickem]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Time for Walters to be shown the front door. 

Especially after last years free agency.......Mitchell.....bust......Logan.....did he return one punt,,,Then think about the money these guys soaked up AND we let Lawler walk???.....

[SpeedFlex27]

2 minutes ago, Stickem said:

Especially after last years free agency.......Mitchell.....bust......Logan.....did he return one punt,,,Then think about the money these guys soaked up AND we let Lawler walk???.....

Not only that but we refused to spend to the ceiling blaming the CFLPA for it. 

[Tracker]

19 hours ago, bigg jay said:

I don't know that they offer him the GM role.  Dinwiddie left because they (MSLE) are pretty happy having Pinball in that role and he has no desire to give it up right now.  That could change if they feel it's necessary to lure MOS away but I also don't know if that's something MOS wants?  I've never gotten the impression he has any interest in a GM role but who knows.

But O'Shea would be going home and his repuation might revive the Argo fortunes. Moreover, leaving here would absolve him of the job of cleaning up the mess he has created.

[blue85gold]

1 hour ago, sportmentary2012 said:

I do not think it is silly. I believe it was one of the reasons they felt Lawler was expendable. Here is a quote from him about it .."But for that receiver room, I just wasn’t prepared to be able to do that for that amount of money.”

And link to the article https://3downnation.com/2025/02/13/blue-bombers-gm-kyle-walters-winnipeg-priced-out-on-free-agent-losses-lawler-dobson-ford/

They were priced out of the league's highest paid non-QB player.

Everyone thought that was an overpay at the time. This just happened to be the 1 year that Lawler didn't get hurt or suspended.

[SpeedFlex27]

10 minutes ago, Tracker said:

But O'Shea and his repuation might revive the Argo fortunes. Moreover, leaving here would absolve him of the job of cleaning up the mess he has created.

O'Shea's signing would cause a real surge in season ticket sales for the Argos. Maybe a hundred