Blue Bombers -- 2025/26 Offseason -- Discussion Thread

[GCn20]

39 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I could have sworn the consensus here was that Dobson, Ford and Lawler were all a wild overpayment and the Bombers were smart to not pay the asking price......?

I think that was the consensus on 2 out of the 3 for sure. However, many here lamented the Lawler loss for the piss poor GMing that it was. Ford would still be an overpay. Dobson, wasn't really considered an overpay by most, but replaceable with what we had in Wallace. That's why we are fans though. We don't get paid big dollars to make proper talent assessment . I mean read the forum for the past number of years, we still have guys that think that Kramdi isn't a good player. Walters does and therefore when we look back in retrospect, our opinions of the moves at the time don't have to have a great deal of accuracy. A CFL GM does not get to have the same level of accuracy as a fan, he must be better than Joe Blow. 

Edited 20 hours ago by GCn20

[Brandon]

43 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I could have sworn the consensus here was that Dobson, Ford and Lawler were all a wild overpayment and the Bombers were smart to not pay the asking price......?

Ford was a wild over payment amd we were good since we have depth in our secondary.

Lawler the first time he left was a wild over payment. The last time it was questionable because it seemed like we were not far away from what we offered. Also questions on Schoen coming back and lots of assumptions that we wouldn't lose much productivity since Schoen is back.

Dobson it was more like "We have Eli" who can replace him. I dont remember anything about money with Dobson.

[Stickem]

I sure am not overly optimistic about bringing the 'Miller' band back BUT now that it's a done deal, we better start working on how this is going to go down....We obviously can't make the same errors as this last season....namely roster management (that can be corrected) and the poor decision making that went on in free agency.....There's also no way to sell the re-signing of Thomas to the Bomber faithful and keeping Kola as our centre....Seeing no roster changes being made will send the signal more of the same ....This club has a chance to turn things around and making the same mistakes, that seen us 'just making the playoffs ,will not go over.....Call me a 'jaded optimist' with a touch of pessimism, about the club in general for 26' and hoping for change.... So que the 'dumb and dumber guy' with the subtitle...'so you think there's a chance'....cuz I think that's all we got

Edited 18 hours ago by Stickem

[17to85]

So walters has been trimming some old folks pretty consistently in offseasons. I'd expect that to continue. 

I think they need to get back into trying to snag some key pieces through free agency again and put some focus on the lines again.

[HardCoreBlue]

23 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

So walters has been trimming some old folks pretty consistently in offseasons. I'd expect that to continue. 

I think they need to get back into trying to snag some key pieces through free agency again and put some focus on the lines again.

With a few players (I think we know who they are) if they are invited back to training camp with no promise of making the team that still wouldn’t sit well with me. Strong messages have to be sent in what expectations are being set for 2026. 

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, blue85gold said:

Like who? Ford and Dobson? 

Ford signed for stupid money.

Dobson would have been nice to keep but he got a huge raise. 

Can't pay everyone to be the top at their position.

Dobson played Guard & Center for Hamilton. We paid a slug who never should have started at Center big money as he's Canadian & a veteran in Kolanlowski. He was a total waste of money. Our roster management sucks. It's the worst in the CFL. Cut Kola & then you have the money to pay Dobson. BTW, Walters refused to go to the cap ceiling staying $400.000 under so we could have afforded him. Walters chose not to. 

[SpeedFlex27]

6 hours ago, Booch said:

If we have to overspend the cap to quick fix...then we better

I'm shocked Miller was all fine with re-upping both...But that being said, maybe he tore them both a new anus and said this is your one yr to fix this before it really spirals

I truly dont think we that far off from reclaiming top spot...Just need to go into 2026 with open mind and new purpose and if that means flipping ratio around...tossing some guys to the curb, and actually being a big player in FA ...so be it

But if we go into this season as we have....same template...basically same cast of character's...Then Miller should be getting the wrath of our frustration ....I very curious as to what December brings with re-signs with any left over 2025 money that might be there...that will be a good indicator, and maybe an announcement very early on withwho we moving on from and whatour staff is gonna look like

If we sign McGloster out of Montreal as a free agent as our starting LT, my opinion of Walters may change dramatically.

[Piggy 1]

51 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If we sign McGloster out of Montreal as a free agent as our starting LT, my opinion of Walters may change dramatically.

Has Big Stan retired? He was the least of our problems on the line. But that would be a coup.......

[bigg jay]

51 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If we sign McGloster out of Montreal as a free agent as our starting LT, my opinion of Walters may change dramatically.

We signed him once, why not a second time?

[Booch]

7 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

I was wondering when Vaccaro would be eligible for the draft. He was named the best OL in the league (or country) before leaving the Bisons for Purdue. Would be a perfect guy to bring back. Wonder if he gets any NFL interest?

what happened to that local receiver who had all the tools but wasn't academically eligible for Alabama...or Nebreska...some school in that conference?..

I was wanting to maybe get him into a JUCO discovery camp in California and maybe kick start his progress/career but his name has totally escaped me

[Booch]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

If we sign McGloster out of Montreal as a free agent as our starting LT, my opinion of Walters may change dramatically.

sadly...we had him and cut him

14 minutes ago, Piggy 1 said:

Has Big Stan retired? He was the least of our problems on the line. But that would be a coup.......

he's be better served now..and prob top toer at guard if he comes back...Mgloster..Bryant...anything but Kolo....the best outta Eli/Wallace/Neuf/Vpool/Vibert/FA Guy at guard/center and Randolph at RT...and whoever isnt your starting guard/center as the 6th...gimme some of that

[bigg jay]

5 minutes ago, Booch said:

what happened to that local receiver who had all the tools but wasn't academically eligible for Alabama...or Nebreska...some school in that conference?..

I was wanting to maybe get him into a JUCO discovery camp in California and maybe kick start his progress/career but his name has totally escaped me

Mekhi Tyrell.

Was supposed to play for the Bisons this year but ended up with the Edmonton Wildcats.

3 minutes ago, Booch said:

sadly...we had him and cut him

Was it performance or did we let him go to the NFL?  The Chargers signed him a week after we released him so the timing is odd.

[Noeller]

Nah we obviously can't recognize any talent so we musta straight cut him even though he was clearly a starting CFL LT at the time...

[JuranBoldenRules]

Uh Oh!  CFL not the only ones moving the goalposts!

[sweep the leg]

1 hour ago, bigg jay said:

Mekhi Tyrell.

Was supposed to play for the Bisons this year but ended up with the Edmonton Wildcats.

 

Any idea why that happened? Academically ineligible?

The Rifles signed Dallas Sims this year. Another local kid that went to Old Dominion, then came home but I never heard why. I assumed grades. He never ended up playing for the Rifles either, just seems to be out of football now. 

[bigg jay]

19 minutes ago, sweep the leg said:

Any idea why that happened? Academically ineligible?

The Rifles signed Dallas Sims this year. Another local kid that went to Old Dominion, then came home but I never heard why. I assumed grades. He never ended up playing for the Rifles either, just seems to be out of football now. 

I assume academic reasons based on his history but I haven't seen anything to confirm that.

[rebusrankin]

Has to be academics with Sims. He had something like 18 offers.

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, Piggy 1 said:

Has Big Stan retired? He was the least of our problems on the line. But that would be a coup.......

Stan can play Center or Guard & be a monster doing it.

[SpeedFlex27]

11 hours ago, sweep the leg said:

Any idea why that happened? Academically ineligible?

The Rifles signed Dallas Sims this year. Another local kid that went to Old Dominion, then came home but I never heard why. I assumed grades. He never ended up playing for the Rifles either, just seems to be out of football now. 

Some guys just can't get their **** together. When Tyler played Juco in California he saw it first hand. Players with god given talent but they just don't want to study & have lazy work habits. They end up like the guy who killed John Beam at Laney College in Oakland. Doing some low paying **** job instead of making millions in the NFL. Then they become bitter when they're spit out of college football & blame someone else for their problems. 

Edited 1 hour ago by SpeedFlex27

[wbbfan]

https://3downnation.com/2025/11/18/mike-oshea-shares-rare-personal-insight-in-choosing-winnipeg-blue-bombers-over-toronto-argonauts/

This article from hodge has a few tid bits worth reading. 

[SpeedFlex27]

22 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

https://3downnation.com/2025/11/18/mike-oshea-shares-rare-personal-insight-in-choosing-winnipeg-blue-bombers-over-toronto-argonauts/

This article from hodge has a few tid bits worth reading. 

Typical Osh presser. Talks but says nothing. 

[Pete]

10 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Typical Osh presser. Talks but says nothing. 

 

10 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Typical Osh presser. Talks but says nothing. 

Actually didnt care for Hodges little side takes. Osh was pretty straight forward in hes not interested in gm role. Also recognizes that lywasn't good enough and he has to adjust h4is coaching style to be more involved in day yo day coaching 

Edited 9 hours ago by Pete

[Noeller]

11 minutes ago, Pete said:

 

Actually didnt care for Hodges little side takes. Osh was pretty straight forward in hes not interested in gm role. Also recognizes that lywasn't good enough and he has to adjust h4is coaching style to be more involved in day yo day coaching 

Yeah his answers were more than fine. There were some offside questions in so much as things were asked and answered, or asked and he made it clear he wasn't going to say any more about it, and they kept hounding to the point where DC had to step in and tell them to stop. There's a sense of entitlement, to try and pry information that he clearly wants to keep private. People need to respect that.

[Blue_Dragoon]

18 hours ago, Noeller said:

I could have sworn the consensus here was that Dobson, Ford and Lawler were all a wild overpayment and the Bombers were smart to not pay the asking price......?

I think people were fine not blowing the bank on those three because we were expecting the money saved to be used towards the betterment of the team in other areas. Then the improvements in other areas never seemed to happen. 

[SpeedFlex27]

55 minutes ago, Blue_Dragoon said:

I think people were fine not blowing the bank on those three because we were expecting the money saved to be used towards the betterment of the team in other areas. Then the improvements in other areas never seemed to happen. 

Dobson was the one free agent we never should have let walk in free agency. All part of the Kyle Walters draft & develop for other teams strategy. And then, we have O'Shea telling the media that he has to do a re-set & be more involved as a Head Coach in the day to day operations of the team. This is a head coach with 12 years experience. How does that even happen? These are the guys that are supposed to figure out how to fix things? 

Edited 1 hour ago by SpeedFlex27