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

[Booch]

5 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Or spend a season backing him up learning the game then take the reins?

which is the smart move...the game he should know inside and out already

[Stickem]

4 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Or spend a season backing him up learning the game then take the reins?

Definitely.....make the smart move cash wise and pick up pointers from a winning qb....Someone should refer Elgersma to Vavals agent

[HardCoreBlue]

1 minute ago, Booch said:

which is the smart move...the game he should know inside and out already

Yea I was thinking more understanding the game better at the CFL level.

And while I'm at it I really hope we utilize our 2nd string QB this coming season more than short yardage snaps. I just can't get over the absolute relunctance in doing so. I'm not suggesting pulling the trigger everytime ZC struggles, I'm suggesting being way more strategic with the back up QB other than hat on backwards signaling in plays trotting out onto the field for 3 and inches fall forward and being ready to go if ZC gets blown up.

[SpeedFlex27]

10 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Or spend a season backing him up learning the game then take the reins?

No guarantee. He has to get here first. If Elgersma keeps dicking around then **** him. He's like Rourke was with the NFL. Work out for so many teams, make no money & get no offers that after awhile it's embarrassing. 

[Mike]

9 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

No guarantee. He has to get here first. If Elgersma keeps dicking around then **** him. He's like Rourke was with the NFL. Work out for so many teams, make no money & get no offers that after awhile it's embarrassing. 

This is so childish. You’re talking about his career like your feelings on the topic have any relevance. 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Schoen is damaged goods. Why even weaste a penny on him? there are better free agents out there younger & have twwo healthy knees. And even if he signs elsewhere & has a great season, his body is a ticking time bomb for something to go off. Walters needs to spend money wisely & not foolishly. Move the eff on, already. 

I'm not against moving on either. Like I said depends on contract. IF Schoen gets clearance, wants no upfront money, and is willing to play on a prove it contract with a low base salary the risk/reward is in our favor. That being said it is highly improbable he is ready to go anyway so the whole premise is really moot.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[blue85gold]

3 minutes ago, Mike said:

This is so childish. You’re talking about his career like your feelings on the topic have any relevance. 

No kidding. The guy is 23 years old. One opportunity down south could be life changing money. He hasn't said a negative word about the CFL or the Bombers and he's just exhausting his options. 

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

lol....chase it....maybe you will find a coach like Osh who has a chub for your technique or lack there of hahahaha

Elgersma, and probably other NATs as well, would already be here if the CFL didn't have the ridiculous 3 year contract for crap money on NATs.

57 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

What does the UFL pay qbs? I think it's less than the CFL. probably does. Problem is, Elgersma's a rookie so he'll get $85000 Canadian to play up here which is much, much too low to get quality rookies to even consider coming to the CFL. 

UFL pays QBs up to 100k USD iirc.

EDIT: 64k minimum contract with some making 200-400k. I would think Elgersma would be on the lower end. However, we just saw the UFL MVP sign with us to be at best 2nd string. I can't imagine that Elgersma has more earning potential that he does in that league.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[HardCoreBlue]

7 minutes ago, Mike said:

This is so childish. You’re talking about his career like your feelings on the topic have any relevance. 

Listen I have that title, it's what I contribute around here while the grown ups talk football.

[GCn20]

19 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Yea I was thinking more understanding the game better at the CFL level.

And while I'm at it I really hope we utilize our 2nd string QB this coming season more than short yardage snaps. I just can't get over the absolute relunctance in doing so. I'm not suggesting pulling the trigger everytime ZC struggles, I'm suggesting being way more strategic with the back up QB other than hat on backwards signaling in plays trotting out onto the field for 3 and inches fall forward and being ready to go if ZC gets blown up.

He will understand the CFL game more than almost all the Amerk QBs. The timing and speed of the game will be the issue.

[HardCoreBlue]

2 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

He will understand the CFL game more than almost all the Amerk QBs. The timing and speed of the game will be the issue.

Yup that’s what I meant.

[Booch]

6 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

No kidding. The guy is 23 years old. One opportunity down south could be life changing money. He hasn't said a negative word about the CFL or the Bombers and he's just exhausting his options. 

based on his pedigree....where and what he came from...his BC as QB....His options were exhausted when Green Bay let him go and nobody picked him up by mid point of the season when all teams had a good grasp on their QB situ's and who what was available that was better

Reality is a bitter pill sometimes...But he has the trifecta of "no legit chance in hell" attached to him...Canadian....Canadian trained...Undrafted.....no chance in hell...Plus he has an additional one...he's a QB who plyed his trade in the CIS.....Never...ever gonna happen for him...ever

[GCn20]

4 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Yup that’s what I meant.

 

1 minute ago, Booch said:

based on his pedigree....where and what he came from...his BC as QB....His options were exhausted when Green Bay let him go and nobody picked him up by mid point of the season when all teams had a good grasp on their QB situ's and who what was available that was better

Reality is a bitter pill sometimes...But he has the trifecta of "no legit chance in hell" attached to him...Canadian....Canadian trained...Undrafted.....no chance in hell...Plus he has an additional one...he's a QB who plyed his trade in the CIS.....Never...ever gonna happen for him...ever

A lot of people do not realize that NFL rosters are as much political as they are skill based. There is a massive bias against skill players coming out of the CIS. Trenches are trenches, the big men are big men in any league but receivers/QB/RBs coming out of the CIS are rarely anything more than TCF.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[Bigblue204]

1 minute ago, Booch said:

based on his pedigree....where and what he came from...his BC as QB....His options were exhausted when Green Bay let him go and nobody picked him up by mid point of the season when all teams had a good grasp on their QB situ's and who what was available that was better

Reality is a bitter pill sometimes...But he has the trifecta of "no legit chance in hell" attached to him...Canadian....Canadian trained...Undrafted.....no chance in hell...Plus he has an additional one...he's a QB who plyed his trade in the CIS.....Never...ever gonna happen for him...ever

He's been drafted by a league that will pay him more than the CFL for a bit anyway.

[GCn20]

5 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

He's been drafted by a league that will pay him more than the CFL for a bit anyway.

If the league doesn't fold mid year, or cheques start bouncing and you can motivate yourself to play well in a big stadium with 140 fans playing in a league that literally no one cares about. Trust me, the XFL left a sour taste in a lot of mouths a few years back when it left players high and dry when it folded. Guys literally were hitch hiking home.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[wbbfan]

6 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

No kidding. The guy is 23 years old. One opportunity down south could be life changing money. He hasn't said a negative word about the CFL or the Bombers and he's just exhausting his options. 

It's a hard call for him, to be fair. 

He's 23, about to turn 24, and easily 2 years away from playing here or in the UFL. By the time he has the base amount of film and experience to get back to the NFL window, he is turning 28, and at the end of his window. 

UFL pay will be close to what he would get here, and each will be about equal to a couple of weeks on an NFL PR. 

He's still getting workouts, and he played well enough in PS to be on an NFL PR. 

 If I was him, I would play in the UFL this year, and try to make an NFL PR out of camp. I'm sure he would get a camp invite from someone. If an NFL PR offer doesn't come at that point, sign up here. With the coaching down south, and playing against that level of competition in 2 camps plus the UFL, he would likely be at the same level as a 2nd year imp qb out of camp. If not higher. Still plenty young enough to get good money and win a spot here. And still have a bit of long term NFL hope. 

 I also think that is the best-case scenario for us. The seasoning he'd get in NFL camp and pre-season is far greater than he would get doing the same here. He grew up playing Canadian ball; the nuances are not so far removed for him. 

The worst case, for us, him and the NFL dream, is he doesn't get an NFL camp invite or ends up on a team that only lets him hold a clipboard, then sits and waits for an NFL pr offer that isn't coming and burns another year, while also not getting reps in the UFL. But even in that event, it isn't terrible for us if he comes up then. You sign him to a long-term deal and lock in cheap. 

[GCn20]

2 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

If the league doesn't fold mid year, or cheques start bouncing and you can motivate yourself to play well in a big stadium with 140 fans playing in a league that literally no one cares about.

 

1 minute ago, wbbfan said:

It's a hard call for him, to be fair. 

He's 23, about to turn 24, and easily 2 years away from playing here or in the UFL. By the time he has the base amount of film and experience to get back to the NFL window, he is turning 28, and at the end of his window. 

UFL pay will be close to what he would get here, and each will be about equal to a couple of weeks on an NFL PR. 

He's still getting workouts, and he played well enough in PS to be on an NFL PR. 

 If I was him, I would play in the UFL this year, and try to make an NFL PR out of camp. I'm sure he would get a camp invite from someone. If an NFL PR offer doesn't come at that point, sign up here. With the coaching down south, and playing against that level of competition in 2 camps plus the UFL, he would likely be at the same level as a 2nd year imp qb out of camp. If not higher. Still plenty young enough to get good money and win a spot here. And still have a bit of long term NFL hope. 

 I also think that is the best-case scenario for us. The seasoning he'd get in NFL camp and pre-season is far greater than he would get doing the same here. He grew up playing Canadian ball; the nuances are not so far removed for him. 

The worst case, for us, him and the NFL dream, is he doesn't get an NFL camp invite or ends up on a team that only lets him hold a clipboard, then sits and waits for an NFL pr offer that isn't coming and burns another year, while also not getting reps in the UFL. But even in that event, it isn't terrible for us if he comes up then. You sign him to a long-term deal and lock in cheap. 

I would sign UFL as well. Players can opt out of their contracts for any other league anyway,

[Bigblue204]

4 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

If the league doesn't fold mid year, or cheques start bouncing and you can motivate yourself to play well in a big stadium with 140 fans playing in a league that literally no one cares about. Trust me, the XFL left a sour taste in a lot of mouths a few years back when it left players high and dry when it folded. Guys literally were hitch hiking home.

Forsure, I was just pointing out that if he wants to make bank right now...that's his best option. It will also give him some film for NFL teams. I'm not saying it will lead to an NFL roster spot...but maybe PR? Either way, I fully believe the rookie cap is why he isn't currently a Blue Bomber.

[wbbfan]

7 minutes ago, Booch said:

based on his pedigree....where and what he came from...his BC as QB....His options were exhausted when Green Bay let him go and nobody picked him up by mid point of the season when all teams had a good grasp on their QB situ's and who what was available that was better

Reality is a bitter pill sometimes...But he has the trifecta of "no legit chance in hell" attached to him...Canadian....Canadian trained...Undrafted.....no chance in hell...Plus he has an additional one...he's a QB who plyed his trade in the CIS.....Never...ever gonna happen for him...ever

 

5 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

 

A lot of people do not realize that NFL rosters are as much political as they are skill based. There is a massive bias against skill players coming out of the CIS. Trenches are trenches, the big men are big men in any league but receivers/QB/RBs coming out of the CIS are rarely anything more than TCF.

All of that, coming up mid-way through last year, would've been great for him. Could've still looked at the NFL window this year for camp invites. 

 The NFL wants to see guys like that produce in the pros, like Stiggers and Alford. They will kick the tires and use you in camp/ps, but breaking into the AR is very different. Even Rourke didn't do enough up here and in camp/ps down there to lock in a spot. And he really earned it.

If Elgersma is really smart, he is using this as an opportunity to accelerate his growth and speed up his adjustment to higher levels of play. 

[Booch]

10 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

 

A lot of people do not realize that NFL rosters are as much political as they are skill based. There is a massive bias against skill players coming out of the CIS. Trenches are trenches, the big men are big men in any league but receivers/QB/RBs coming out of the CIS are rarely anything more than TCF.

Its more political than anything...Also think they spend these big bucks but they actually penny pinchers and wont invest much money into "possible development" or "possible potential"

They see early, and fast if a player is just not worth the money to develop and would rather someone else do it for them..be it a different team or revisit a guy that came to Canada a few yrs down the road

[wbbfan]

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

 

I would sign UFL as well. Players can opt out of their contracts for any other league anyway,

Yep, and if they aren't going to play him, or develop him while on the bench, he can bail. 

9 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

If the league doesn't fold mid year, or cheques start bouncing and you can motivate yourself to play well in a big stadium with 140 fans playing in a league that literally no one cares about.

That is the hidden story behind all the fledgling leagues—Guys living in cars, surviving on a tub of PB and a loaf of bread.  When you pull that rug out from under them, they don't have any fail-safes to catch them. A lot of guys in indy ball living the same life. In the past, the minor leagues had them too. Though it's better now. 

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

Its more political than anything...Also think they spend these big bucks but they actually penny pinchers and wont invest much money into "possible development" or "possible potential"

They see early, and fast if a player is just not worth the money to develop and would rather someone else do it for them..be it a different team or revisit a guy that came to Canada a few yrs down the road

At the end of the day, the NFL understands that they don't have much of a clue what separates booms from busts or how to develop talent reliably. So they bury it down and rely on the sheer number of kids flowing into the NCAA to supply them. Thats why you don't see scouts/GMs fired for awful bust picks. Some teams have some positions figured out, within the constraints of their system. But none of them have QB or OT figured out like that. 

[GCn20]

35 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

 

All of that, coming up mid-way through last year, would've been great for him. Could've still looked at the NFL window this year for camp invites. 

 The NFL wants to see guys like that produce in the pros, like Stiggers and Alford. They will kick the tires and use you in camp/ps, but breaking into the AR is very different. Even Rourke didn't do enough up here and in camp/ps down there to lock in a spot. And he really earned it.

If Elgersma is really smart, he is using this as an opportunity to accelerate his growth and speed up his adjustment to higher levels of play. 

I think a lot of CFL fans don't realize that the CFL is viewed as league with a very high level of play by the NFL. It's a league where guys who have slipped through the cracks can get a legit 2nd chance. The UFL just isn't at that level of play because they are usually a rag tag bunch of whoever will show up so it's just really ugly football.