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

[Goalie]

1 hour ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Would we not want to market the poop out of this especially geared at the 18 year old - 45 year old NFL followers? My 21 year old son who played and loves football quickly got drawn toward the NFL with the Birds being his favorite team. What am I missing here? Losing cause, it won't work, no market, what?

That would require the cfl to actually market the league and that is something they refuse to do. Basically the cfl is Winnipeg. We are a bunch of small little cities combined into one. People in st Boniface aren’t the same as people in fort Gary. It’s up to fort gary to promote itself. Just like in the cfl it’s up to wade and crew to promote the bombers, there’s nothing they can do to help Toronto or Edmonton. It’s a crazy cycle. CFL needs to do more. They basically do minimum 

[SpeedFlex27]

5 hours ago, Mike said:

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

What career, Mike? He has no "career". He's can't get past the first interview. That's like saying he wants to be a lawyer but can't pass the bar exam. As far as relevance goes, then why doesn't Rich shut this place down? None of us including you have any relevance.

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

That would require the cfl to actually market the league and that is something they refuse to do. Basically the cfl is Winnipeg. We are a bunch of small little cities combined into one. People in st Boniface aren’t the same as people in fort Gary. It’s up to fort gary to promote itself. Just like in the cfl it’s up to wade and crew to promote the bombers, there’s nothing they can do to help Toronto or Edmonton. It’s a crazy cycle. CFL needs to do more. They basically do minimum 

all true. it would also be expensive and complicated to get the rights to advertise stuff like that from other leagues. It could also come off very poorly if not done well. and the league hasn’t done a great job at any thing marketing wise in ages. 

[SpeedFlex27]

5 hours 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. 

Life changing money? You're talking like Elgersma has a chance to actually make it down there. When was the last time a Canadian qb who played U Sports started for any NFL team? This is now Year 2 for him & as Mike calls it, his NFL "career". I don't see much difference between Year 1 & Year 2. As Booch says, other than a training camp per diem last year, he's made nothing.

Edited 15 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

That would require the cfl to actually market the league and that is something they refuse to do. Basically the cfl is Winnipeg. We are a bunch of small little cities combined into one. People in st Boniface aren’t the same as people in fort Gary. It’s up to fort gary to promote itself. Just like in the cfl it’s up to wade and crew to promote the bombers, there’s nothing they can do to help Toronto or Edmonton. It’s a crazy cycle. CFL needs to do more. They basically do minimum 

Have the current commish prove this wrong because  I think he would twist himself into a pretzel trying to do so.

[SpeedFlex27]

5 hours 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

Exactly my childish point. He hasn't thrown one pass that meant anything in the NFL during the regular season & never will. 

[bigg jay]

 

 

[Goalie]

14 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Exactly my childish point. He hasn't thrown one pass that meant anything in the NFL during the regular season & never will. 

Let’s pretend you are 23 and a QB and you’re trying to live your dream cuz that’s what this is. A kid trying to live his dream. Now try again. 

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Thank you I did not no the ins and outs of a NFL practice roster.

I guess I have to give up on that dream. 🙂

You gave it your best shot, you little couch potato.

22 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Let’s pretend you are 23 and a QB and you’re trying to live your dream cuz that’s what this is. A kid trying to live his dream. Now try again. 

It's a pipe dream, not a career. He's made zero cents. We'll see how he does in the UFL as I expect that's where he goes. If I was Waltwrs, I'd tell him to come up here & offer an extra $40,000 at him in marketing money to make his salary $125,000 Canadian. At least give an incentive to come & sign a contract. 

Edited 15 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Life changing money? You're talking like Elgersma has a chance to actually make it down there. When was the last time a Canadian qb who played U Sports started for any NFL team? This is now Year 2 for him & as Mike calls it, his NFL "career". I don't see much difference between Year 1 & Year 2. As Booch says, other than a training camp per diem last year, he's made nothing.

To be fair, I think Mike was referencing his football career in general not specifically the nfl. But either way, you seem to be offended by his choices. As long as there are stories like Warner out there its easy to believe guys will believe in themselves and chase their goals.

And if Streveler can get an NFL pension, Elgersma has at least a chance

Edited 14 hours ago by Bigblue204

[Goalie]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

You gave it your best shot, you little couch potato.

It's a pipe dream, not a career. He's made zero cents. We'll see how he does in the UFL as I expect that's where he goes. If I was Waltwrs, I'd tell him to come up here & offer an extra $40,000 at him in marketing money to make his salary $125,000 Canadian. At least give an incentive to come & sign a contract. 

But it’s his dream. It probably is a pipe dream but it’s his pipe dream. Obviously it’s not about money since dude being paid peanuts the past year now. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Goalie

[SpeedFlex27]

8 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

To be fair, I think Mike was referencing his football career in general not specifically the nfl. But either way, you seem to be offended by his choices. As long as there are stories like Warner out there its easy to believe guys will believe in themselves and chase their goals.

And if Streveler can get an NFL pension, Elgersma has at least a chance

How about, if Nathan Rourke can't make it then Elgersma will never get an NFL pension. Rourke showed signs of brilliance in the exhibition season when he got his chance to play to no avail & he was a starter in the NCAA.

All I'm saying that no Canadian & U Sport trained qb has ever started in the NFL. We don't have the competition or coaching needed to play in the nFL up up here. Most Canadian qbs can't even play in the CFL. We aren't a country that churns out qbs for both leagues.

The difference between Elgersma & Rourke is that he knew he had a financial payday waiting with the Lions as he had already played 2 years in the CFL before he went south. His rookie deal was finished. Elgersma has an $85000 rookie Canadian payday waiting for him up here. Not as much incentive to sign with us.

Edited 5 hours ago by SpeedFlex27

[bigg jay]

3 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How about, if Nathan Rourke can't make it then Elgersma will never get an NFL pension. Rourke showed signs of brilliance in the exhibition season when he got his chance to play to no avail & he was a starter in the NCAA.

All I'm saying that no Canadian & U Sport trained qb has ever started in the NFL. We don't have the competition or coaching needed to play in the nFL up up here. Most Canadian qbs can't even play in the CFL. We aren't a country that churns out qbs for both leagues.

The difference between Elgersma & Rourke is that he knew he had a financial payday waiting with the Lions as he had already played 2 years in the CFL before he went south. His rookie deal was finished. Elgersma has an $85000 rookie Canadian payday waiting for him up here. Not as much incentive to sign with us.

Not true - Rourke was also trying his luck with the NFL before he ever stepped on to a CFL field.  He wasn't getting much interest as a QB though (the Giants had him try out at receiver) so he signed with BC.  Yeah he got more interest down south after 2 seasons up here, but it was not his original plan (hence his unexpected detour comments).  Elgersma is actually getting more NFL looks than Rourke did at this point in their careers so it's not hard to see why he might chase that.  

[SpeedFlex27]

28 minutes ago, bigg jay said:

Not true - Rourke was also trying his luck with the NFL before he ever stepped on to a CFL field.  He wasn't getting much interest as a QB though (the Giants had him try out at receiver) so he signed with BC.  Yeah he got more interest down south after 2 seasons up here, but it was not his original plan (hence his unexpected detour comments).  Elgersma is actually getting more NFL looks than Rourke did at this point in their careers so it's not hard to see why he might chase that.  

Again, we'll see. Maybe that's what Elgersma needs to do. Come up here, play well like Rourke did his first season as a starter in 2022 & then try again. Or go thru this continuos cycle of tryout after tryout for nothing. Until the opportunities dry up. By now, most NFL teams know who Elgersma is & what he brings to the table throwing in private workouts. They don't know what he can do in game conditions. He has to play. 

[Bigblue204]

4 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

How about, if Nathan Rourke can't make it then Elgersma will never get an NFL pension. Rourke showed signs of brilliance in the exhibition season when he got his chance to play to no avail & he was a starter in the NCAA.

All I'm saying that no Canadian & U Sport trained qb has ever started in the NFL. We don't have the competition or coaching needed to play in the nFL up up here. Most Canadian qbs can't even play in the CFL. We aren't a country that churns out qbs for both leagues.

The difference between Elgersma & Rourke is that he knew he had a financial payday waiting with the Lions as he had already played 2 years in the CFL before he went south. His rookie deal was finished. Elgersma has an $85000 rookie Canadian payday waiting for him up here. Not as much incentive to sign with us.

I agree. I don't think he'll ever start in the NFL. But I'm not going to get my nickers in a bunch over a 23yr old who believes in himself. If he gets a chance to join a PR maybe that leads to a roster spot....and who knows from there. Again as long as there are outliers who make it happen (and there are). I can understand why he'd doing everything he possibly could to get it done as soon as possible. Playing in the UFL this year he will make more money than coming to the CFL. If he gets a shot to play in the UFL and turns some heads, maybe he gets another shot at a NFL PR. And then he's only 1 play away from a roster spot.

Sure he can come up here and light it up and turn heads...but he'd be making less money than he would in the UFL. And every snap could be your last. So make 100k USD or 85k CDN. What would you choose? I know what I would choose.

[HardCoreBlue]

4 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I agree. I don't think he'll ever start in the NFL. But I'm not going to get my nickers in a bunch over a 23yr old who believes in himself. If he gets a chance to join a PR maybe that leads to a roster spot....and who knows from there. Again as long as there are outliers who make it happen (and there are). I can understand why he'd doing everything he possibly could to get it done as soon as possible. Playing in the UFL this year he will make more money than coming to the CFL. If he gets a shot to play in the UFL and turns some heads, maybe he gets another shot at a NFL PR. And then he's only 1 play away from a roster spot.

Sure he can come up here and light it up and turn heads...but he'd be making less money than he would in the UFL. And every snap could be your last. So make 100k USD or 85k CDN. What would you choose? I know what I would choose.

Right, choose signing, playing and carving out a fantastic career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 🙂

[SpeedFlex27]

33 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

I agree. I don't think he'll ever start in the NFL. But I'm not going to get my nickers in a bunch over a 23yr old who believes in himself. If he gets a chance to join a PR maybe that leads to a roster spot....and who knows from there. Again as long as there are outliers who make it happen (and there are). I can understand why he'd doing everything he possibly could to get it done as soon as possible. Playing in the UFL this year he will make more money than coming to the CFL. If he gets a shot to play in the UFL and turns some heads, maybe he gets another shot at a NFL PR. And then he's only 1 play away from a roster spot.

Sure he can come up here and light it up and turn heads...but he'd be making less money than he would in the UFL. And every snap could be your last. So make 100k USD or 85k CDN. What would you choose? I know what I would choose.

He would only make $64000 US & not $100,000 as a starter in the UFL. NFL practice roster players make more for sure but he has the option most American qbs that come up here don't have. A backup roster spot with the Bombers behind Collaros with a realistic chance to be a starter when Zach retires. Rourke is making $600,000  a year now. If the salary cap keeps going up, he may be making $700 or $800,000 a year...

27 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

Right, choose signing, playing and carving out a fantastic career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 🙂

I really don't know if you're being serious or sarcastic. All I'll sayis talk to Zach Collaros about how he feels making $600000 a year. If the salary cap keeps rising, you'll probably see CFL qb salaries rise to $700 or $800,000 a year? How many people do we actually know that make that kind of money with their careers? people can scoff at what the CFL pays in comparison to the NFL. but really???? That's some serious life altering coin as well. But CFL qbs only get that from playing & doing extremely well. But the opportunity is there. 

Edited 27 minutes ago by SpeedFlex27

[wpgallday1960]

I have no problem with Elgersma chasing and NFL dream but sooner or later he’ll be in the CFL if he wants a pro career at QB. I may be biased but I think the sooner he comes to that conclusion the better off he’ll be.