Per 3downnation, these are our free agents ... basically everyone but Zach, Vaval, Peterson, Clercius, Randolph, Wallace, Pokey Wilson, MCI, Allen, T. Jones, and Leroux the longsnapper.  

Quarterback

Chris Streveler (A)

Running back

Brady Oliveira (N)

Receiver

Kody Case (A)
Nic Demski (N)
Dillon Mitchell (A)
Dalton Schoen (A)
Jerreth Sterns (A)
Keric Wheatfall (A)

OL

Stanley Bryant (A)
Tui Eli (N)
Chris Kolankowski (N)
Eric Lofton (A)
Patrick Neufeld (N)

Defensive line

Willie Jefferson (A)
Cameron Lawson (N)
Tanner Schmekel (N)
Jake Thomas (N)
James Vaughters (A)
Jamal Woods (A)

Linebacker

Tanner Cadwallader (N)
Shayne Gauthier (N)
Kyrie Wilson (A)

Defensive back

Terrell Bonds (A)
Michael Griffin II (A)
Nick Hallett (N)
Evan Holm (A)
Demerio Houston (A)
Redha Kramdi (N)
Enock Makonzo (N)
Deatrick Nichols (A)
Jamal Parker (A)

Specialist

Sergio Castillo (A)
Jamieson Sheahan (G)

Edited November 12, 2025Nov 12 by johnzo

52 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Talent is relative.

Where do you think the talent at every position is coming from?

So just that I’m clear it seems to be implied here that it’s next to impossible in this current football climate to uncover/find a quality QB2 that WBB’s management and coaching staff would be confident in running our offense this coming season if ZC is unable to do for whatever reason?

2 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

So just that I’m clear it seems to be implied here that it’s next to impossible in this current football climate to uncover/find a quality QB2 that WBB’s management and coaching staff would be confident in running our offense this coming season if ZC is unable to do for whatever reason?

Most nfl teams don’t have a quality number 2 guy right now so next to impossible? No but just about. Gotta find a kid who truly wants it. A guy who wants to take over from Zach. To me this would be Elgersmas best shot to come up and sign now but he’s unproven also but… if you can get him signed, you do it. I’m not signing any of the below average vets.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Goalie

I guess I feel ok knowing that it wasn’t the bombers who developed dru brown, it was Zach so I think if you have the guy, who wants to learn and is willing to put in the work, maybe he can do it again. Thorne might be that guy. He’s young and he wanted to come up here. Oh he just retired cuz he got drafted to Iran. Well. He didn’t. But just saying. He wanted to come here so that probably matters a bit. I think it does. He wanted to come here and Canadian QB Elgersma don’t right now. That’s just yup.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Goalie

1 hour ago, M.Silverback said:

I get that the list of American college QB's, and some NFL QB's, that came to the CFL and failed is long. However, there are so many QB's that play at the D1 and D2 level in the US that will never play in the NFL, I'm a bit baffled as to why it's been so difficult for the Bombers to find anyone talented. Yes, many don't want to play in Canada. Yes, there is an adjustment to the CFL game. But how about just bring in more? Really work on bringing some neg listers, early NFL cuts, ones who didn't get drafted. Instead of 3 in camp, bring in 8. Yes ... they won't get enough reps ... but your chances of one having CFL talent at least increase if you bring in some more. Or, just keep doing the same thing we've been doing, get the same results.

Talent isn't the primary limiting factor. It's everything that comes after talent that brings success; that's what is lacking. Wilson has plenty of talent. Chase did. Grainger had crazy talent. We get raw talent QBs these days. It takes a lot to polish them if they don't wash out. And a whole lot of them do wash out.

This isn't a bombers thing either; this is a league and football-wide issue. Half the starting QBs in the league are closer to pension than to college. More than half, frankly, suck at being a starting QB.

The NFL is struggling for QBs, and they've opened wide the maw to vacuum up and hold as many guys as possible. The PR expansions and increases in pay mean we don't get a polished guy with talent anymore. The NIL money makes that problem even worse. Plus, the NFL has diversified in offensive systems along with the college game. No more do we see guys completely ignored because of the offence they ran. Why come up here and, at best, get to play behind a shaky OL (League and sport-wide OLs are struggling as well) and risk a poor quality of life for less money than you make as QB2 at a good program? You always have live and breathe football guys, but the modern generations of football players have far more diverse interests. It's no longer a prerequisite to love football more than a good quality of life.

Also, the modern transfer window has hurt a lot of kids' development. Instead of toughing it out and earning a spot after 2 years, they transfer or drop down to juco to try and get a better starting job. The transfer window is fair for the kids, but it isn't an aid in developing QBs. It helps many positions, but not QB imo.

Look at Elgersma, a relative unknown to most us scouts until he went pro (compared to us prospects that the scouts have watched since middle school), and he's still getting enough interest to linger on the periphery of the NFL. If he were a Texas/Florida/SoCal, etc. kid who had performed well in junior and high school, we'd never see him.

We saw a few years ago Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal dipped their toes into massive QB pools for camp. Talking 10-ish QBs or more. It failed miserably. What kids with talent need to develop is time and a lot of effort. They also need to have great intangibles, like Dru Browns mental toughness, in order to survive and embrace the grind to step up to qbing at the pro level. It's easily the hardest job in sports.

A lot can, and has been said (by myself and others) about the negatives of our scouting and roster management/development strategy. If we see a red flag in the work ethic, ability to uptake the game, passion, or mental toughness of a QB, he is gone.