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 20 hours ago20 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 20 hours ago20 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.

1 hour 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?

The players playing pro are the best. So someone who is good in NCAA is making a transition up to play pro. So everyone gets excited about a guy who had success at NCAA school(s) but like I said....the talent is relative. They are competing with the best which isn't what they competed against in NCAA. Even if you want to look at a P5 roster you're looking at a fraction of those players making it at all in pro football.

3 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

No, why is it bad that we can't?

Combination of things, I believe. Until the spring leagues & smaller NFL rosters & practice squads thereshould have been more qbs developed by CFL teams. they had the market on qbs if they were cut as they had nowhere else to go. So, more effort should have been made like it was in Edmonton & Calgary to find & develop talented young qbs. Too many CFL teams, the Bombers included felt they didn't have to spend the resources necessary as they could just dip into free agency & sign Kent Austin, matt Dunigan or Tom burgess as our next sarting qb. They felt that they didn't need to have one or two young guys ready to go.

In today's CFL, there's less talent available. The best qbs that could become available are already signed by the NFL. If they aren't already on regular rosters they're on the practice squad. Others are playing in the UFL like our boy Taylor Elgersma. So, I'll admit that it's much harder in 2026 to develop legit qb talent in the CFL than say in 1996. When you look back coming up to three seasons ago, developing & letting Dru Brown go was a huge mistake. There's been no one since he left for the Bombers who even came close to him talent wise. I'm not Brown's biggest fan. I think he's too passive as a leader & perhaps isn't as tough as he needs to be. I think other qbs like Chris Streveler may have played thru some of his injuries that he's had. Still, it would have been nice for him to start here.

The NFL pr pays about 220,000 for less than 2 years of service and 300k for 2 years of service, for the whole year. Plus, a full camp is 10-20k plus any signing bonuses.

So you're looking about 230-320k for a full year of camp + Tc. Add on the exchange rate of 35%+, and the taxation level is about half of what you pay up here. Roughly that means you'd have to make about 425k at minimum to compete with a QB who goes through camp and sits on the pr the whole year. At that point, of course, you won't get those guys to give up on that chance and come up here. But that is the ballpark level of competition for rookie QBs.

To improve our QB pool, I think you'd need to have rookies able to earn around 200k USD. 175k probably still makes an impact, 150k maybe.

Last year, the 2nd tier vet backup QBs (Evans, Shiltz, Strev, etc.) made in the low 100k range. After taxes in American bucks, they are probably lucky if they bring home 60-70k. And you know the raw rookies are making even less than that.

Triple that, and push that pay level down to the rookies. Then you'll see guys making the decision to stay in football and come up here who wouldn't otherwise, and see the guys who would come up here do so sooner.

23 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

The NFL pr pays about 220,000 for less than 2 years of service and 300k for 2 years of service, for the whole year. Plus, a full camp is 10-20k plus any signing bonuses.

So you're looking about 230-320k for a full year of camp + Tc. Add on the exchange rate of 35%+, and the taxation level is about half of what you pay up here. Roughly that means you'd have to make about 425k at minimum to compete with a QB who goes through camp and sits on the pr the whole year. At that point, of course, you won't get those guys to give up on that chance and come up here. But that is the ballpark level of competition for rookie QBs.

To improve our QB pool, I think you'd need to have rookies able to earn around 200k USD. 175k probably still makes an impact, 150k maybe.

Last year, the 2nd tier vet backup QBs (Evans, Shiltz, Strev, etc.) made in the low 100k range. After taxes in American bucks, they are probably lucky if they bring home 60-70k. And you know the raw rookies are making even less than that.

Triple that, and push that pay level down to the rookies. Then you'll see guys making the decision to stay in football and come up here who wouldn't otherwise, and see the guys who would come up here do so sooner.

It makes too much sense so the CFL won't do it. They won't even get rid of the coaching/admin cap.

16 hours ago, wbbfan said:

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.

As it should be. Work ethic, desire, and catching onto the game are what sets our league's starters apart from our wash outs.

18 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

As it should be. Work ethic, desire, and catching onto the game are what sets our league's starters apart from our wash outs.

Thats not what is happening, but that leads you to lunch box qbs. Which did not work out well for AFL etc.

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

It makes too much sense so the CFL won't do it. They won't even get rid of the coaching/admin cap.

Pretty much. I know the cost would be a lot. Probably the larger of the last 2 cap increases, if not both of them in size. And that doesnt even include paying starters more money. But as the qb goes, so goes the team, league, and sport.

26 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Thats not what is happening, but that leads you to lunch box qbs. Which did not work out well for AFL etc.

Pretty much. I know the cost would be a lot. Probably the larger of the last 2 cap increases, if not both of them in size. And that doesnt even include paying starters more money. But as the qb goes, so goes the team, league, and sport.

What did not work out for the AFL etc is that they looked for warm bodies basically because they wouldn't pay a living wage. I get what you are saying that work ethic, desire etc can lead to lunch pail QBs if you go out and get skill deficient QBs. However, in our league most QBs have a good skill set it's the intangibles that set them apart and that makes it very hard to scout for the next one because it isn't something that's easy to put your finger on until you see the guy in camp, and then in game action. Developing QBs is a hard thing to do, because not a lot of guys want to wait the 2-3 years it might take. Take Chase for example, one and done. Not saying he would have ever amounted to anything but he didn't want to stick around to see.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by GCn20

27 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

What did not work out for the AFL etc is that they looked for warm bodies basically because they wouldn't pay a living wage. I get what you are saying that work ethic, desire etc can lead to lunch pail QBs if you go out and get skill deficient QBs. However, in our league most QBs have a good skill set it's the intangibles that set them apart and that makes it very hard to scout for the next one because it isn't something that's easy to put your finger on until you see the guy in camp, and then in game action. Developing QBs is a hard thing to do, because not a lot of guys want to wait the 2-3 years it might take. Take Chase for example, one and done. Not saying he would have ever amounted to anything but he didn't want to stick around to see.

Low pay, and aiming at that will get you there. The thing is, most rookies are on pretty low contracts once they pay taxes and convert, not to mention living expenses being up here. After all that, even if you come in at 100k, what are you sending home? 25-30 maybe? For anyone with a family, it isn't a living wage being a rookie QB up here.

Id say they have good talent. Skill levels, I mean, you always end up picking a tool kit that balances one of arm strength, and accuracy/touch. That's really all throwing sports. And part of the struggle in developing QBs. No different than MLB teams developing pitchers. The throwing talent is completely separate from throwing athleticism, and extraordinarily nuanced. You usually hope to end up with a guy who throws just hard enough and has the ability to put the ball where it needs to go, or a guy with a cannon and athleticism who is as much playing spray and pray in the pass game.

Intangibles can be tough to quantify, beyond what you'd expect as well. Because basically all the QBs coming up are at best 2-year starters, it is very hard to tell what is a product of an intangible and what is a fluke or other factors. Back in the day, when every QB going pro was a 3-4 year starter, and a 3-4 year HS starter, you could get a much better evaluation of the guy.

Yeah, I mean, teams and players don't want to wait. But at the same time, you only learn so much on the bench. I think young prospects need more seasoning in the first year and a half or so, then after that point. You really have to stress test them. Practice isn't a source of that at all anymore. So we see young guys who have sat for a year or two, know the system, understand most of the nuances of the game, but haven't been battle-hardened enough to be able to make use of those assets.

If I were running a team, this is what I would do.

Break down the QB prospects into 2 lists. Long list guys, and short list. Long list guys are ones that you've scouted extensively and are ready to keep around for 2 years, almost no matter what. Like how we waited out dru browns early struggles. The short list is guys who have the raw tools you like and may or may not be available. These range from flyers to guys you would watch for a few months to a season to get a better read on while they are on the team.

Bring in 4-5 max of these guys. Assuming you have no real QB2, but a starter. You do install with your starter and give heavy, heavy rep time to the prospects. You likely would be lucky to have more than 1 long list guy at a time. So 3-4 short list guys, and as you see critical red flags, you replace them with other short list guys. Mainly, a lack of mental toughness, mental ability to read/progress/improvise, or a lack of the balance of touch/accuracy/release/strength required.

You break camp with 3 on the ar, but any time you get one, you should take a vet for QB2. So you end up sitting with 2-3 developmental guys. Any long list guy, or a short list overachiever, goes on the 6-game out of camp. You test the mettle of the remaining kids, cycling them through pr, scout team, heavy drill use, and short yardage stuff on the ar. As they break, you replace them. At 6 games, if any are left standing, you switch them for the first group and sit them on the ir for 6, giving the first group a chance.

So you sit a max of 2 QBs on the IR, with a starter/backup, and 2 guys going from pr to ir fighting for a spot. Repeat that grinder until you have 2-3 guys who are at least ready to be between qb2/3. Guys, you can't expect to easily replace them with free agents.

Then, you run the blender again with them. You do this and hope to go into the next camp able to move on from QB2 or not being crippled if you lose qb 1.

To run this blender, you need to be airlifting and cycling DBs and WRs as well. You can't really practice with QBs facing a real rush, but you can run a ton of Skelly. And you force them to run it on double time to create that friction to struggle against. You call snap, get the QB the ball, and he has to rely on post-snap read and reaction. Shorter than 5-second routes till whistle and next QB up.

You'd also need more offensive coaches than D to facilitate running this. You'd each scout to dedicate more time to QBs than the rest, or maybe 1-2 almost full-time on QBs.

You probably need to have 2 years to get to the point you want to be at. But most teams' QB plan amounts to either, Hope you hit the lotto, Hope your guy doesn't get hurt/diminish/retire/leave in FA, or Hope someone else can develop a guy who goes to FA that you can poach. Which is how you end up with 40 year old qbs with injury records longer than all the pages Stephen King has written.

We are on the cusp of losing BLM, Zach, and Harris in this league. MBT and Masoli are basically done in all but paperwork. Vaj and Fajardo are 33-34 with a ton of wear. The pest hasn't played well outside of or been healthy-ish since 23. As bad as the coming rule changes are, the biggest crisis that the league faces is QBing. If that ship isn't righted with a new group of younger talent, the rest of the stuff will just be the straw that breaks the camels back.