Kyle Walters can try and fix a huge mistake this off-season but it will take money. Lots of it.

The Blue Bombers are still haunted by former GM Joe Mack’s inexplicable decision to let Brendon LaBatte reach free agency and sign with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. But, there’s a path to redemption and its name is Ben Heenan.

LaBatte, as most Bombers fans are painfully aware, is among the best interior linemen in the CFL and was a leading factor in the Riders’ Grey Cup win last season. He should have been a Bomber for life, but Mack let him walk and Riders GM Brendan Taman was waiting with open arms.

Pro sports is kind of like romance. There are no rules when it comes to getting the player a GM wants. Oh, and turnabout is definitely fair play.

Which brings us to Walters and potential free agent and current Riders non-import tackle Heenan. Go get him, Kyle.

Pile up the money. Make him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the CFL. Get Heenan to trade green for blue. Did we mention money? Yeah, give it to him. Lots of it.

Taman will try to get Heenan to sign long before free agency, but as we saw this summer when he signed Weston Dressler coming out of the NFL, the Riders GM must keep balance in his locker-room and making Heenan his highest-priced player after quarterback Darian Durant will be tough to justify.

But Walters can offer Heenan everything and anything but Drew Willy’s salary. And Willy can campaign, too. Don’t think he wouldn’t like to see this battleship standing on his line.

Heenan could make Bombers fans forget LaBatte — maybe even Mack. Okay, the last part is a stretch, but signing Heenan could cure a lot of ills.

The Bombers offensive line is awful. Fixing the line, gaining a running attack and most importantly, protecting Willy, is priority No. 1 for Walters this off-season. A Canadian playing tackle is rare enough in the CFL. One with all-star potential is like the Hope Diamond. They just don’t come along that often.

Every GM in the CFL will want to take a crack at Heenan if he gets to the market. And for a team like the Bombers, he’s a game changer.

Walters needs to take a play out of Taman’s playbook from the winter of 2011-12 when he remade the Riders offensive line with two quick strikes in free agency, a trade and draft. Taman signed LaBatte and Dominic Picard in free agency, traded for Xavier Fulton and drafted Heenan. Voila! The best O-line in the league.

If Walters could snag Heenan and Tyler Holmes out of Toronto, he’d be well on his way to fixing his biggest issue. Easy to say but harder to do. Taman won’t want to let Heenan go and Jim Barker in Toronto will be doing his best to keep Holmes.

This off-season will be the first of the new CBA and rising salary cap. Agents will want their players to test the market. Most of the new money will go to quarterbacks and Canadian offensive lineman. Heenan will be at the top of the class.

“He’s going to hit the mother lode. The highest-paid offensive linemen in the league are older Canadian guys like Josh Bourque in Montreal. If you’re going to ply an old guy $200,000 or so, why wouldn’t you pay a young guy like Heenan, who can really play, even more?” said one CFL GM on Friday.

“The cap is going up and there aren’t many quarterback deals coming up. All the money this winter is going to go to offensive lineman and Heenan is at the top of the list. He should get at least $250,000. Maybe more.”

Riders supporters will immediately point to the fact Heenan was born in Regina, played his CIS football at Saskatchewan and is as homegrown as the wheat sprouting on the back 40. Yup.

All things being equal, Heenan likely isn’t going anywhere. And Taman will be doing everything in his power to get his prized hog locked up long before February and free agency rolls along.

So, Walters needs to tilt the table. And the only way to do this is with cold hard cash. As we know in Canada, there are lots of colours of money and it doesn’t only have to be green. Winnipeg is hosting the Grey Cup next season and there will be lots of cash streaming into the franchise.

Heenan might be a bit of a pipe dream. Holmes, however, has to be looking around the landscape in Toronto and wondering if the grass isn’t greener somewhere else.

A year ago the Bombers didn’t have a chance in free agency. The reputation of the franchise was in tatters and no one knew how the new regime would turn out. Now they have Willy, a coach in Mike O’Shea that players want to play for, the best stadium in the league and Grey Cup money to spend.

So spend it, Mr. Walters.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless

Best of the potential free-agent hogs

Expect Blue Bombers GM Kyle Walters to throw some money at his offensive line

in the off-season. Here are the non-import offensive linemen currently on CFL

rosters due to become free agents in February:

Pascal Baillargeon, Montreal: Two torn ACLs, may retire

Jake Piotrowoski, Montreal: Not a starter to this point.

Joe Eppele, Ottawa: Multiple shoulder surgeries, likely to retire.

Alexander Krausnick, Ottawa: Centre who is likely best suited to be a sixth man. Borderline CFL starter potential.

Tyler Holmes, Toronto: Could potentially be tried as a tackle. Has a chance to be an all-star and is already a solid starter.

Tim O’Neill, Hamilton: Thirty-four-year-old can start and also serve as backup. Limited, but knows how to get by.

Greg Wojt, Hamilton: Shoulder injury cost him this season, has started and been an all star.

Gord Hinse, Winnipeg: Backup, sixth or seventh man.

Dan Clark, Saskatchewan: Best role is likely as sixth man. Got the chance to start and struggled.

Ben Heenan, Saskatchewan: Tackle is best of the bunch, will be a perennial all-star.

Matt O’Donnell, Edmonton: Big body who struggles at times, but you can’t teach size. Borderline CFL starter right now but will likely get a decent contract and the chance to become a regular.

I like Holmes. He'd be a good add.

^{We need both Goosen and Neufeld to step up and start next year as well as a new RT.}

^{We need both Goosen and Neufeld to step up and start next year as well as a new RT.}

 

Neufeld is decent, but can't seem to stay healthy.  I'd prefer seeing him at RT and maybe Devin Tyler or Chad Anderson at LT next season.

We're going to have to hope that we draft an OL who can start next year, I suspect both January and Morley will retire in the offseason. We will have to start an international at LT and fill out the rest of the line with nationals and have something behind them for when injuries hit.

Taman worships OL... Heenan is not going anywhere

I think the more realistic situation is the Riders dump Picard to afford Heenan. Then we can pick up Picard and Tim O'neill and continue on with a terrible OL. It's the Bomber way.

This theory has merit. With younger and cheaper replacements at center in Clack and Watman, Picard could be a guy that gets moved. As far as Heenan, I'd fall off my chair if he doesn't sign here.

Where does Picard play? The one thing we don't need is another centre.

Yeah Gary, I bet Heenan is falling all over himself to sign on with the bluengold. A truckload of cash resembling Durants salary wouldn't even get it done. Get serious. I'm not saying don't try, but let's find some serious solutions to our problems instead of these airy fairy ideas. Start by going after this Horton guy released in argo land. Not an o line player but certainly wouldn't hurt to have a look at him at linebacker. Guess Gary didn't notice we're thin in that area. Find some solutions now, not in next year country.

It's october, free agency doesn't start until February,  This article would make more sense if it was Feb 14th not Oct 4th. Lots of time to go. 

I would like to see Goosen start the rest of the way let him get some experience into next year. Also think it will be easier to get a olineman or two from a place where there is a back log like in Calgary or Saskatchewan. Someone like a Peach, Vonk or Watman.

If we're thinking pie in the sky then the Bombers need to get Owens and Elemimian and Cornish. Just make it happen Walters. 

So if he hits FA lets not try at all? Typical fail attitude. Apparently you're not alone.

Pie-in the-sky is thinking this team gets better if we stay with the personnel we have.

 

If we're thinking pie in the sky then the Bombers need to get Owens and Elemimian and Cornish. Just make it happen Walters. 

So if he hits FA lets not try at all? Typical fail attitude. Apparently you're not alone.

Pie-in the-sky is thinking this team gets better if we stay with the personnel we have.

 

Pretty sure if he hits free agency, we will try and try hard. I just think most people here are under the impression that guys like that won't make it to free agency because they are too important to their teams, Might they? sure and if they do, i'm pretty sure all of us on here would say Go after them all but i think the reality is that guys like that rarely to never make it to free agency. Don't think anybody is saying don't try, just think most are saying, we won't have the ability to try cuz those guys will  be signed well before free agency hits. 

 

 

If we're thinking pie in the sky then the Bombers need to get Owens and Elemimian and Cornish. Just make it happen Walters. 

So if he hits FA lets not try at all? Typical fail attitude. Apparently you're not alone.

Pie-in the-sky is thinking this team gets better if we stay with the personnel we have.

 

Pretty sure if he hits free agency, we will try and try hard. I just think most people here are under the impression that guys like that won't make it to free agency because they are too important to their teams, Might they? sure and if they do, i'm pretty sure all of us on here would say Go after them all but i think the reality is that guys like that rarely to never make it to free agency. Don't think anybody is saying don't try, just think most are saying, we won't have the ability to try cuz those guys will  be signed well before free agency hits. 

 

I understand what you're saying, but Lawless did preface his opinion with "Which brings us to Walters and potential free agent and current Riders non-import tackle Heenan." I don't have an argument with you, I'm just not a fan of the "**** it, no chance" attitude in sports or life. The Labbate fiasco demonstrates there's always a chance...

There are only two people that believe we had a chance to keep LaBatte, in how the circumstances unfolded.

And one of them is Lawless.

There are only two people that believe we had a chance to keep LaBatte, in how the circumstances unfolded.

And one of them is Lawless.

 

How do you know how it unfolded, are you related to him or something...?

 

If we're thinking pie in the sky then the Bombers need to get Owens and Elemimian and Cornish. Just make it happen Walters. 

So if he hits FA lets not try at all? Typical fail attitude. Apparently you're not alone.

Pie-in the-sky is thinking this team gets better if we stay with the personnel we have.

 

The point is that he's not bloody likely to hit FA. Saskatchewan boy who is a good player? They'll pay him whatever it takes to retain him and what's his motivation to leave the Riders? The only possible one is money and I don't see anyone offering him enough to move because that's just stupid. Better off not wishing for players you have an extremely low chance of ever getting. It's just a waste of time. 

So first he takes a cheap shot at Mack saying how dumb it was for him to let Labatte go to FA, and then the rest of the article is assuming the Riders do the exact same thing?

What are the chances Holmes makes free agency?

 

About the same as the Argos being sold and having a stadium deal done by next February 15.

 

The Argos will pay Holmes what he wants.  They have Wayne Smith starting at the opposite guard, I don't think they'll be playing around too much when it comes to getting Holmes signed.  Only way Holmes or Heenan hit free agency is if they are looking for NFL deals.

The upcoming CFL draft has a lot of good OL prospects projected to go in the first round. Maybe Walters can trade a current roster player for a first rounder??

 

The Blue Bombers are still haunted by former GM Joe Mack’s inexplicable decision to let Brendon LaBatte reach free agency

 

Sweet zombie Jesus this is way beyond stupid.

 

If someone wants to go to free agency, you can't stop them.  That's why they call it free agency.

 

Tru dat. From looking at those Humpty's commercial its clear the first thing on his mind was to go to Sask and start a family there. Oh and GC to boot which he knew he would not get here.

Not going to happen.

Not going to happen.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have. 

Not going to happen.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have.

It's true though.

 

 

Not going to happen.

That's the kind of hard hitting analysis and insight we love to have.

It's true though.

 

which has been said by many people in this thread already and many people have added reasoning behind that belief in addition to simply stating that it's not going to happen. 

The upcoming CFL draft has a lot of good OL prospects projected to go in the first round. Maybe Walters can trade a current roster player for a first rounder??

Do we have anyone we'd be willing to trade who could fetch us anything close to a first? I'd be more than willing to give up a guy like Watson, but he probably only gets us a third rounder or so. 

The upcoming CFL draft has a lot of good OL prospects projected to go in the first round. Maybe Walters can trade a current roster player for a first rounder??

Do we have anyone we'd be willing to trade who could fetch us anything close to a first? I'd be more than willing to give up a guy like Watson, but he probably only gets us a third rounder or so.

Maybe Watson and January for a first??

The upcoming CFL draft has a lot of good OL prospects projected to go in the first round. Maybe Walters can trade a current roster player for a first rounder??

Do we have anyone we'd be willing to trade who could fetch us anything close to a first? I'd be more than willing to give up a guy like Watson, but he probably only gets us a third rounder or so.

Maybe Watson and January for a first??

January has zero trade value