WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced on Tuesday the club has agreed to terms on a one-year extensions with veteran linebackers Kyrie Wilson and Shayne Gauthier. Both were scheduled to become free agents in February.
Gauthier’s turning 33 in weeks but has some value as a ST. Kyrie???
“The six-foot-one, 227-pound native of Fresno, Calif. has played 51 games over seven seasons with the Blue Bombers.”
IOW he spends an average of 11 games out of service, more if you factor out the one full season he put in back in 2019. This should be an extremely easy cut of an old veteran.
If the Bombers were serious about getting younger, that looks like a lot of same old same old. Even if he comes at minimum wage, those $$$ would be much better invested in upgrading the OL & DL which are in bad need of an injection of talent. 
Can hardly wait for the Bighill signing. 
He is definitely injury prone, but he is also the Bombers highest rated linebacker since the PFF stats came in, one year finishing at 5th in the leagjue and I believe last year rising as high as 2nd before being hurt, or vice versa- I can’t remember.
There is some merit to what you are saying, but there is also some merit to keeping one of the statistically best 5 linebackers in the league and hoping he stays healthy. Time will tell.
So he’s good for 5 games a season & has no on-field impact for 13??? You talk about walking away from Schoen because his injury history over a year or 2 but you’re willing to waste $$$ on a guy who has consistently been injured for the past 4 seasons??? BTW I DO agree on Schoen.
When the top 30 FA’s came out did it surprise you that Bighill wasn’t on it? Or Wilson? When the CFL ranked the top 40 DEFENSIVE players, which included a dozen LB/SAM neither made that list either. Outside of Wpg, Jon, there is no other club in the CFL that is itching to sign either 1 of them. There isn’t much interest in the market for a 32 year old WIL who might give you half a season.
Regardless, my main point is, outside of your obvious affection for Wilson, the Bombers have much bigger areas to invest their money.
You misread my post.
All I stated about Wilson were facts about his stats and how good a linebacker he is, probably the most underrated in the league. I also acknowledged his injury history. I didn’t comment on whether him signing was good or bad and I think that is difficult for either of us to do without knowing what the coaches and management know about his injury status and what he signed for and how their cap management is going so far. I’m not surprised that him or Bighill weren’t on the top 40 free agents list. I am also against signing Bighill although I fear the Bombers will.
As to Schoen, I said that he shouldn’t be in the Bombers plans as he has been lukewarm to returning, is coming off two serious injuries and because the Bombers already have 3 deep threats at receiver, 4 if Wilson returns. The money saving is nice as well, but the bottom line is that the Bombers have an embarassment of riches at receiver and even after losing Wilson and Schoen will still be right up there with any group of receivers in the league. They don’t need Schoen.
The Bombers also place a heavy emphasis on having players that fit into their culture, probably more than any other team. You don’t go to 5 Grey Cups in a row by continually assembling a rag tag bunch of nomads. Wilson fits into that culture while I have my doubts that Schoen does as much. Unfortunately Bighill is basically one of the founders of that culture and as great a leader as any CFL player and that is why I suspect it is so hard to put him out to pasture. The culture is a double edged sword, although it has clearly been more successful than not.
Still need a QB2 for when Collaros has to go into the shop for repairs. When that DOES happen, who comes in to keep the home-field Grey Cup dream alive? Streveler? Wilson? Yeah, okay…At least it appears that they are taking the Schoen ornament off the wall finally. A glimmer of rational thought finally.
Wow. Just wow.
What’s James West up to these days? I’ll bet he could give us 5 games too & he’d probably make at least 1 or 2 impact plays.
The Bombers need to get much younger and soon.
I expect they will re-sign Streveler. If they didn’t trust Wilson to play above a high school level in the Grey Cup when Zach obviously couldn’t throw I don’t see the point of keeping hime, but they might.
Mark Kilam said it best…You need two QB’s in the CFL to win (see two previous GC champions). That is to say, more than just one QB who can get the ball downfield to any of your deep threat receivers which the BB’s are stacked with. I like Streveler…I think he can be a leader and most certainly one the best short yardage guys in the league. He is NOT however, another live arm like this team needs. Terry Wilson is obviously not the answer for this, or any other team. The Bombers MUST move on another young QB to stay in the race AND prepare for the post-Collaros era which is closing in rapidly.
Why on Earth would you take away his full season?
Look, I didn’t think he would be resigned. Not a big deal though, it’s only January. Fact is he has an injury history, but another fact is he is a dominant LB when healthy. Will he get back to that? I personally hold little hope. But if he can, how could this not be a win? If he doesn’t he likely is cut in camp, or shortly afterwards. I would bet this signing does nothing to stop us from looking for another “next one”.
Should they sign high school players? Would that make people happy?
He has 51 career games, INCLUDING his full season. That’s about 7 games played/season OR 11 games MIA.
He has been the definition of injury prone - you don’t establish yourself as a dominant player in the league in street clothes in my book. But, hey, you’re welcome to him. If the Bombinos all like him, that’s OK with me. 
That culture took a left turn about 3 years ago, Jon. You’ve developed a losing culture when it comes to Grey Cups. The Eskimos went to 7 straight GC’s but no one goes on about that - certainly not you. Nor would anyone if they didn’t win 5 of them - in a row.
If you believe that the Bombers were all celebrating their run of success in GETTING to the GC game the past 3 years, then how well do you know your team?
You see me, & a couple of others, as being very negative towards your team. I am, in fact, stating what I see in media reports - including the Wpg media. I’ll be frank with you. Bomber fans take cold comfort in that the past 3 years that they were “in the game”. The score was close late, there was Zach’s finger etc… But post game, what were Lapo’s first comments - they were beaten badly in the trenches - same as in 2023. And it’s gotten worse each year - from a blocked FG, to a being outscored 21-7 in the final half & giving up explosion plays of 14, then 31 & finally a 19 yd dart to the end zone & now this in 2024.
The Bombers OL is good BUT just not good enough. The DL - can’t get pressures. But for a fluke wind, the Bombers likely finish 2nd. But that wasn’t the real story in wk 21. Here are some comments from PFF on that final game:
“While Montreal wasn’t playing for anything in Week 21, Montreal had the best week by any offensive line this season. All five starters earned grades above 79.0 in pass protection, and no one along the offensive line allowed a pressure.”
Donny Ventrelli had his 1st CFL start @ RT & didn’t allow a pressure. This has been a season long problem. The Wpg OL for the season finished 8th in pass blocking with a 59.4 rating. (They were 3rd in run blocking). And Bryant, not surprisingly, was their best guy on OL BUT had a 59.2 pass blocking grade. The team rated 6th on OL last year - good, not great.
The problem isn’t just the Als & Argos, rated #1 & 2 on OL. Some West teams are starting to catch up. The Elk OL ranked 3rd & placed 3 All-Stars on the PFF 1st & 2nd team - no Bombers there. They had the highest rated RT & their LT was the top OL, regardless of position. The Riders, according to CFL.ca rankings, were 1st on D. Bombers tied with Als for 2nd. The DL stats let them down & prevented a #1 ranking.
You can take it as a criticism but if the Bombers want to carry on this streak they need to get younger & better on both sides of the LOS. That’s my opinion & you have yours. Fair enough. That’s not to say they can’t win again but I would like to see more changes. They’ve gone from 15 - 14 - 11 wins - the dropoff is becoming steeper. That’s not unusual after teams go on a run - it can end quickly. I will be very interested to see exactly what the Bombers do in FA this year & how they flesh out their coaching staff.
Well, you also didn’t consider him a good LB when he played - so I take your opinion of him with little value. As I did with your opinion of Jackson Jeffcoat. You proved you rarely watch a game, you twist football stats to go the way you want. That might work in baseball, but in football there is far too much that happens that can’t be reflected in stats. Remember when you were trying to find out who was the best DE, and letting the stats prove it? You claimed that Willie wasn’t dominant - like 3 years ago, lol
Your track record on the Bombers is pretty bad.
I’m curious as to why you would like to see more changes.
You are not a fan of the team.
I can also say that I can only speak for myself, but I feel that the majority of BB fans would agree. The past 5 years have been AWESOME, regardless of the past 3 losses.
Well that puts me in the minority, I suppose…It’s been a good run, no doubt. 5 division championships and a couple Grey Cups…The team has made me proud, absolutely. Having said that, I am not blinded by my faith in, or commitment to my team. It’s plain to see that the time for change and development has come. No team stays on top forever, nor should they. It’s bad for the league and alienates the fans. I want my team to stay competitive and kick some a** all season long, but I would rather pass the mantle of ultimate success to another team while mine prepares for the future and perhaps another championship run someday, as opposed to being runners up over and over again in November. That re-run will not be AWESOME in any respect.
Don’t know what prompted this, but as one of my buddies in here likes to say, this is the definition of living rent free in your head.
I’m not going to argue with you again about how terrible the Bombers have been the last 5 years and I’m not going to make impossible comparisons to eras with no salary cap and no free agency.
Smart move to me. They have had recent experience with say a Greg Ellingson, who was his usuall self for a few games and then out for the season, in fact I am not sure he played another game.
Gauthier is well worth the money though. Solid and steady in the middle and just “plugged in” to the lineup when Bighill went out.
Agreed…BB’s don’t need Schoen OR Bighill. Welcome Tony Jones and Dillon Mitchell.