Fa Period set to begin

exactly, the bombers better not make a play for a guy like joseph, when pierce is expected to be released before march.

agree about joseph, diagree about campbell…

Esks will still have their league leader in stamps… plus peterson and talbot will more than likely be 1000yrd guys as well…

if we offer the right guys… like a good SAM LB in Charlton, and brock ralph, who could do some dmg with ray throwin it… and maybe an intriguing prospect, we could still see campbell here

I don't understand the hate for Joseph. He's been misused since he was traded to the Argos. Last season the Argos had:

  1. a head coach/OC who didn't know the CFL
  2. a head coach/OC who designed an offense that didn't utilize Joseph's strengths
  3. an o-line that was more porous than Spongebob
  4. a carousel of receivers in and out of the line-up

For the right money (not his current contract), Joseph would be an asset IMO.

this is all very true, but Joseph is quite old now, and his better days are definately behind him… unless he’s the next damon allen, but thats very unlikely

besides, i never found his better days to be all that great anyway

If you want Campbell, it will cost you an impact player (i.e. not old man Charlton, or re-tread Ralph), plus your first round draft pick, guaranteed. Are you willing to do that?

“old man” Charlton is still really good bud… 72 tackles and a pick last season… plus, Esks fans over on that site have already accepted the fact that Kelly wont be back with them. I think that may even be overpaying for someone who refused to report

Very true, i don't think it's going to take as much as people think to pry Campbell outta Edmonton, i suspect a player such as Charlton and a pick (not 1ST) plus Ralph would do it, but the BB'S have to be in a position and have a backup plan to replace Charlton as we are still not that secure at LB, i suspect Mack is still looking at the best options at WR, LB and DB, possibly also at oline (unless Donelly re-signs then we're okay there as well). I am expecting a big move in the very near future and don't forget we have dome Dline bait to trade away as well, i still expect Gavin Walls and/or Fred Perry to be moved one way or another very soon as Hunt and Willis are both young and promising and Brown still a force as well.

Will and MLB’s arnt that hard to find

at Sam all we gotta do is move Shabaaz over there… he’s more suited for that position anyway

one LB id love to see given another chance is Jasper Johnson

The way i see it is we have a strong core of player's already and only have to fill 2, maybe three holes on the team, last season we started 3-8 and pushed Hamilton down to the wire with basically the same team, playing the waiting game like Mack is doing is not bad strategy as everyone knows that the teams that overspend or spend freely at the start of free agancy will alway's make a couple of mistakes by offering contracts larger than they should actually be (see Edm last season) and then they are too crunched at the ceiling of the Cap to make any moves during the season when they need help the most.

2-3 holes?

With respect, your QB situation is only better than Toronto's...you have less of a plan at the most important position than the team had one year ago.

The o-line needs to have one guy sign to just equal where it was last year, which was only so-so.

The receiving corps, right now, is worse than it was opening day last year.

And with Hefney gone, so is your secondary....and, though it pains Bomber fans to admit it, your LB's are better with Simpson than without him.

So, to recap, you need at least one and probably 2 receivers, a defensive halfback, a long snapper and an offensive lineman just to get you even with how you ended last year, which was out of the playoffs. Plus you did not, and do not have a concrete plan at QB, the most important position on the field.

Not to say any of this is insurmountable, but don't crush Lapo the first year with crazy expectations.

.....We'll be alright....just wait for the block-buster trade..... :wink: :thup:

You should know better than anyone, there comes a time when the back ups and rookies have to step up and become starters.

No point in staying with what we had last year, it wasn’t good enough.

They’re working on a deal for another QB or two.

We have 3 or 4 youngsters who will get a shot on the oline

Heffney was a nobody until he got here last season, no reason the same thing can’t happen again this year.

Heck, you guys pull one or two out of the hat every year it seems.

I should have added, last year was the first year in 10 that we actually had a scouting department again and it looks like we won’t have to rely heavily on free agents like we have in the past to fill the roster.

I guess you didnt watch many bomber games last season, nor have you actually been following any of the transactions

You think Titus Ryan is actually going to stick with Dallas for instance? the guy signed on as a ST BODY… if they even get somebody they like at his spot in the draft, he wont even step on the field

also why do we need an O-lineman to get to where we were last year? donnelly just got married so he’s been a little busy… but he plans one re-signing, expect to here about it today or tomorrow

Hefny will more then likely be back, he is on the small side

Our recieving core isnt even all that bad. Titus Ryan and Adarius Bowman are two young guys with tremendous upside. Both will be very good recievers for the bombers for years to come. Edwards is the established and reliable Vet. we just need one more proven vet here. Jabari Arthur and Aaron Hargraves will be Very adequet, maybe even exceed expectations in the canadian spot… you should know how well LAPO gets the best out of his recievers

Also, offensive line was second or first in sacks allowed. and had one of the best run games in the CFL… a little better then “so-so”.

Defensive line is Crazy stacked, and Barrin could still be back… Joe Lobendahn will be pretty darn good anyway… Plus MLB arn’t that hard to find, we have had many good ones in TC only to be cut because we had lobendahn and barrin simpson in camp already

the offence was bad because kelly had a scheme in place from the early nineties late eighties… plus, MB isnt exactly a stellar QB, and it really didnt help that he was air lifted in the middle of the season with no TC or any familliarity at reciever what so ever

Buck Pierce will become an option around march 1st, not to mention all the potential of Ricky Santos, Stefan Lefors(in a CFL Offence) and hopefully steven Jyles

Im sorry, but im pretty sure the offence will be a lot better this year, even without a new QB and a second Vet reciever… with all these players actualy having a TC and some familiarity with each other, and an actual up to date offensive scheme, put that together with our defence and we ain’t lookin to bad

Im not saying we will be up there with Montreal Hamilton at this moment, But i think We can finish around 9-9 maybe even 10-8 if we get our guys back from the NFL. you’ll laugh because you dont know much about the bombers, but come playoff time, we’ll revisit this thread and see whos right and whos wrong

Again as i said on another thread, everyone is quick to knock our Bombers even though there is still 3 months until training camp and just cause we decide not to overspend on free agents (see Edmonton last season) and have nothing left in the bank when it counts (come July/Aug and on) is just plain dumb. As for our QB's we'll be just fine, i am not worried about our QB'S or Oline as the play calling won't be as complicated as Kelly's horrible and impossible playbook. When we re-sign Donelly we'll have a solid o-line once again (we allowed the fewest sacks the last 2 months of 09) so to say our oline was only so-so is totally bogus, we also don't need a long snapper, we have one, a very good one in Cvet, do your research before posting, Heffney will be back and we have solid player's that could fill that hole anyway's, young guys that are not costing us six figures a year (Hamilton) ... and we need one solid reciever, not hard to come by, dime a dozen if you scout properly, Bowman, Edwards, Ralph, Arthur, Hargreaves, Marshall and when Titus Ryan returns, looks pretty good to me, never mind the fact that we are still going to trade for one (hello Campbell). No worries piggy, we know what we have as far as talent is concerned here in Winnipeg, everyone will be quick to knock us cause we haven't wasted BIG MONEY on average FA'S (worst FA market in years) and the biggest moves have been via trade and Mack hasn't even made his first move yet, his first will be a BIG ONE and will surprise MANY naysayer's!!

Receiving corps, please.

It couldn’t possibly be worse, could it?

It will be very interesting to see what kind of offensive scheme LaPolice and Baressi put in place; that will determine to a great extent who becomes the starting QB from the stable already there in Bishop, LeFors, Santos, DiMichele, and Bramlet, or from someone else brought in. Interesting times ahead!

still bustin my chops about grammer eh…

and yes it could be worse… just have a look at toronto for instance

That’s right Papa, everyone is talking like the season begins tommorow (i wish) saying we are going to stink cause they overspend on a few FA’S and we will be doing it through trade and good old fashioned scouting without worrying about our cap room. i know we will be hearing about at least one signing and one trade, maybe two within the next week or so when the dust settles from this the worst FA Period in decades when it comes to player talent. Mack is playing it smart money wise, player’s left over from this point on will need to realize that in a league with the cap so low that THEY WILL NOT get the kinda cash they are looking for, and if one wants to be playing this season they better take there old salary or a cut to do so, Mack understands that part!! he will get the right player’s for less than the teams who are jumping at the FA market like flies on crap right now, overspending is suicide in this league!!

Didn’t mean to ‘bust your chops’ about grammAr, james. . . it’s just that using “core” instead of “corps” and mixing up “then” and “than” are 2 of my pet peeves. . .

And good point about Toronto, that was my laugh of the day, thanks ! Man that was a horrid offence wasn’t it? It seems to me that Winnipeg’s poor offence last season was due to the offensive package not the personnel, whereas in Toronto the problem was both !

So you think the BB will improve by lowballing??

You also seem to have a great deal of knowledge about the contracts the Cats gave today and their SMS situation for a BB fan… where do you get your info from??

Lowballing isn’t a bad thing when we have player’s in NFL tryouts most likely to return to The Bombers such as Titus Ryan and Heffney. And my knowledge of salary comes from common mathematics, take what they made last year and simply figure they are going to be asking for more and won’t settle for less, common sense, so if the Cats think they got there monies worth so be it, but i can almost guarantee that there are still defensive player’s just as good if not better then Shivers and Poole out there and that includes FREE AGENT CAMPS opening in a month or so which is where we found alot of our young stars or great veteren additions such as Lenny Walls, Heffney and so on, just making a point that the team that signs all the decent FA’S for Big Bucks not alway’s if rarely benefit the most from it.