Jim put David Bouchard the 325 pound Syracuse /Laval guard on their neg list after he slipped through the draft in 2007. David just completed his MBA and was a finalist to the JP Metras trophy and is probably the best Olinesmen to play in the CIS in 2009.
Jim just signed the promising prospect to a 3+1 deal !
This is promising!
Tip of the hat to Mr. Pop, as usual. My neck gets sore from all the hat-tipping! :lol:
The core of any good football team are its two lines. With the abundance of offensive-line talent in the pipeline, we should be good shape even when Chiu, Lambert, and eventually Flory decide to call it quits.
Jim has been an awesome GM, not a great coach (but that's another story...)
Chiu & Lambert, they will both be FA in Feb 2010.
My 2 cents, I think the Als are waiting Chiu's decision to see if he's back....
If he is, Lambert might not be signed and Brodeur-Jourdain will have a spot besides Chiu in the trenches.
Woodruff (which is being paid 100K as per news article), will finally be the 6th O-Line dressed & not a healthy scratch anymore. With Steenbergen & Bouchard waiting in the wing, we are in good position when the "vets" retire. For Seagraves..I just don't know...
I'm just a monday Morning QB, that's why Jim is the GM not me (otherwise we would be in big trouble)
Let the expert handle the job, Jim has been the master at it for since 1996 
I think its important that we continue to make room for the young guys. I think everyone who had a hand in the success of the team and are fair in their salary demands be invited to camp but I think it is very important to continue to make room for young talent. It’s an art to know when, how and who you need to let go in order to keep up. Tillman did that incredibly well in Saskatchewan, Taman not so much. It will be hard for Jim to make these decision, this is a family and some of these guys have been going to war for more than a decade and Jim values loyalty and is fiercly loyal himself. Like you say I’m glad its not me that has to figure all this out. Thanks Jim !
Jim has been a master of finding diamonds in the rough in regards to talent overlooked by so many other teams. Just as the thread says, he really is in a class by himself in that category
I think one of the keys to Mr. Popps success and that of the Als is that he believes that the foundation of a team is the O Line. Look at who weve had over the years - Vercheval, Fort, Okeke, Mark Dixon, Chiu, Flory, Bourke, Perrett. And the young newcombers will only continue the tradition.
You skipped Neil Fort 
He`s there listed after Vercheval, tough guy to forget. Kind of got a raw deal from Matthews to end his career.
Crap ok Lefsrud and Forst time was due, Als picked up one year of his salary, they were not obliged to do so. I think he got fairly treated.
Forgot about Lefsrud, another Popp draft choice.
I whole-heartedly agree that a good GM has to know when to cut ties with veterans and when to keep them on for another year or two. Recent decisions on that front have proven very fruitful – getting rid of Hunt, for example. However, I still think we cut Barron Miles too soon, while he still had some quality football years left in him.
It’s a fine line and I sure wouldn’t want to be in Mr. Popp’s shoes.
Lambert should compete for his spot in training camp IMO. We simply have too much good O-line talent waiting in the wings to hand veteran linemen their spots.
IIRC he did not cut Barron, there is a difference,from memory he was offerred a contract but was low ball, my speculation has allways been that Matthews did not want him there anymore. But i am not certain 100%. Popp did the same to Copeland, Copeland and Miles are the 2 i think of. IIRC Miles was offerred a contract but it was bellow market.
I think some of Popp’s move are also consensus with the coach desire.
I dont quite remember exactly what the story was with Miles but there was some other alouette there that sold him on the place and he went (I could be getting the roles reversed on this one as my memory is kinda fuzzy). Copeland’s story is that Barker became the coach for the stamps and he followed his long time coach over there and he was someone the stamps were gunning for early in the free agency period along with Burris
For Copeland Barker tried to get him 2 times, by the second time Popp could not beat Cgy’s offer, and more than likely Copeland knew before hand what the offer was going to be, even if it is not permitted it happens all the time. Popp probably knew what he had to beat $ wise and declined. As for Miles all i remember him and Matthews was not all rosy.
The other player to whom you refer is Mark Washington. But I cannot recall if it was Washington talking Miles into going to BC or the other way around. . .
Mark was an early cut of Don Matthews and he left for BC 2 years before Baron IIRC. From what i know personally from Barron Miles is he woudl have preferred to remain in Montreal, but with Don Matthews there was no longer room for him.
I would nto blame Popp for this IMO, Popp excells at finding the talent the coach want, with the schemes he wants to do.
Miles was at his best in QB rush from his safety- BC obtained a great defensive back.
Miles was a great player and a class act as well. It's always somewhat saddening when truly good guys hang them up, but that day comes for everyone at some point.
Barron Miles is really the only guy that got away that made a huge difference in their fortunes I think.
I think he's probably the best defensive player the Alouettes have had since the return in 96.