WIth the cap being what it is, there's only a couple of guys who can get paid top dollar on each roster. What makes the situation even more interesting is Fantuz being a FA at the same time. Does he eventually take the Rider's best offer to return? If so does that limit what the Riders can offer to Labatte and would Labatte give them a hometown discount? Letting a vet like Cates go I'm sure gave them a few extra dollars to play with under the cap but fitting Fantuz, Durant, Labatte, Dressler, and Getzlaf under the cap and still having enough to pay quality players at the other positions can become difficult. Then again, the Riders have had issues staying under the cap in the past so maybe they just philosophically don't care if they are over the cap some. Now if Fantuz signs elsewhere then the Riders will have a lot of money to throw at Labatte. There have been rumors that the Riders would go after Greg Carr too. I would imagine if they sign Fantuz then Carr and Labatte fall off their radar unless somehow the bombers offer was really low or labatte give the riders a big discount. The flip side would be they let Fantuz go and manage to sign both Carr and Labatte for just a little more than what Fantuz was looking for himself. Anyways, I think first one of Labatte or Fantuz to sign with the Riders might mean the other one goes elsewhere.
They are hoping to extend Durant, so you got to give the guy some talent to interest him in staying. If you haven't signed a guy before the deadline, he's not coming back. So Fantuz money would simply go to Labatte. Things go really quickly with the primo FA once the clock hits 12.01. Tillman even went on air saying he has an offer of 175k a year as a starting point to negotiate with Labatte's agent. So GM's are even ready to pay tampering fines to make sure their message get's out.
I'm sorry but anyone who would pay a guard $175K in this league is a dope. Sort of like giving that Bauman kid the same figure last year, what a joke.
Labatte is proven, much less of a gamble than Bauman and Tillman is desperate, the Eskimo fan base mostly despises him, he dumped Ray now it looks like Messam is leaving. Tillman has no choice right now because if the Eskimos tank, their attendance is gonna take a massive hit and Tillman will be out of a job. Having said that 175k is the opening bid ! He will likely sign at 185-195 range and if Fantuz signs for the same. The pay scale of the CFL has just gone up in smoke overnight.
Well, HfxTC, we certainly know that you despise him. . . but it is I suspect a bit of a stretch to say that the Eskimo fan base mostly despises him.
Coming from an attorney. I am not surprised you would italic "mostly" :lol:
Here just to make you happy. I'll change "mostly" to "a number". That better ? 
Looks like Carr to the Eskies. That sucks. Had a feeling we might lose him, after him saying on twitter he was going to stay then an about face as it got closer to FA. Yesterday when I saw Barnes went to TO, got me to wondering what the Eskies had left at receiver and thought that they might go after Carr to add some size and experience to their group. Tough to lose a big receiver with good hands, coulda been the long term replacement for Edwards. Onto the next I guess.
....Not so fast.....Carr has not been official anywhere according to Naylor...He does say though, that January has officially signed back with the Bombers :thup:
...Don't know if this is true but Jovon has been tweeting with Aaron Hunt about becoming a Bomber...Hunt replied that could be a possibility :roll:
Carr is no longer on the Bombers off-season roster.
Richard
The Carr signing was rumor, though it still can happen i suppose. Carr not being on the roster anymore is not surprising. They removed the names of all the players from the roster that hit FA, including Oromasionwu and Hargreaves. Back to the waiting game.
....word is Carr is off the market according to Naylor....His pending re-uping with the bluengold should come soon 
Fingers crossed he stays. As much as I like TEdwards, 2011 wasn't his best year and could be a sign he's starting to decline. We had Stegall for a while, who mentored TE. TE succeeded him and and he mentored Carr. Carr could be the guy who succeeds TE as the top dog in town.
......Naylor tweets Carr is in bluengold for the forseeable future....WHEW...i wouldn't want that big dude running routes on us for someone else :lol: :thup: Just a fromality till it is official
....ALSO ...from what i'm hearing someone is going to pay big-time to sign LaBatte... :roll: esks. or riders from what i gather...With Picard close in sask. i would say the schmoes are on the hook for a lot of money if Brendan is signed there :roll:
Picard to Sask - wonder if that affects their offer to Labatte or if they are moving on from Labatte considering the competition from the Eskies? could the riders have enough cap space for both Picard and Labatte? I would imagine if they signed both of those guys to the line that would have to close the door on Fantuz, no? Can't imagine they would have the ability to sign 3 guys to contracts in the $150-200K range.
....Carr is OFFICIALLY back....Picard going to the highest bidder, not official in Regina...I think he's working us and the riders :lol:
Then i would imagine he lands in Regina as I don't see Mack deviating from his pattern and throwing out a huge amount of money on a FA. Doesn't seem like Mack's a guy who will stay in a bidding war for too long. Maybe they'll look at Tim O'Neill who is a FA from the stamps, a bit older, but can play guard or centre and would come a lot cheaper.
TSNDaveNaylor David William Naylor Multiple reports that Brendon Labatte is taking a tour of Rider facilities. #cfl #ridersEven with reports Kavis Reed was in Regina to woo Labatte, seems he's just decided he's going to the Riders and that's it. What can u do.
TSNDaveNaylor David William Naylor It appears that Greg Carr is on the verge of becoming an Edm Eskimo. He apparently changed his mind about returning to Wpg before signing.Guess its not over till its over. He tweeted weeks ago that he was returning to Wpg, then changed his mind, headed into FA, was thought to have signed in Edm, the came to an agreement in Wpg, now back to Edm. Good thing he has a playbook that tells him where to go because when the decision is left up to him he doesn't seem to be able to make and stick to one. Guessing with Labatte likely going to the riders the Eskies are using some of that money to beef up their offer.
Yikes, just saw some tweets from Hefney and Beasley, both very critical of the Bombers. So that's probably $300K saved on Labatte & Carr.......what to do with it?
Maybe re-up Jovon and Willis and keep from being in this situation again next spring...