Blue In BC

If a team needs to upgrade their Canadian roster, a Canadian R might be the answer. However OL and DL might have higher values and longevity than a RB. How a team chooses to deploy their ratio also includes the back ups at a given position. Oliveria as a Canadian could be seen as being worth more than Ouellette as an import. How much more is a matter of perspective. Even with that is there a taker that approaches $200K?

Hardy was their top receiver in 2023 and he's a potential free agent at the moment.

Arbuckle likely doesn't get a renewed contract.

Yes, but adding in Rhymes @ about $210K per season changes the dynamic. Receiver is not the only area that needs to be upgraded. They might take a shot at upgrading at RB with either Oliveria or Ouellette for example. They also have Hardy and just extended Acklin. So their receiving group is not that bad if they get quality work at the QB position.

Something is better than nothing but he still might reach free agency and see what offers he receives. Sad to see him go but it seemed inevitable. Good luck to him and his continued CFL success.

That will be one less place that Schoen might land.

Yeah and the Lions gutted the rest of their roster to pay Reilly that much. They finished at 5 -13 and out of the play offs. That's why it's not sustainable.

I can't see Masoli needing to have his contract restructured or being released. Actually I'd say it's 50/50 whether he returns to play at all in 2024. At this point he has a long series of serious injuries so that, age and SMS all work against him. As far as Brown, money could talk but he'd be jumping into the fire in Ottawa. Free agency is a domino situation. If we re-sign Oliveria and / or Schoen we may not have money for Brown. OTOH, who does what 1st? The team will have a good idea of who they are prepared to lose and where SMS can / will be distributed.

Yes and no. It's tied in to what positional players we want to use spots for DI's. Augustine has a role on ST's as well. All part of the balancing act. We should be looking at a different option than McCrae IMO. While he's not a bad player, he doesn't really excel at RB, receiver or returner. If we lose any of Oliveria, Augustine or Grant we might see different skill sets in among the choices for our DI's. Obviously IMO we should be looking at the whole import FB as a current choice. That would open up options for our back ups.

I scored 35 on mine but couldn't throw more than about 25 yards. lol

Hallett was in at safety a lot. What I couldn't tell is whether they were using a 6 DB defensive set? I can't imagine Holm or Nichols coming out unless needing a rest or injury issue.

That doesn't sound like a correct interpretation either. Excluding QB's there are 16 imports starting or on the roster even if a team decides to start more Canadians. Then there are 4 DI's. That's 20 imports + the QB's. not 19 + QB's. The statement indicates ( to me ) that the nationalized import would be the # 20, just with a different category name. There was an allowance for one nationalized on each side of the ball. In the end 20 is 20 whether 2 are nationalized of just classified as imports. Kind of smoke and mirrors. The only advantage is that the nationalized could replace a Canadian for a number of plays. IE: Bighill could have come in on a 34 defence with Thomas / Lawson going out for that play or plays. The larger statement is that we didn't once use that approach in 2023. So I see that as more info that another import can't be added. It's a fixed number and it should be. A few times or a few game in 2023 a 3rd Global could replace an import ratio wise as a trade off. Globals are effectively another form of DI. Rarely does any team have a 3rd global better than a starting or DI import.

And he didn't even land a spot on any PR. Holm was a starter much like Alford and that could draw more NFL interest.

Maybe but that doesn't stop him from taking a shot. Did anybody think Ford would have quick success in his NFL bid?

Well sure, there are always some potential free agents that might be better than someone on our current roster. That said we were a veteran team coming off a 3rd Grey Cup appearance losing a close contest. The point was that SMS limits teams from just signing every other free agent that is an upgrade. We signed Lawler and Castillo. Brought back Eli. Did we have more money to spend? IDK. I would have loved to have been able to get Sayles back but take that he left for more money. Couture left for more money but also because he is from BC. How much more would that have cost if those two returned and who would we have lost elsewhere on the roster? The roster is another year older. There will be some combination of decisions made. We do want to retain. What free agents from other teams are we interested in and are they interested in our offer? Who are they replacing and is it costing us more or less than the one departing. Step 1 is seeing who of our current roster we want back and can get back as free agency approaches

I don't know that it will happen but I'd like to see Collaros take a $100K cut. It's not a matter of what he is worth. It's a matter of his salary and how it reduces what can be spent elsewhere. The same could be said about Lawler. It's a balancing act with no perfect solution. I said the same thing about Kelly in Toronto. Let's see how they adjust their roster after giving him another $500K over his current deal. I'm not exactly sure of what his initial contract was but he's scheduled for a significant increase if he doesn't take his NFL option window. Any increase somewhere comes at the need to decrease elsewhere.

I think you're incorrect but it could be that I'm incorrect in my interpretation of that rule. My understanding is that a Nationalized import can replace a Canadian for a number of plays. OTOH, it doesn't mean you can add an additional import to the roster as you suggest. Number of imports is a fixed number.

We weren't in a position of need to pick up talent in free agency. 4 years later that's changed potentially as players have aged and SMS has gone up in order to retain them. In 2023 we added Lawler, Eli and Castillo which were very good additions. It's a plus minus question. However, Maston, Taylor, Jefferson, Harris, Lawson and a few others were picked up in free agency. Who do we lose voluntarily or otherwise that we need to replace in free agency or feel the immediate need to replace? There will be an enormous amount of talent available across the CFL in February. We'll make some choices.

Wow. I haven't read all the posts but the few I read sounded like lemmings running in unison off the cliff. That's not the same as saying everything mentioned was wrong but can we at least wait and see how free agency plays out? Except that if it's incomplete we'd be faced with 2nd and long. However that's what we faced be running on 1st down when everyone in the country knew we'd do that. As big an issue is not having a quicker route tree and release to avoid an obvious rush on our QB. One maybe 2 1st downs and the game would have been won. Just one 1st down and we'd have used up another minute on the clock even if we only moved the ball 11 yards.

I laughed earlier in the season when O'Shea said they were adjusting their kicking and coverage schemes and were close to figuring it out. That was BS by him then as it is now.

Very small sample size for Brown. Collaros would have probably found a way to beat the Elks as well. Tough start but he usually makes a come back. Time will tell about Brown. I'm on the fence but would like to keep him around.

That's been part of our offence since he arrived. With the receivers we have it makes sense. Receivers like Schoen, Lawler and Demski live off of that. I have no problem with that. However I have some issues about the play selection inside the red zone. The int was a good example of a very long pass from the 10 yard line that was slow developing.? It was also a very good play by the Als DB. So need to give some credit for their coverage.

He's a potential free agent IIRC.

I hope he doesn't do something that stupid. It could cost us the game. Roster size is not that big that you can just keep players on it for a championship game that can't contribute.

That would be the same reason they kept Hurl at MLB in the past.