Unfortunately, even in the digital age sometimes things do not move quickly enough – as was seen with my last article titled “Blue Bombers: Grant Signed, Yet Concerns Grow As Free Agency Looms!” When that article was written it was factually correct that “Earlier this week the two signings that the Bombers did make were not the splash Bomber fans are waiting for. The Bombers announced the signing of two defensive backs – American Deuce Wallace and Canadian Jacob Janke.” This was also correct at the time of writing the article, “On the bright side the Bombers did sign Janarion Grant late in the week.”

Not to beat a dead horse, even this was true at the time the article was written, “Nic Demski did put out a tweet the other day that Bomber fans are hoping means he is close to closing a deal with the Bombers. Are they right? Time will tell.”

However, from the time the article was written, submitted and published…a lot changed! Arden Darby resigned with the Bombers, and so did Nic Demski – much to the delight of fans!

That leaves the Bombers’ pending free agent list looking quite a bit better than last week.

The Million Dollar Man – Will The Bombers Sign Him?

While there somehow seems to be some overlap between the wrestling culture and football culture, no I am not talking about The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. It is the other (potential) million dollar man, Kenny Lawler. Rumor has it, in fact I saw Steve Smith post that Lawler is looking for a place to live in Winnipeg. (As a side note, if you have never watched his show Late Night With Smitty, you are missing out).

Justin Dunk reports that the Bombers have already had some discussions with Lawler and that he is asking for $1,000,000 for a 3 year contract.

But we should examine the real hard data. Over the 3 years that Lawler has been in the league he has averaged 55 receptions/season, 848 yards/season, and 5 touchdowns/season. I get that we are all victims of inflation and that our money does not go as far any more, but a $1,000,000 for that?!

If you simply compare Lawler’s 2022 numbers against the Bombers’ 2022 receivers then Lawler would be in 4^th place statistically.

However the problem becomes that is the club gives Lawler that valuation, how do they get away with paying Demski (who already signed) less, and try to entice Bailey back for less? The Bombers could make the contract very incentive laden; that could work. They could look at some type of off season bonus; but that rarely works well for players and often sees them cut before the bonus is due.

There could be some spare cash available as Dunk also reported that the Bombers are not planning to re-sign Greg Ellingson. That comes as no surprise to me as I stated a month ago that “It would not surprise me to see something like this shake out: the Bombers re-sign Jeffcoat, then the next couple of signings are mostly offensive linemen, next they sign a wide receiver or two (Nic Demski and either Rashed Bailey or Janarion Grant while Greg Ellingson is not re-signed)”

However, I am struggling to see Lawler sign for $1,000,000 unless it is in a market that is already a disaster and they are trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Unless Lawler moves from his $1,000,000 price tag, I would be surprised to see him sign in Winnipeg.

*Before publication speculation was that Lawler and the Bombers had reach an oral agreement for a 2 year deal – dollar amount unknown.

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Written by a Bomber fan, for the Bomber fans.

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