It’s like George Costanza sending out wedding invitations for a marriage he doesn’t really want.
Maybe the person licking the envelopes dies from glue poisoning and Zach doesn’t get slobbernokkered by anyone anytime soon.
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Looks like Tyler Elgeresma (the big QB prospect) is turning a cold shoulder on the Winnipeg organization. Listen, I’ve been around long enough to know the Bombers have only developed homegrown QBs a couple times since 1957. #1 of course, was the great man, Kenny Ploen - who alternated at DB and QB for a couple years before settling in as one of the great QBs in CFL history. Didn’t play anywhere else - 10 years with the Big Blue, then he retired.
Other QB they plucked off the NCAA rolls to have a very good (no Grey Cups though) career was Ralph Dieter Brock. The guy could throw a ball thru a carwash without getting it wet. Did some great things in Winnipeg but eventually got disgusted with the organization after he realized they couldn’t surround him with winning ballers.
Most other bring ups were duds - John Schneider comes to mind. Another guy who deserves mention is Jim Van Pelt who steered BB to a Grey Cup in 1958, then enrolled into the US Army and never played CFL ball again. What a loss - for all of us!
SO with this sordid history, Elgeresma and his agents must have the same knowledge I do. Don’t sign in Winnipeg - you’re only asking for trouble. Been nearly 40 years since Brock last tossed pillows in the Peg. Ever since then, the Bombers have had to step up and buy their winning QBs, either from the scrapheap or in costly trades or big money promises. ie. Tom Clements, Don Jonas, Matt Dunigan, Zacharias.
My recommendation - but I can almost 99% guarantee it won’t get acted on - is trading Elgeresma’s rights. . . . . perhaps to an Eastern team - either Toronto or Ottawa (who hold the #1 and #2 overall picks this year)
Bombers are in at #4. Acquiring a #1 or #2 pick would be a great consolation prize to losing Elgeresma - especially if the guy is sworn out to never suit up in Blue.
Would Ottawa or Toronto deal? Don’t know - unless you test-drive the concept. Whats there to lose Kyle Walters, what’s there to lose? A #1 pick might get you a top national monster DT or DE to bust up other teams.
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i hope Zach can stay healthy. but if he takes another headshot, that might be it.
i don’t see Elgersma coming to CFL anytime soon. too bad, would be cool for the league.
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Elgersma has only played 3 down football in the CIS and he’s waiting around hoping to get an NFL training camp invite? And then he hopes he’ll make a team or a practice roster? This with a new crop of NCAA QB’s entering the draft? I think He’s getting some bad advice from an agent who wants a bigger cut that his share of a puny entry level rookie contract. Elgersma hasn’t played in nearly a year and that was in a couple preseason games against other teams 3rd and 4th stringers. He should be playing so he has some work put on film so teams can take a look and see if there’s something they like. I guess he can try the UFL but even then who says he makes the cut or isn’t the backup or 3rd QB on the depth chart? Good luck to him but time is wasting away.
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Elgersma is not yet 24. He can afford to burn another year in NFL/CFL/USFL purgatory. I do think its more of a Winnipeg bias vs. a CFL bias. . . . . based on Winnipeg’s poor track record in developing top QBs fresh out of college.
Frankly, I don’t think it hurts Elgersma much, taking a year to muck around in a U.S. minor league, keep his skills fresh, etc. Thats why I suggested trading his rights prior to this year’s draft.
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He must be on unemployment insurance then? I wonder how he pays his bills, must still live in his parents basement or maybe his credit card is maxed out.
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Well here I cannot disagree more with you there Nasty Nate ya varmint, so that means I’ll have to put on the nasty gloves for this post too.
It matters not that he is young in this regard with regards to getting important play experience in real games, for it’s not like there is not more competition than ever for those few slots.
I don’t agree with you at all that wasting a year screwing around merely slinging balls up and down a field is going to get him ahead of all those near his age who are actually playing in real games.
So take that and put it in your pipe and smoke it today, and we’ll have to get back to it later buster!
/Takes off nasty gloves
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Don’t think he’s on Canadian E.I. (aka “Carney Welfare”) cuz he’s living in the burn room called the U.S. of A. If he had played NCAA ball - he’d prolly be loaded with at least 2 or 3 million in gold bullion and/or bitcoins. Won’t go poor signing up with Birmingham Stallions in USFL and he’ll be able to keep his skills semi-sharp pitted up against NFL 3rd stringers, too-slows, too-lights and too-heavies.
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I’m no scouting expert, far from it in fact but i don’t think Elgersma playing some snaps against NFL 3rd stringers will get him a job in the NFL but time will tell. I think his agent is filling his head full of fairy dust but that’s for Elgersma to figure out.
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Then I have to belief my original thesis about Elgersma’s family and agents stoically trying to keep Winnipeg’s mitts on him. Trading his rights seems the logical solution - if you can get a top first rounder.
Wouldn’t bother trading him for a couple old/injured discards and a package of 2nd or 3rd rounders!
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You could be totally correct in your assumption that Elgersma would prefer to play for an Ontario team if he ever decides to play in the CFL. If that’s the case Elgersma or his agent haven’t played their cards yet as they’re still waiting for their NFL dream to become reality. If that dream is shattered then i believe his agent will let WPG know that the Bombers aren’t for him, no sense jumping the gun. At that point i’m pretty sure any of the Ontario teams would cough up a 1st rounder, not a big deal. There’s really no guarantee that Elgersma will be a successful QB in the CFL even if he gets to Canada.
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You are correct that he may or may shine in the CFL but even if he did/does sign in Winnipeg, he will need a couple of years of development. There are precious few players like Ricky Ray that can step in at QB as a rookie and excel. What do the Bombers do while he is developing for a few years if he does sign. Zach has indicated that he is contemplating retirement. Publicly stating this is usually a pretty strong indicator that it will happen.
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I think that’s why Walters is frustrated about Elgersma hanging around the phone waiting for a NFL training camp invite. He could be in Canada, working out with the Bombers training staff, learning the playbook and be ready for CFL camps to open because as you say it’s highly doubtful that when or if he ever decides to play Canadian football he’ll just step right in and be like Bo Levi Mitchell, highly doubtful. It’s his life though so whatever makes him happy.
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Speaking of raking in the dough to play the bills…
The average hourly pay for a USFL Players job in the US is $15.28. Hourly salary range is $10.58 to $19.47 (according to ZipRecruiter).
So wasting another year pursuing an NFL Practice Roster job by playing in the USFL while earning a bit more than a CFL Practice Roster salary is Elgersma’s strategy here. Meanwhile after totally nailing it here in Winnipeg had he played the entire 2025 season… he’d be looking at earning a starting quarterback’s salary right where Kyle Walters drafted him.
Montreal’s Alexander Davis for example, landed a nearly 1.2 million dollar 3-year contract extension which will start this season. If Elgersma had played just as well here in the Peg last season, Zach would be gone and Mister High and Mighty Elgersma would be looking at earning just as much.
But noooo. Big shot Elgersma wants to burn his time flitting from one unlikely employment situation to the next. Who was voted last year’s top player in the USFL? Answer: one of the quarterbacks we signed last month to back up Zach. If THAT guy plays well enough he might become Zach’s heir apparent and maybe stuck up Elgersma’s services will no longer be needed.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if superstar Taylor Elgersma FINALLY signs with another CFL team next season after Winnipeg trades his rights away (as Nasty Nate predicts) and he becomes a career 3rd down ball carrier due to his hum ho attitude? He’s big and he’s Canadian. Maybe that’s all he’s got going for him.
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Preach on and don’t hold back this time you Eager Giant Beaver @Maaax !
Now it’s the UFL (5.0 at that) and not the bygone trash hub league USFL 2.0, mind you, but let’s not split hairs today.
I would not rely on those figures from a site like ZipRecruiter and their supposed “algorithm” either. 
Their folly was exposed in 2023 with all those ghost jobs and scams on the site, though to be fair, they have cleaned up some of their trash.
Even so, here’s one recent summary of the state of the UFL 5.0. His best case if there will basically be some game video, assuming the play of his team is good, which with basically 5 new team locations of the 8 teams and almost entirely new coaches, well it’s going to be a rough haul in spring football these days.
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Does anyone know what particular position that newly signed Deandre Lamont, formerly of the RB, played?
I know he’s a DB, and I’ve seen that he was a HB. Does anyone know what side of the field? If he’s a HB, I imagine it would be to temporarily spell off Deatrick Nichols, who is on the other side of 30 now.
That dastardly Nasty Nate is up to no good again with his antics this time, but damnit, he just might be right again too! For all we know, maybe he’s been eating some good kosher dill pickles and other fine deli fare lately so as to be inspired.
We’ll have to give him credit again if the case.
Indeed, either Eigersma cracks some NFL camp and then goes on to perhaps crack a practice roster after all the running around in 2025 after being cut by Green Bay after the the preseason, or he should go to the CFL in 2026.
Here’s why, other than that the current UFL 5.0 is no place for development of a quarterback of his level already:
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