“I certainly wouldn’t say we’re done” | GM Kyle Walters

Two days into Canadian Football League free agency and the transaction wire is still spitting out names of faces moving to new places.

And having already done a chunk of his heavy lifting prior to and on the first day of the proceedings, Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM Kyle Walters is now watching the feeding frenzy happening all around him.

“We added a couple of pieces,” began Walters on a conference call Wednesday. “Locking up Kenny Stafford and Tristan Okpalaugo (before free agency)… those were important for us to get done.

“If you throw those two into yesterday’s free-for-all, it adds a lot more to what we did. A couple of our big moves were taken care of in prior weeks.”

It’s true; a lot of Walters ‘To-Do’ list had items scratched off before the market opened, including re-signing quarterback Matt Nichols, receiver Darvin Adams, kicker Justin Medlock and offensive lineman Stanley Bryant, while adding pieces like Stafford – the veteran receiver ex of the Montreal Alouettes, and Okpalaugo – the defensive end who was the East Division’s top rookie while with Toronto in 2014.

That doesn’t mean the team will close up shop now and stop making offers or listening to agents’ sales pitches.

“You’re always looking,” said Walters. “The agents right now certainly have their lists of clients that are looking for work. At this point a lot of the agents are less concerned about money, a lot of money has been spent so they’re doing their due diligence and trying to find a spot where they can come in and compete and make a team.

“There’s lots of names out there and we’re talking with agents, so I don’t know if there’s anything pending.”

“I certainly wouldn’t say we’re done by any means.”

The Bombers saw two of their 11 players who went to market sign with other teams on Tuesday, with linebackers Khalil Bass and Tony Burnett signing with Ottawa and B.C., respectively.

Walters still has an offer on the table for receiver Clarence Denmark.

“We check in periodically, but Clarence’s agent is doing his due diligence and we’ll see what happens,” said Walters. “I told him this will be here waiting for you. Do your due diligence and look around and that’s where we’re at.”

“I still would like to have Clarence back.”

Walters touched on a number of issues during his chat with the media. Here’s a summation:

On losing Burnett to the Lions:

“It was pretty evident Tony was going to go to free agency. He’s from the West Coast… his agent was open and up front and it seemed like they had made up their mind pretty early in the day that they were going to head West. Tony’s a good kid and we wish him the best of luck and he may have a better opportunity to play there.”

On new defensive tackle Drake Nevis:

“We had money targeted for Tony Burnett in the big picture and his agent was pretty clear that they were going to explore (free agency) so once we realized that money was not going to be allocated there, we were pretty sure that that middle linebacker spot is going to be a younger unproven guy heading into next year.

“So what we wanted to do was add a piece up in front of that middle linebacker to help him out. With Tristan off the edge and Jamaal (Westerman) and Trent (Corney) off the other edge we wanted a push up the middle. Once we realized this is where we were going to go and this was the money it was going to take, the agent and I got it done pretty quick.”

On whether the club was in on the bidding for Kienan Lafrance, a Winnipegger, who left Ottawa to sign with Saskatchewan:

“We weren’t in the ball park. Like a ton of names throughout the day, we sort of kicked the tires on (him) and got a feel for where they were at. His agent was ‘here’s where it is and if you’re interested, these are the numbers.’ We just weren’t prepared to do it. Kienan, like a lot of guys, kicked the tires and realized it wasn’t a good fit and moved on during the day.”

On the middle linebacker position now that Bass has left for Ottawa:

“Kyle Knox made a good impression when he played last year and has a good background. Nick Temple was another kid we really liked… he spent most of the year on the practice roster and played one game. Those are two young guys we feel really strong about. Now the scouting the department is going to find some guys and we’ll go from there.”

On new receiver Matt Coates, signed on Tuesday:

“There’s a name nobody really knows about, but we go to all the preseason games in the CFL and he’s a kid that’s been around for a few years grinding away on Hamilton’s practice roster.

“When we saw him play in the preseason he was an interesting name and an intriguing one and for the price point we got him for he’ll add a little bit of depth. He’ll come in and get a chance to compete and take some reps. He’s a nice depth guy, but not an undrafted rookie coming off the street. He’s been in a professional organization for a couple of years, he’s grown and he’s ready to take that next step in my opinion.”

On what the Bombers West Division opponents are doing in free agency and whether it means they should counter with similar signings:

“This stuff will sort itself out, as to what other teams are doing and who is being active and who’s not. Really, we’re just focused on ourselves. We’ll worry about the teams in the West when we line up and play them. That really doesn’t affect anything we’re doing between now and Day 1 of training camp, truth be told.

“I’m going to guess the team you have to beat out is Calgary and they do nothing every year. I made that mistake last year when they lost some guys and you’re ‘Well, Calgary… they lost some guys, they have a new coaching staff and lost a couple of players and maybe Calgary is coming back to the pack.’ And that wasn’t the case. That’s the team out West you measure yourself against and year in, year out they hold firm and don’t do much. That whole, ‘They did this, so we’ve got to do this’ is not realistic.”