Matt Nichols released

[Argo57]

I will be anxious until the Argos announce Arbuckle.

It appears the other shoe has dropped👍

[Will]

#Redblacks quarterback Matt Nichols receives a $200,000 signing bonus on his two-year contract https://t.co/0D6yylF2Bf#Ottawa l #RNation l #CFL pic.twitter.com/IZMTzjaQTD

— Justin Dunk (@JDunk12) February 1, 2021

[paulwoods13]

Geez Paul... what did Matt Nichols ever do to you?

Bored the heck out of me.

[paulwoods13]

There is no way Nichols is worth a $200k signing bonus. I'm thrilled we cut the cord with him. Signing Arbuckle is fine with me, but we also need to sign MBT and especially MOC.

[Argo57]

There is no way Nichols is worth a $200k signing bonus. I'm thrilled we cut the cord with him. Signing Arbuckle is fine with me, but we also need to sign MBT and especially MOC.

The ideal scenario for me as well.

[Wobbler]

I'd be quite happy to see Arbuckle, O'Connor, and "new recruit" as our QB depth chart if it means that the team can sign Rogers and Law, and plug holes elsewhere. Is there a better time for a major reboot than post-pandemic?

[AngeloV]

According to 3DN, Matthew Scianitti is reporting that it's done and the Arbuckle has signed. I haven't seen it up on Scianitti's twitter feed.

https://3downnation.com/2021/01/31/a...nick-arbuckle/

[Wobbler]

That 3DN article seems to be based on Scianitti's original tweet.

It will still probably happen, of course.

[Argo57]

That 3DN article seems to be based on Scianitti's original tweet.

It will still probably happen, of course.

They changed their original headline to better reflect Scianitti’s report.

[OV Argo]

Bored the heck out of me.

Cause he played for those bad Bummers ?

[doubleblue]

According to 3DN, Matthew Scianitti is reporting that it's done and the Arbuckle has signed. I haven't seen it up on Scianitti's twitter feed.

https://3downnation.com/2021/01/31/a...nick-arbuckle/

All is well that ends well.

[OV Argo]

LaPolice now has Nichols and Dominique Davis - 2 QBs he had with the Bombers - on the RedBlacks QB depth chart = not surprising, pretty CFL standard procedure.

[HumberValleyVillageArgo]

What about getting MBT back? He played very, very well last season. 2019.

[Rich]

I'd be quite happy to see Arbuckle, O'Connor, and "new recruit" as our QB depth chart if it means that the team can sign Rogers and Law, and plug holes elsewhere. Is there a better time for a major reboot than post-pandemic?

I agree with you 100%. A major reboot means you don't bring back the guy who led you to back-to-back 4-14 seasons. Spending another $200k on MBT means we can't sign another key piece like Cam Judge or Charleston Hughes, which would be really dumb IMO.

One thing the NFL has shown in recent years is that if you like a young guy at QB there's little point in hedging about it, you fully commit to the guy sink or swim. If god forbid both Arbuckle and O'Connor turn out to be stiffs, we are fvcked whether MBT is on the roster or not. At 33 MBT is not about to turn into Bo Levi Mitchell and start leading the Argos to multiple Cup appearances, and they'll simply have to reboot all over again in another year or two.

[R.J]

I agree with you 100%. A major reboot means you don't bring back the guy who led you to back-to-back 4-14 seasons. Spending another $200k on MBT means we can't sign another key piece like Cam Judge or Charleston Hughes, which would be really dumb IMO.

One thing the NFL has shown in recent years is that if you like a young guy at QB there's little point in hedging about it, you fully commit to the guy sink or swim. If god forbid both Arbuckle and O'Connor turn out to be stiffs, we are fvcked whether MBT is on the roster or not. At 33 MBT is not about to turn into Bo Levi Mitchell and start leading the Argos to multiple Cup appearances, and they'll simply have to reboot all over again in another year or two.

This place never changes. While it makes little sense to me, I'm actually not surprised that so many around here want to bring back Bethel-Thompson.

Just an FYI for those who seem to forget, but the Argos had three young eventual bonafide starters (Collaros, Harris, and Fajardo) who they let leave, because they weren't willing to make the hard choice.

[OV Argo]

This place never changes. While it makes little sense to me, I'm actually not surprised that so many around here want to bring back Bethel-Thompson.

Just an FYI for those who seem to forget, but the Argos had three young eventual bonafide starters (Collaros, Harris, and Fajardo) who they let leave, because they weren't willing to make the hard choice.

And interesting/amusing that pretty well nobody is saying that about O'Connor - a supposed top young QB talent who already has a season under his belt - but he should continue to "develop" as a 3rd stringer; yet Arbuckle - of the limited resume as well - should be anointed starter ? Arbuckle just has that something else on his resume compared to O'Connor.

A smart team might want 3 QBs like MBT (lots of pro experience) plus Arbuckle & O'Connor (young talent that has already played in the league a bit) and have a real, honest, tough competition at TC to decide who deserves to be starter, for game 1 anyways.

[paulwoods13]

A smart team might want 3 QBs like MBT (lots of pro experience) plus Arbuckle & O'Connor (young talent that has already played in the league a bit) and have a real, honest, tough competition at TC to decide who deserves to be starter, for game 1 anyways.

For once we are in agreement, although the way football works nowadays, the notion of an open competition for the starting QB job is basically a faded memory. I can't recall the last time such a competition existed in either the CFL or the NFL -- maybe the Argos in 2010? Most, if not all, teams seem inclined to designate someone as the presumptive starter heading into camp. It will be interesting to see how the Ticats handle Masoli and Evans; I'm betting Masoli gets No. 1 reps from Day 1.

Bringing back MBT seems unlikely for many reasons, one of them being the fact he likely would expect a fair shot at becoming the starter after starting most of 2019 (and playing a lot more than Arbuckle, leading the league in TD passes, holding stuff together when the coaching was a mess, etc.). Mgmt would perceive the risk of a QB controversy as not being worth it, so it's Arbuckle's job heading into camp IMO.

As for O'Connor, he definitely needs to be re-signed and should be pencilled in as No. 2, with a bullet, and groomed to become No. 1 a year from now, when Arbuckle is back on the FA market.

[paulwoods13]

Just an FYI for those who seem to forget, but the Argos had three young eventual bonafide starters (Collaros, Harris, and Fajardo) who they let leave, because they weren't willing to make the hard choice.

Yeah, deciding whether to keep Ricky Ray was definitely equivalent to deciding whether to keep McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

[R.J]

Yeah, deciding whether to keep Ricky Ray was definitely equivalent to deciding whether to keep McLeod Bethel-Thompson.

It's about as funny as your insinuation that Bethel-Thompson is as good and/or a better runner than Arbuckle is...

Fajardo and even Prukop were let go due to Bethel-Thompson's rise, not because Ray was supposed to be the starter. Oh well.

[Rich]

And interesting/amusing that pretty well nobody is saying that about O'Connor - a supposed top young QB talent who already has a season under his belt - but he should continue to "develop" as a 3rd stringer; yet Arbuckle - of the limited resume as well - should be anointed starter ? Arbuckle just has that something else on his resume compared to O'Connor.

A smart team might want 3 QBs like MBT (lots of pro experience) plus Arbuckle & O'Connor (young talent that has already played in the league a bit) and have a real, honest, tough competition at TC to decide who deserves to be starter, for game 1 anyways.

But if you think MBT needs to be on the roster, then apparently you don't have much faith in O'Connor's abilities either. Signing MBT would seriously delay O'Connor's development as a CFL QB. It may even be that O'Connor is waiting to see if the Argos sign MBT before committing to play here.