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This article was published 17/2/2015 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

With the signing of five notable players last week that improved the team in at least one of their most critical areas -- and six over the last month or so -- no one at the epicentre of off-season optimism could remember the last time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had gone out and made such a splash in free agency.

It has been a while, to be sure, but in actuality, the last time the brass of the Blue and Gold gobbled up this many high-profile free agents in the off-season was also the last time the team hosted the Grey Cup, in 2006.

So is it merely a coincidence when the Grand Drunk comes to town, whomever the general manager happens to be starts writing cheques like the ninth sequel of the Fast and the Furious?

While it is fair to say both the 2006 team and the 2015 version of the Bombers were coming off sub-par years and needed to re-outfit the armoury regardless, nothing says, "get competitive and relevant ASAP" as the potential windfall of selling out a stadium and the requisite sponsorship money that can go hand in hand with the big show landing on your front stoop.

So how did last week's feeding frenzy measure up to the feast from the last time the team hosted the Cup?

Thus far, when you compare the top-six signings, it doesn't seem quite as impressive, but there are still months left in the off-season and we won't have a conclusive answer until at least November.

For their headliner, Wade Miller's crew signed one of the very best offensive tackles in the CFL in Stanley Bryant, and added good competition and depth on that same line with Marc Dile.

They will be joining another recent blockbuster acquisition on the offensive line in Dominic Picard, and incumbents Chris Greaves and second-year hopeful Matthias Goossen.

In 2006, GM Brendan Taman signed offensive tackle Garrick Jones, who had just come off a four-year stint in the NFL, and who joined the likes of Dan Goodspeed, Eric Wilson, Obby Khan, and Picard once again -- but this time in his rookie year on the offensive line.

Last week's activity also landed Sam Hurl, a promising Canadian middle linebacker that everyone is hoping head coach Mike O'Shea can transform into the next, well, Mike O'Shea.

In 2006, in a transaction that set the bar for free-agent tampering, Barrin Simpson was landed approximately 14 seconds into free agency.

Another area of need from 2014 that is beginning to be addressed is the receiving corp, to which Walters and company added Darvin Adams, a third-year player who has yet to tap his potential in the CFL.

Nine years earlier, Taman went out and landed Derick Armstrong, yet another player coming off of a four-year NFL tour, and also brought back Albert Johnson III.

Lastly, Ivan Brown, a journeyman defensive lineman and special teams player from Toronto will be joining the stronghold of Bryant Turner, Zach Anderson, and Jason Vega in what you can already be assured is a sensibly structured front seven.

In 2006, Taman brought Ron Warner on board to join the likes of Tom Canada, Gavin Walls, and yours truly, and also signed Kyries Hebert that year to bolster the secondary.

So, as pleasant a surprise as last week was -- for a team not known for spending money to go out on a supermarket shopping spree -- it seems this is standard practice for what you do when the Grey Cup comes to town; you load up for bear.

With the collection of notable players Taman signed that off-season, two were chosen as all-stars immediately, and four out of six over the course of their careers.

With this group, Taman was a year late in securing a berth in the big dance (in 2007), though he did make the playoffs in 2006 for the first time in two seasons.

At the very least, this group being assembled by the football club right now needs to rejoin the post-season party, because the possibility of a Grey Cup berth at home is too tantalizing a prospect for sports fans not to buy into, and therefore, too valuable for the football club to miss out on.





Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97