Jyles traded because…

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This article was published 31/03/2011 (5545 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Why would the Winnipeg Blue Bombers trade experienced backup quarterback Steven Jyles given the unfortunate injury history of No. 1 QB Buck Pierce?

Take your pick. A bulked up Pierce “is in the shape (of) his life.” Jyles was 2-8 last season and coming off major shoulder surgery. Trading Jyles to the Toronto Argonauts for a first-round pick (fourth overall) and a fourth-rounder in 2012 will help address the Bombers’ weak link: thin Canadian depth. And rookie pivot Joey Elliott showed the Bombers enough moxie in the last two games of a lost 2010 season to make Jyles expendable.

At least, that’s the reasoning of Bombers GM Joe Mack, who pulled the trigger on the Jyles deal on Wednesday.

“There isn’t a lot of ways to trade somebody to necessarily get a high draft pick,” Mack said. “I don’t know the last time Winnipeg had two picks in the first round.”

Answer: In 1988, the Bombers drafted Guelph linebacker Dan Wicklum third overall and running back Ryan Hanson fifth overall. The Bombers also selected twice in the first round in 1994, but only with a bonus pick for being one of four teams to comply with the league salary cap.

“With the first pick (this year) we have maybe three guys we’re really excited about,” the GM added. “To get a chance to also get one of those guys with the fourth pick is very enticing to us.”

Added Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice: “It was something we simply couldn’t pass up. Instead of giving up draft picks for quarterbacks, we’re getting Canadian draft picks. That’s a good thing for our organization.”

In fact, the fourth-round pick in the deal could be upgraded to as high as the second round in the 2012 draft, if Jyles starts 12 or more games for the Argos in 2011. Factor in an earlier trade of long-snapper Taylor Inglis to the Edmonton Eskimos for a fifth-round pick (No. 32 overall) and sixth-round selection (No. 41) and the Bombers have doubled their number of 2011 selections.

“If you look at our roster, we have some really good Canadian players,” Mack said, “but to cultivate some younger players, this gives us an opportunity to do it. When you think about it, we came into this (draft) initially with three picks. We go from three to six. And now with the first and the fourth, it gives us great versatility, whether it’s to trade back and pick up extra picks or to trade up aggressively and try to get an extra pick, maybe in the second round. It gives us great flexibility.”

Flexible enough to trade the first overall pick?

“I wouldn’t say never,” Mack replied. “But it would have to be such an extraordinary offer… like two or three picks and a couple of their male children. But the fourth (overall) pick, we’ll listen.”

Jyles, acquired last February before the Bombers signed Pierce, completed 196-of-318 passes in 2010 for 2,804 yards, finishing with a 2-8 record under centre. And Pierce did get injured, dislocating his throwing elbow in June. However, Jyles injured his shoulder late in the season, requiring surgery, and opening the door for the 24-year-old Elliott, a mid-season signing out of Purdue, to finish out the final two games.

“I talked to coach LaPolice before the trade today and he told me Toronto was interested and they really wanted me,” Jyles told the National Post. “He told me the trade was good for the future of my career and I can’t disagree with him. It’s a great opportunity for me.

“I’ve been searching for a home and hopefully it’ll be Toronto.”

In less than six quarters played, Elliott showed some promise, completing 35-of-73 passes for 435 yards on a 4-14 team that finished out of the post-season.

“It was very easy for the club to just fold,” Mack noted. “But Joey was really competitive in those last two games. He did some really good things. He really has a spark with a lot of guys in the locker-room. So we feel good about it.

“I realize that experience is important in the CFL, but sometimes they can overcome that more than we give them credit for.”

Naturally, the subject of Pierce’s durability comes into question in dealing Jyles. But LaPolice noted that prior to 2010, Jyles had only started one CFL game in the previous four years. “Steven’s experience came mostly last year,” he said.

Mack also expressed a concern about the possibility of re-signing Jyles, who was scheduled to become a free agent next year, noting, “Taking into account he wanted to be a starter, re-signing him could have been problematic.”

Meanwhile, Pierce has been training in Winnipeg all winter. “Have you seen him?” Mack said, of Pierce’s new, beefed-up frame. “He’s in the best shape of his life.”

Value for Jyles. Pierce in good health. The emergence of Elliott. An opportunity to draft and develop Canadian talent.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Mack concluded, “but when you put all the pieces together we think it was the best thing for us.”

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca