Schoen ready to shine with Blue and Gold in 2024

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This article was published 08/02/2024 (613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dalton Schoen has been so good during his two seasons in the CFL, it can be easy to forget just how young he is.

At 27 years old, the Kansas native is already a bonafide star in Canada. While he’s been tearing it up on the field, he’s still new to the business side of professional sports, making this off-season an interesting practice in patience and self-reflection.

In what could be described as a last-minute signing, Schoen put pen to paper on a one-year contract earlier this week that will pay him $230,000 and keep him in blue and gold through the 2024 season. Before it could get to that point, though, Schoen had to play the waiting game, wondering if the seemingly cash-strapped Bombers had enough money left in the piggy bank to pay one of the league’s top receivers.

“I would have liked to get it done before the (negotiation) window, just to not have to deal with that and open the door to all those conversations,” Schoen said over Zoom from his Kansas home Thursday. “There was a significant amount of interest from a handful of teams around the league and so there was a lot of conversations had with coaches, GMs, offensive co-ordinators.”

The negotiation window – informally known as a weeklong legal tampering period – opened last Sunday and goes until this Sunday, giving teams the chance to chat with other club’s pending free agents and potentially sign a contract ahead of the market opening on Feb 13. The Bombers have already faced the brunt of that process, losing a pair of all-stars in right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick (Saskatchewan) and cornerback Demerio Houston (Calgary).

It’s no surprise Schoen garnered significant interest. He led the CFL in receiving yards and touchdowns as a rookie in 2022, and despite missing a couple of games last year, still paced the league with 10 scores and was fewer than 50 yards from claiming a second consecutive receiving title.

Schoen called the whole process interesting, and for a player who’s had to earn everything he’s got — he was a walk-on at Kansas State and went undrafted to the NFL — he admitted it was nice to be wooed by other teams. He always wanted to come back to Winnipeg, however, and those conversations over the last few days only solidified his belief that the Bombers were the best fit.

“To be here now, and have all these people pursuing after you, is a cool feeling. Ultimately, it just seemed like the common message was other teams were trying to tell me they could provide what I knew I already had,” he said. “When it got down to crunch time and me making my decision, the financials from other people weren’t significant enough, to me, to give up what I have here in Winnipeg.”

Those promises included a strong team culture, a prolific offence and a well-deserved raise after making near league-minimum salary on a rookie contract the last two years. Indeed, everything that he already has in Winnipeg, not to mention a close friendship and strong chemistry with Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros.

What held up the Bombers from getting a deal done was the lack of funds the club had after already re-signing the likes of DE Willie Jefferson, OL Stanley Bryant and RB Brady Oliveira, among several other key pieces. Winnipeg wanted him but the only way the club could make it work was if Schoen came down from his price, which was closer to the $270,000 range, a number he likely could have gotten elsewhere.

“I wanted to be in the best spot for me, both financially and situationally. So, I was really grateful and pumped that we were able to meet that decision and that compromise with the team,” said Schoen. “I’m never going to fault a guy for taking more money if they can secure their financial future somewhere else. But when I was looking at the whole picture, with the teams that were interested and with Winnipeg, the money wasn’t significant enough for me to give up the great situation I have here.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton