Jyles still a Bomber, trade talk still percolating

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This article was published 15/03/2011 (5679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steven Jyles remains a Winnipeg Blue Bomber, but efforts to move the quarterback via trade are still percolating.

Sources tell The Free Press and Sportsnet the Bombers are shopping the 28-year-old pivot across the Canadian Football League and are said to be seeking two draft picks or a starter and one pick in return. The fact the club is now specific in what it is seeking for the QB who led the team in passing last year — and his 100.9 QB-efficiency rating was third best in the CFL, behind only Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo and Henry Burris of Calgary — further stokes a rumour that has been whispered across the league all winter.

As he did in a Free Press story last month, Bomber GM Joe Mack was non-committal about the Jyles’ speculation:

“We’re always looking to improve our football club and as we’ve stated in the past, players and scenarios are often discussed,” Mack said. “We have no trade imminent involving anybody on our roster.”

The Bombers have made it clear their No. 1 QB heading into the 2011 season is Buck Pierce, just as was the case a year ago. But Pierce appeared in only five games in 2010 and was injured three times in the first half of the season, opening the door for Jyles — a five-year CFL veteran signed by the team in free agency last winter after stints in Edmonton and Saskatchewan — to slip behind centre.

Jyles completed 61.6 per cent of his passes for 2,804 yards with 19 touchdowns against seven interceptions but the Bombers struggled to find offensive consistency and post wins. That prompted a QB change on Thanksgiving Monday of last season — Alex Brink took over from Jyles — in a move that raised eyebrows across the CFL and is no doubt the foundation to the current trade rumours.

Ironically, in that Thanksgiving contest Jyles served up his finest performance as a Bomber by coming off the bench to replace Brink and complete 11 of 19 passes for 211 yards and two TDs in rallying the troops to a 47-35 OT victory over the B.C. Lions.

Pierce, Jyles and Brink all finished the season on the injured list — rookie Joey Elliott started the last two contests — although all three should be green lighted by the time training camp opens in June.

A CFL source told The Free Press earlier this week it isn’t so much the Bomber asking price for Jyles that is an impediment to a trade right now, but the pivot’s salary — especially if he doesn’t end up starting. Worth noting is the Bombers were also a serious player in the bidding of free agent QB Jarious Jackson before he opted to resign with the Lions and former West Virginia star Pat White, who played 18 games with the Miami Dolphins before being released in 2009, has just retired from a baseball tryout with the Kansas City Royals.

HOT TICKET: The Bombers announced Tuesday season-ticket sales for the 2011 campaign are nearing the 13,000 mark — one month ahead of last year’s pace. The deadline for season-ticket holders to pay for their tickets in full is this Friday. The 2011 edition of the squad will play their home opener on Friday, July 8th vs. the Toronto Argonauts.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca