Big Blue re-sign receiver Schoen

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This article was published 03/02/2025 (419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dalton Schoen, fresh off inking a lucrative extension with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, was hoping there’d still some money left over for the club to sign teammate Kenny Lawler.

Schoen signed a one-year deal with the Blue and Gold over the weekend that will pay him around $170,000 in hard money and close to $215,000 if he hits all his incentives during the upcoming season. If he can do that, it would put Schoen among the highest-paid receivers in the CFL.

While Schoen’s signing is good news for Winnipeg fans, it appears Lawler is considering options that don’t include Winnipeg.

According to league sources, Lawler informed the Bombers Monday afternoon he won’t be back this season. As for where he might land, there’s been interest in Hamilton, Calgary and B.C.

The Bombers, who offered Lawler an extension of around $220,000, are now working under the impression the skilled pass-catcher won’t be in Winnipeg this year.

“I definitely am hoping Kenny’s able to come back. On a personal level, me and Kenny didn’t feel like it was, obviously, me versus Kenny,” Schoen said Monday before Lawler told the Bombers he wouldn’t be back. “He was a guy who I talked to throughout this process. We talked on the phone the other day for a while about what we were hearing and stuff like that, and what his thoughts were. We’ve been texting back and forth since… He’s a special player, and I hope they’re able to bring him back.”

Bombers general manager Kyle Walters faced a similar situation last off-season in trying to find enough money to sign Schoen and running back Brady Oliveira. The negotiations got tense at times, and there was even potential for one or both players to sign elsewhere, only for Walters to reach deals at the 11th hour, inking both to identical $230,000 contracts for the 2024 campaign.

Oliveira proved to be a bargain, as the Winnipeg native won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award. He finished the year as the league’s top rusher, while adding a career-high 57 receptions for 476 yards through the air.

Meanwhile, Schoen, who was arguably the best receiver in the CFL through the 2022 and 2023 seasons, played just a few games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury in a Week 3 loss to the B.C. Lions.

Schoen was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2022 after leading all receivers in yards (1,441) and touchdowns (16), and he followed that up with 71 receptions for 1,222 yards and 10 TDs in 2023. Had he stayed healthy and continued to dominate last year, Schoen likely would have been in line for another hefty raise.

Despite all his early success, Schoen still had to sign a prove-it deal for this season.

“We kind of felt like we were in a different spot, negotiating-wise,” Schoen said, when asked to compare this year’s negotiations to last year. “The nature of the beast is teams will probably always try to use an injury against you, to some degree. Which is fair play to them; there’s a lot of unknowns coming off of that.”

He added: “The team’s job is obviously to get as much value on the field for as cheap as they can, so they’ve got to use every trick in the book. It’s kind of a situation that’s understood by both sides. But you still have to try to find that middle ground where everybody’s kind of at least somewhat happy with it.”

Schoen admitted it’s hard not to take things personally when it comes to arguing your value. That’s why he prefers to hire an agent to handle those talks, while others opt to represent themselves.

While the injury hurt his earning potential in Winnipeg, Schoen could have waited one more day to see what other teams might have offered him. The CFL’s “legal tampering” period, which lasts a week and ends 48 hours before free agency opens on Feb. 11, began on Sunday.

Schoen would have been allowed to talk with other teams and potentially sign a contract. For example, Bombers defensive back Tyrell Ford, who was in line for a significant raise, reportedly signed a two-year deal with the Edmonton Elks that will pay him upwards of $230,000 per season (these deals aren’t made official until free agency opens).

Had Schoen chosen to test the free-agent market, he likely could have signed for more than he’s getting in Winnipeg.

“It’s what we always say, the culture here truly is different. It’s about that brotherhood of guys in the locker room,” Schoen said about why he wanted to be back in Winnipeg. “It’s the coaches, the support staff, everyone who’s so bought in. It’s the city, with the fans. It’s underestimated how much that can mean as a player, having that level of support and stuff like that.”

In the offensive line department, the Bombers signed American offensive tackle Eric Lofton to a one-year contract extension Monday.

The 6-4, 293-pound Lofton was slated to become a free agent next week. He started all 18 regular-season games last season.

— with Canadian Press files

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X and Blue Sky: @jeffkhamilton