‘Henoc will not be coming here’: Bombers balk at linebacker Muamba’s hefty price tag

Henoc Muamba has made his priorities clear: he’d rather get paid than play for a winner.

The last high-profile CFL free agent left on the market will not be taking his talents to Winnipeg, as General Manager Kyle Walters said Tuesday that the price tag for the Canadian linebacker was too high.

“We were prepared to make Henoc the second-highest paid Canadian on our team. Within our salary cap, we thought it was a good, fair offer,” Walters said. “We were certainly not prepared to offer Henoc Muamba a contract higher than Andrew Harris, which is what they were asking for. It was not going to happen on our end for a multitude of reasons.”

“We were told that the offer we put together was not going to get the job done, so Henoc will not be coming here. Every player that you like, we’d like to be able to pay them whatever they want but you saw through free agency that’s impossible, especially once you’re moving towards your roster being set.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We were told that the offer we put together was not going to get the job done, so Henoc will not be coming here. Every player that you like, we'd like to be able to pay them whatever they want but you saw through free agency that's impossible, especially once you're moving towards your roster being set."

Heads quickly turned when Muamba was released by the Saskatchewan Roughriders last month. Two teams emerged as the favourites to acquire his services: the Montreal Alouettes, and the Blue Bombers.

But after trying to court Muamba, days of waiting turned into weeks, and the club was got the message loud and clear that Muamba wouldn’t be coming to Winnipeg.

“Henoc and his agent will maximize their time and look to maximize their value and that’s completely fair. They have a track record of prolonging these things,” Walters said. “It’s not a negative. They do their due diligence, they take their time. They will certainly look to maximize their value. That’s what they’ve done, that’s what they do. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s just their track record.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Henoc and his agent will maximize their time and look to maximize their value and that's completely fair. They have a track record of prolonging these things," Walters said. "It's not a negative. They do their due diligence, they take their time. They will certainly look to maximize their value. That's what they've done, that's what they do. It's neither good nor bad, it's just their track record."

Walters also confirmed the team would be moving on from defensive tackle Jake Thomas.

“Jake and I had a really good conversation this week. It’s going to be difficult to bring back another veteran interior guy that will be fighting for a roster spot, it’s just not good sense. Everybody in this organization likes Jake, he’s a good football player. It’s just that everything’s got to fit into the 49, 50 guys you’ve got on the payroll.”

The Bombers will be busy this week hosting CFL Week, which includes the CFL Combine. You can find the full agenda for CFL Week here.