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Weyburn native Brendon LaBatte has strong family ties in Saskatchewan. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

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Blue Bombers GM Joe Mack has all but given up on re-signing free agent offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

Despite a "substantial offer" from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it looks like offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte is going to be available when the free agency deadline passes at 11 o'clock this morning.

"We've made an extended effort to get Brendon signed," Bombers GM Joe Mack told reporters Tuesday. "We think very highly of him. He knows how much we want him here. We have had a substantial offer on the table for a substantial amount of time. I guess we'll all find out together what he's going to decide."

Mack wouldn't come out and say he didn't expect LaBatte to return to the Bombers, but he didn't have to. The optics are terrible. Winnipeg last reached out to the LaBatte camp on Friday, and as of Tuesday afternoon had yet to hear anything back.

"I can read those tea leaves," Mack said.

Mack told reporters he tried to extend the CFL all-star for a "year and a half" and was disappointed LaBatte wasn't straightforward in his free agent plans. Regardless of this perceived slight, it doesn't look like the Bombers were legitimate contenders for his services, anyway.

Whispers from around the league and within the Bombers put the 25-year-old longing for a return home to his native Saskatchewan (he's from Weyburn), and all that's needed is a good number from the Roughriders to make that happen.

"I won't go into the figures, but I can't see it being about money," Mack said. "Our offer was very, very substantial. I can't imagine in any way, shape or form that it's about money.

"The obvious thing is Brendon is from Saskatchewan. He has family there, he's very close to his family. Time will tell if that's the thing. At times, you can't compete with geography.

"We'll see how it plays out."

Barring an 11th-hour breakthrough with LaBatte, the Bombers sound like they are moving on.

Which brings us to the one potential guard they did manage lock up on free agency eve.

Non-import Steve Morley, 30, came to terms with the club on a multi-year deal Tuesday. Morley has been with the Bombers since 2009 and has been all over the football map since entering the pro game in 2003, playing in the NFL, NFL Europe, and with three other CFL teams in his career.

"I was ready to settle down," said Morley, who was believed to be a free agent target of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. "I had three great years here, in my opinion. I played every game, started every game, why would I go anywhere else?"

Retaining Morley gives the Bombers a reason to breathe a little easier heading into the free agency.

Veteran import Glenn January expects to re-sign any day now, so the Bombers should enter the 2012 season with at least three of the five offensive line starters from last year (centre Obby Khan is already under contract).

Import tackle Kelly Butler is on board, as well, and Mack says youngsters Chris Greaves, Chris Kowalczuk, Brendan Dunn, and Paul Swiston are ready to show what kind of players they are.

This all suggests management is quite happy with their group -- even without LaBatte and free agent Andre Douglas, who is hoping at catching on in the NFL.

SECOND CHANCE: The Bombers signed non-import long-snapper Jordan Matechuk to a deal Tuesday, taking a gamble on an effective special teams player who had some off-field issues last season.

Matechuk was arrested and charged at the Canada-U.S. border after attempting to transport a large shipment of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs into Canada last May. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

The 26-year-old will speak to the media in March, the team said.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

EXTRA POINTS

Bombers GM Joe Mack provided the media a free agency update Tuesday. Here's a better sense of what Winnipeg is planning to do once the deadline strikes at 11 o'clock this morning:

-- Mack on free agent OL Andre Douglas: "He's always expressed to me that he wanted to try the NFL. It's always been his childhood dream. I hope he gets that opportunity. I haven't heard anything contrary to that from Andre, so it would be my guess that's he's still trying to get an NFL tryout." Mack said the club is moving on from Douglas, who spent the last two seasons as the starting left tackle.

-- Mack's gut feeling on what free agent WR Greg Carr is going to do: "Good question. I don't know. We thought we were real close. I don't know what advice he's getting from other people, so something may have been interjected there."

-- Mack said he'll be looking at a couple of potential free agents when the market opens, but wouldn't reveal what areas he feels the Bombers need to upgrade. "We'll have an interest, if the price is right. I think there might be some players who maybe won't get what they anticipated, and so we may re-visit them on the second go around."

-- The Bombers are waiting for the price to come down on a few free agents; hoping to swoop in on some players who are passed over during the opening frenzy this week. Mack didn't come out and say it, but figure Canadian defensive lineman Don Oramasionwu to be in this category. The two sides have not been close in negotiations.

-- Finally, Winnipeg announced a coaching 'hire' Tuesday, moving linebackers coach Markus Howell over to receivers coach. Howell, who joined the coaching staff in 2011 as a defensive and special teams assistant, took on a bigger role with the defence when Richard Harris passed away last July.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 15, 2012 C4