Bombers waited and O-line’s Douglas came back

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This article was published 01/03/2012 (5307 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Winnipeg Blue Bombers knew if they just waited things out, they would eventually get their man.

That’s why the re-signing of a free-agent import offensive lineman didn’t come as a surprise to many Wednesday. The club simply waited for Andre Douglas to exhaust all avenues in the NFL and when he found interest tepid at best this off-season, they started talking about a contract extension.

Douglas, 25, became an unrestricted free agent Feb. 15.

“We’re happy to have Andre back with us for another season,” Bombers GM Joe Mack said in a statement.

“Continuity along the offensive line is key, and this signing allows us to keep another piece of last year’s offensive line intact.”

Terms of the deal weren’t released.

The continuity Mack suggests in his statement refers to Winnipeg’s ability to re-sign three of its four potential free agents along the O-line this winter.

Besides Douglas, the club retained import Glenn January and Canadian Steve Morley for the coming season, while watching the much more expensive CFL all-star Brendon LaBatte walk to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

To paraphrase Meatloaf, three out of four ain’t bad.

Douglas, a 6-foot-4, 318-pound left tackle out of Temple, played all 18 regular-season games for the Bombers in 2011 and has missed only three games in his two seasons in Winnipeg.

The club also announced the signing of import defensive lineman Andre Caroll Wednesday. The 23-year-old Delaware State product was at Bombers training camp last season but was cut before the regular season.

— Adam Wazny