‘I want to put myself in the best situation to win a championship’ Oliveira not ruling out change of scenery after Bombers season ends short of Grey Cup By: Taylor Allen Posted: 3:29 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 Last Modified: 5:13 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 Updates

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Let’s cut to the chase.

Does Brady Oliveira want to re-sign with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers?

“I have nothing but good things to say about my time here, and would I love to be back? Absolutely, but I think I owe it to myself to sit down with my agent and OTG Sports (Management) and to talk to my family and kind of see what the best scenario and situation is for me,” Oliveira told reporters in his end of season press conference at Princess Auto Stadium on Tuesday.

“I know what I can bring and I know I’m a calibre player that can help a team win a championship, so I want to put myself in the best situation to win a championship. This is why I play this game. I don’t play it for none of the awards or any of that stuff, I play it to win a Grey Cup. So I’m going to put myself in the best situation.”

Before the star running back puts pen to paper, he needs some clarity on the future. In addition to Oliveira, head coach Mike O’Shea, general manager Kyle Walters, and a long list of players — including left tackle Stanley Bryant, defensive end Willie Jefferson, receivers Nic Demski and Dalton Schoen, guard Patrick Neufeld, half backs Evan Holm and Deatrick Nichols, and dime back Redha Kramdi — aren’t signed for 2026.

After finishing fourth in the West Division at 10-8 and crossing over to lose the Eastern semifinal 42-33 in Montreal on Saturday, surely, not everything can remain status quo.

“I’m only as good as the guys around me, right? There’s a lot of core pieces that have been here for the last number of years that I think still continue to this day to make an impact on game day,” said Oliveira.

“So we don’t know what it’s going to look like moving forward. There’s a lot of free agents, so I think as the months kind of unfold we’ll see who’s coming back, who’s not going to be brought back, and I think that’s big into the decision. Like I said, I need to know what’s around me and we’ll go from there.”

“I know what I can bring and I know I’m a calibre player that can help a team win a championship … This is why I play this game … I play it to win a Grey Cup.”

Oliveira signed a two-year deal back in 2024 that reportedly paid him $230,000 in Year 1 and $240,000 in Year 2. At the time, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats offered him $550,000 spread out over two years, and the B.C. Lions reached out with a three-year contract that would’ve paid the Winnipegger over $770,000 in total.

Instead of joining the Ticats or Lions, Oliveira agreed to a hometown discount.

Negotiations might look a bit different this time.

The sixth-year pro had 201 carries for 1,163 yards and three rushing scores, plus hauled in 61 passes for 546 yards in 15 games this season.

“When I look at my last two seasons under this contract, I think they got everything out of me. I think you look at the last two years, the numbers are pretty much identical when it comes to the yards, and that’s what I do. I’m productive. And it’s because of the guys around me,” said the 28-year-old.

“When I look at my last two seasons under this contract, I think they got everything out of me.”

“But you talked about the hometown discount, and I think everyone knows that there were some big suitors out there when I did my deal a few years ago. And yeah, this is where I wanted to be, right? But understanding that I don’t know how many more years I have to play this game. I still know I have some time, but we’ll see, right? So, I think I owe it to myself to capitalize on that because I’ve earned that. I work my butt off to put myself in that position to kind of get what I deserve.”

Many players spoke to reporters on Sunday while cleaning out their lockers. Oliveira, however, was nowhere to be found as he was in a meeting with first-year offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan that went longer than expected.

“I had a very good conversation with him. A very good conversation. Obviously, everyone knows my relationship with him. Good conversation, but also some tough conversations as well. But I’ll leave it at that,” said Oliveira.

Hogan was the team’s running backs coach for three seasons prior to taking over Buck Pierce’s headset. Oliveira has praised Hogan in recent years, giving him lots of credit for helping the tailback reach CFL stardom. As a playcaller, though, it was a different story. Back in September, Oliveira took a subtle jab by saying, “I think maybe us players could be put in some better situations to succeed as well so that it always doesn’t fall on the player.”

On Tuesday, Oliveira was asked if the team made a mistake by promoting Hogan to OC.

“I don’t think it was a mistake. He deserved an opportunity to showcase his abilities. I mean, the guy works extremely hard. He showed that the last number of seasons,” responded Oliveira.

“So I think that’s why he was rewarded that opportunity to be an offensive co-ordinator. And I’ll leave it at that.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca