O’Shea OK with current lineup

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This article was published 04/10/2018 (2590 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The clock is ticking for Canadian Football League teams looking to make a deal.

In a week’s time, the league’s trade deadline will have come and gone; after 2:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, teams will have to look outside the CFL to bolster their lineup.

That includes the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have yet to pull the trigger on any trades this season and aren’t expected to do so over the coming days. At 7-7, on the heels of a two-game winning streak and with four games remaining on the regular-season schedule, head coach Mike O’Shea seems content with remaining status quo.

“The team, as coaches, we like our guys and we’re prepared to win with them,” O’Shea said Wednesday following a closed practice ahead of Friday’s road game against the Ottawa Redblacks.

But trades aren’t up to O’Shea. Those decisions fall on general manager Kyle Walters, who hasn’t spoken publicly all season despite requests from the Free Press (the team prefers to have all media inquiries about the team go through the head coach).

Walters, though likely not to make any moves, has proven to be a shrewd negotiator.

In 2016, he traded struggling quarterback Drew Willy for nothing short of a king’s ransom, dealing him to the Toronto Argonauts for all-star defensive back T.J. Heath and two draft picks, including what turned out to be the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 (Faith Ekakitie, now with the Montreal Alouettes along with Heath). That same day the Bombers also acquired veteran pivot Kevin Glenn from the Alouettes for a fourth-round pick in 2018.

Back then, it was clear that Willy, who at the time was the Bombers’ highest-paid player, had to go. Winnipeg had committed to Matt Nichols as its No. 1 quarterback and the pressure was on to move an expensive asset.

This season, despite hovering around a .500 record, many in the locker room feel they have the pieces to push all-in for a long playoff run. Complicating the need to upgrade with a potential trade is the Bombers are playing some of their best football of late, including a dominant 30-3 road win over the Edmonton Eskimos last week.

“I don’t know if we should add anyone. I like our chemistry in the room and I’m not sure what bringing someone in or getting someone out of here would do to us right now. At this point I don’t know that there’s anyone out there that’s worth it to trade someone else,” Bombers running back Andrew Harris said.

“It’s just not something you really think about. But this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business and any time you have a bad game, or a series of games, you should always be worried about your job. Not so much thinking about being traded, but about the guy playing behind you or how after a loss they might change the scheme to mix it up. That’s always in the back of your mind — that’s the business.”

A couple names have been rumoured to be potential pickups for the Bombers. Chris Rainey, a running back/receiver for the B.C. Lions who also returns kicks, was asked about by the Blue and Gold, according to sources, but the price tag was too high for someone who isn’t considered an every-down player.

Another name was Toronto Argonauts receiver S.J. Green. The Argonauts (3-10) could be out of the playoff race by the end of this weekend, and adding a 12-year CFL veteran who can still play at a high level would surely be an upgrade for the Bombers in an area that has struggled this year. The Argonauts, however, aren’t interested in dealing the 33-year-old, who has one season left on a two-year deal.

That’s not saying the Bombers wouldn’t be well equipped to welcome a new face, given the right deal was to come along.

“First of all, they would have to come here with an open mindset with the way we do things. We’re the kind of locker room that really embraces people if you work hard and do the right things,” said veteran left guard Patrick Neufeld, who, like Harris, also doesn’t see a need to shake things up.

“I mean if there’s an opportunity to get better then obviously a team should take the opportunity to do that. From a business standpoint and that kind of perspective then, yeah, I don’t know what team wouldn’t want to get better.”

Weston Dressler, now in his 11th CFL season, downplayed whether a decision by management to stand pat should be seen as a vote of confidence. What the receiver does know, however, is there is something to winning with the right group, one that sticks together at all costs. In fact, he said it’s integral to building a championship team.

“That was one of the first phrases or choice of words that I heard coach O’Shea say early on in my first year with the team and that really stuck with me,” he said.

“Winning is awesome and winning is fun, and you’re doing everything you can to win and winning is always going to be exciting and fun when you’re a part of it, but there’s just something about winning with guys that you’re friends with, guys that you like and enjoy being around and put a lot of work in with. Having those types of guys just makes it a little more enjoyable and more satisfying.”

Added O’Shea: “First of all, the main thing would be for the players to be on the field in that critical point in the game and be able to trust the guys around them to know that they’ve put in the work and they’re willing to give everything they possibly can give for something else other than themselves. And you don’t get that unless you got the right people to buy in and it doesn’t always have to start with the right people. If you’ve got the right group of leaders they can assimilate into the culture.”

Harris, who won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2011, has seen what can happen when everyone isn’t on the same page.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to get out of B.C., that’s the kind of environment we had there and I didn’t enjoy it,” he said. “That’s one of the first things I fell in love here was with how close everyone was and now fast-forward from 2016 until now it’s better than it ever has been. I enjoy coming to work every day more than I ever have before. It’s about everyone being involved and everyone collectively doing things together. That’s the identity of a championship team.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton