Bombers’ GM Walters, assistants have new deals

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This article was published 28/11/2023 (677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers can officially shift their focus to the future after finalizing contract extensions with general manager Kyle Walters and assistant general managers Ted Goveia and Danny McManus.

CFL sources confirmed Tuesday all three have signed new contracts. Walters has inked a two-year deal, while the length of contracts for Goveia and McManus remains undisclosed.

All three were on deals expiring at the end of the calendar year.

President and CEO Wade Miller brokered each contract, with talks heating up over the weekend, just days removed from a heartbreaking loss to the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup in Hamilton on Nov. 19.

The Bombers are expected to release details of the contracts in a formal announcement later today.

Walters, 50, will enter his 10th season as the Bombers GM and 15th with the organization after spending his first three seasons as the club’s special team’s co-ordinator. He took over GM duties midway through the 2013 campaign before shedding the interim tag the following year.

He has helped lead the Bombers to four consecutive Grey Cups – including snapping a 28-year championship drought in 2019 – with the Blue and Gold also finishing atop the West Division regular-season standings the last three years, boasting an overall record of 40-10.

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea looked visibly frustrated when asked about the uncertainty with the club’s management team during his season-ending media availability Monday morning. O’Shea said that the team couldn’t move forward with a strategy for the 2024 season until extensions were completed, adding that he expected Walters to be back as GM.

For Goveia and McManus, the 2024 season will mark their 10th with the Blue and Gold.

Goveia is also the club’s director of player personnel and helps with scouting both Canadian and American talent. McManus is the team’s director of U.S. scouting and is responsible for discovering many of the Bombers’ talented players south of the border.

“They’re out there on the road all the time,” O’Shea said Monday, when asked about the role of his assistant GMs. “They’re looking at film all the time, making lists. Along with (U.S. scout) Cyril Penn, the three of them are always in communication, making sure that they’re seeing things the way they agree to see them and argue if they see a difference in a player and constructively put together your negotiation list and change it on a regular basis.

“They’ve been doing it quite successfully for a bunch of years.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton