Rooting for a returning roster

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/11/2024 (349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, by almost every measure, are a darn good football team.

No other club in the CFL has as many wins as the Bombers over the last five seasons and only the Toronto Argonauts have as many Grey Cups over that span, with each earning a pair. The Bombers have been to the Grey Cup in every one of those five years, clinching the West Division in the regular season in all but one of those campaigns.

“I think eight out of nine teams would kill to be in the position that we’ve been in over the last four or five years, especially for a season like we had this year,” Bombers right guard Patrick Neufeld said, as he and his teammates were cleaning out their lockers at Princess Auto Stadium Tuesday. “To go through the bulls—t we had to — the injuries, the outside noise — and to fight our way back to a Grey Cup, I don’t know what team wouldn’t want to do that.”

The 2024 season, while similar to other years in how it ended in heartbreak, included a much different journey to get to the Grey Cup, with many more unexpected twists and turns.

The Bombers lost their first four games and then dropped to 2-6. They followed that up with a seemingly improbable eight-game win streak and won 10 of their final 11 games to capture first in the division and punch their ticket to the Grey Cup.

“Success is an interesting word. It’s something that everybody has kind of a different definition of, or a different way of assessing it,” Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros said. “The hole that we dug ourselves in, the way the season started, the injuries — things that hadn’t happened in the previous three or four seasons kind of really piled up early.

“We could have just let the season go early, but everybody stuck to it. Guys stuck together, believed in each other, believed in the process. I don’t know if people were writing us off or not, I have no idea, but nobody in the locker room was writing each other off. I’m just really proud of sticking through that, going on the run that we did. It was fun to be around these young guys and be a part of that.”

While the Bombers have been the standard in professional three-down football since before the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s still a sense in the locker room that something needs to give after falling short in the last three championship games.

It wasn’t only that the Bombers lost, they lost despite being heavy favourites in each one, including an embarrassing 41-24 defeat to the Argos in the 111th Grey Cup on Sunday in Vancouver.

“I think eight out of nine teams would kill to be in the position that we’ve been in over the last four or five years, especially for a season like we had this year.”–Patrick Neufeld

“I don’t know what, but something has to change,” Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson said. “Before I came here, something needed to change, and then we got us two (championships). It’s been the same thing since I’ve been here. We’ve been changing pieces here, pieces there, getting better and stuff like that. But coming down to the end of the season, we are still not as healthy as we want to be. We’re always missing little key pieces and things like that when it comes to the Grey Cup game.”

Change is inevitable in pro sports, especially in the CFL, where one-year contracts have become the norm. The Bombers have been able to buck that trend a lot better than their peers, owing mostly to the success on the field and family-friendly culture off it.

But as is the case every off-season, players will look to maximize their earning potential in a career that averages only a handful of years. Not everyone deserves a raise and even those that do, not all of them will get one as Bombers general manager Kyle Walters tries to work under the league’s salary cap, which is set for $5.65 million in 2025.

The Bombers have already locked up key parts of their leadership group for next season, including Collaros, running back Brady Oliveira — who was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player last week — receiver Nic Demski, centre Chris Kolankowski and halfback Deatrick Nichols. While that’s a good start, the list of players still in need of a contract for next year is a lot more daunting, with 28 names currently set to hit the open market in February.

On offence, Walters should perhaps start with an O-line that has four of its five starters on expiring contracts.

Left tackle Stanley Bryant, who will be 39 before next season, said he wanted to come back, as did Neufeld, who isn’t far behind, turning 36 next month. Eric Lofton played well at right tackle, filling the role once held by Jamarcus Hardrick, and left guard Liam Dobson, in his first year as a starter, was named a West Division all-star.

“I want to be back. I have full intentions of being back here and playing,” Neufeld said. “When I can talk with Kyle or (head coach Mike O’Shea), I’m going to make my intentions clear that I want to be back here playing. We’ll see what happens. Obviously, there’s still a lot to be discussed, but I want to be back.”

The Bombers turned Kenny Lawler into a star in the CFL and then brought him back after he chased money in Edmonton, signing him to a multi-year contract that made him among the highest-paid receivers in the league, earning around $285,000 in 2024. But after years of missing games either to injury or legal issues, and with his play declining, it will be difficult to envision Lawler back in Winnipeg without a notable deal.

Winnipeg opened the purse strings for Dalton Schoen, giving the young receiver a massive raise, from around league minimum ($70,000) to $230,000. Schoen deserved the pay bump after leading the CFL in receiving as a rookie in 2022 and pacing the league in touchdowns in both ’22 and last year.

It was too bad for the Bombers that Schoen tore his ACL just games into the season, ending his year before it even started. Schoen will be healthy and ready by next season, and his hope is that he’ll be back in Winnipeg.

“I’m not exactly sure how that’ll all go down,” Schoen said. “I think we are at least to the point where it seems to be … an injury a lot of people come back from and have success after the fact. So, I’m not super concerned about that. That’ll be between the team, or potential teams, and my agent, and we’ll see what happens.”

On defence, the Bombers will want to get Jefferson re-signed immediately, especially after such a dominating performance in the Grey Cup. Jefferson finished with six defensive tackles, two QB sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

“I’ve been in this league for a while, I’ve been on this team for a while and they’ve always given me what I wanted,” Jefferson said. “I’ve never, necessarily, like, tried to go above and beyond and things like that. So, it’s going to be the same way.”

Jefferson is just one of several defensive linemen in need of a new deal for next season. Canadian Jake Thomas, along with Miles Fox, TyJuan Garbutt and Celestin Haba, all of whom are American, are also in the same position.

Adam Bighill will be an interesting player to keep an eye on. The hulking middle linebacker tore his ACL in September, and while he’s vowed to return, he’s in for a tough rehab and will miss a chunk of the season before he’s cleared to play.

“All it takes is work, and I’ve never been scared of work,” Bighill said. “At the end of the day, it’s right there for me and I look forward to coming back and doing it. I’m not done playing this game at the highest level, that’s for sure.”

Under new defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger, the Bombers allowed the fewest points, the fewest touchdowns, the fewest yards, the fewest first downs and the fewest offensive plays. Where they really blossomed was in the secondary, a group that is close-knit and loves to force turnovers.

While Deatrick Nichols is under contract for next year, other starters such Brandon Alexander, Tyrell Ford and Evan Holm are not. Alexander is the veteran leader of the group, but it’s hard to argue against Holm and Ford being the priority.

Holm said he wanted to be back in Winnipeg, that he’s enjoyed his time with the Bombers, but that his priority is setting up roots so he and his wife, Erica, can finally be together for the football season. They’re expecting a baby girl and plan to name her Nora.

As for Ford, he has his sights set on the NFL, with a handful of workouts scheduled in December. Ford, who finished second in the CFL with seven interceptions, would also want to come back to Winnipeg if things don’t work out down south.

“I really don’t want to leave,” Ford said. “I want to win. That’s probably most important. You don’t play for free, so money is an aspect. I feel like I’m in a tough situation, just because of the guys in the room. But I don’t really know. I still got to figure it all out.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton