O’Shea ready for change Bombers have plenty of loose ends to tie up during off-season By: Jeff Hamilton Posted: 5:05 PM CST Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 Last Modified: 7:04 AM CST Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023 Updates

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Mike O’Shea has had plenty to distract him in the days following a heartbreaking loss in the 110th Grey Cup game in Hamilton earlier this month.

As is the case at the end of every season, O’Shea has spent the last week — since narrowly falling to the Montreal Alouettes, 28-24, on Nov. 19 — sitting down with each player for one final chat. Together, they go over the year and tie up any loose ends before heading their separate ways for what will be another long off-season.

O’Shea hasn’t been able to fully escape the crushing defeat, though, which came in an eerily similar fashion to last year’s Grey Cup loss to Toronto. In both games, the winning points were scored late in the fourth quarter, stunning the club’s head coach and the rest of the heavily-favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In fact, O’Shea has yet to start the tortuous task of breaking down the film play-by-play, which he insists he’ll complete in due time, just not while the wound is still fresh.

“They stick with you forever,” O’Shea said of the losses, while standing at his usual spot behind the podium in the media room at IG Field Monday.

“I imagine at some point down the road, even years from now, I’ll just, all of a sudden, let out some primal scream and say, ‘Damn! Had a chance.’

“As I said after the game, credit to Montreal. They certainly made a few more plays than we did, especially at the end.”

While this promises to be another challenging off-season full of what-ifs, the Bombers won’t have much time to lick their wounds. Not if they plan to return to dominance in 2024, when they’ll try to reach a fifth consecutive Grey Cup after winning league titles in 2019 and 2021.

There are 36 pending free agents on the current roster, which is one player shy of the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats for most in the CFL.

“I imagine at some point down the road, even years from now, I’ll just, all of a sudden, let out some primal scream and say, ‘Damn! Had a chance.’”–Mike O’Shea

Winnipeg’s list includes all five starting offensive linemen; running back Brady Oliveira, who was the West Division nominee for most outstanding player; as well as fellow all-stars in receiver Dalton Schoen, defensive end Willie Jefferson and cornerback Demerio Houston, among several other key players.

“The guys all believe we’ve got a good football team that can keep rolling. I agree with them,” O’Shea said. “First of all, we need to get together and get a strategy and have our roster meetings, which we haven’t had yet, and figure out how we want to proceed.

“There’s always going to be changes. Some guys can’t do it again. Some guys don’t want to do it again here. And a lot of guys will want to be back. But we still have to strive to get that into a cap situation.”

The salary cap will rise from $5.45 million in 2023 to $5.525 million in 2024 – a marginal increase of $75,000 from year to year. With several players warranting a significant raise, it will be near impossible to have everyone return at fair value.

There are two names that pose the biggest challenge to re-sign, if only because they’re due a substantial pay increase. Schoen has been among the best receivers in the CFL since joining the league last year, when he was named the CFL’s top rookie, before leading the Bombers in receiving touchdowns again in 2023.

“The guys all believe we’ve got a good football team that can keep rolling. I agree with them.”–Mike O’Shea

The bigger of the two names is Oliveira, who has already said he plans to seek out NFL opportunities in the coming months. He should have a good idea by February of his chances of playing in the U.S., but if he does return to the CFL, his goal is to reset the market for running backs.

That Oliveira is a homegrown talent, born and raised in Winnipeg, makes him even more attractive to sign. The 26-year-old led the league in rushing yards (1,534) and total touchdowns (13) and has become a leader in the Bombers locker room ever since the team moved on from Andrew Harris.

“If a guy can do less and make more money, then why would we stop him?” O’Shea said of Oliveira testing the NFL. “He had a massive year. Fantastic year.

“We had a very good one (in Harris) before Brady, too. So, we’ve certainly made it work in a cap system before. We’ll have to formulate a strategy and figure out what we’re going to do. Obviously, we want him back.”

If the salary cap is a hurdle to sign players, trying to fit everyone in football operations and on the coaching staff under the league’s non-player salary cap will be a much steeper mountain to climb.

“If a guy can do less and make more money, then why would we stop him?”–Mike O’Shea

General manager Kyle Walters, as well as assistant GMs Ted Goveia and Danny McManus, are all in need of new contracts. Their futures need to be figured out before any team strategy can be thought of, let alone employed.

O’Shea said during Grey Cup week that he expected Walters to return as GM, which he doubled-down on on Monday.

“We’ll get to it,” O’Shea said, though he was unable to provide a timeline for when. “I’m sure they’re communicating and having talks. There’s a lot of trust in this organization.”

The non-player football operations cap was first brought in by the league’s board of governors ahead of the 2019 season, with the cap starting at around $2.6 million. It covers the salaries of coaches and other football operations staff, including GMs, scouts and equipment and video personnel.

There was talk of raising the cap, though it’s unclear if that’s happened, as there’s been no update from the CFL on the matter. What’s clear, however, is coaches around the CFL, including O’Shea, are incredibly frustrated with its limitations on hiring and keeping quality people.

What’s particularly frustrating for O’Shea is while the rule was put in place to curb teams’ spending, it’s ended up punishing teams that have success. Success usually coincides with pay raises and there’s just not enough money to go around.

“I don’t know if you’re ever going to get a straight answer (from the CFL),” O’Shea said. “Obviously, nobody likes it from a coaching standpoint, but our staff, I would say, we’re suffering the most in that regard. But I brought it up last year, too. And nothing really gets done.”

Then there’s the risk that the Bombers won’t be able to re-sign offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce, who has been viewed for years now as the next up-and-coming head coach. Pierce, who has led the top offence in the CFL the last two seasons, is expected to interview this week for the head coaching job with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

If Pierce gets the job, there have been reports he plans to take Jordan Younger — the Bombers’ defensive backs coach — with him as his defensive co-ordinator. Indeed, there are several moving parts, all of which will need to be taken care of in the coming days and weeks.

“Well, you bank on change,” O’Shea said. “And then when it doesn’t, you feel good and you make those quick phone calls back and say, ‘Hey, listen, everything’s status quo here now.’ We’ve got a good staff. I mean, why wouldn’t teams want our guys?”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton