‘We’re in it to win it this year’

Zach Collaros should be one happy camper these days.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers started the off-season by hiring his pal Tommy Condell to be the club’s new offensive co-ordinator, then went on a massive spending spree in free agency to acquire offensive lineman Jarell Broxton, defensive tackle Jake Ceresna, receivers Tim White and Tommy Nield, cornerback Jonathan Moxey, and linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox.

It’s safe to say the veteran quarterback is a huge fan of the work general manager Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea have done in recent months.

“I don’t know if it’s a statement, but for myself, being a little longer in the tooth in this game, and some of the other guys that have been here for a long period of time, I think it just sends a message like, ‘Hey, we’re trying to win now. We want to continue competing for Western championships and competing for Grey Cups,’” said Collaros, who’s in Winnipeg this week for marketing obligations with the club.

“It’s the CFL, you can win the Grey Cup any year, but I think just echoing that and showing the guys like, ‘Hey, we’re in it to win it this year.’ Not that we haven’t been in the past, we try to do this every single season. But, if there’s deficiencies that the front office saw, they tried to address them and that definitely stands out to the guys, for sure.”

Before we get into all the new faces, let’s start with Collaros. He turns 38 in August and is in the final year of his contract. Has he thought about 2026 possibly being his CFL swan song?

“Yeah, but not in a negative way. I still feel really good. I still really enjoy the entire process. I enjoy working out, getting up early and doing it,” Collaros said in a presser at Princess Auto Stadium.

“This off-season has been great working with Tommy (they were together in Hamilton from 2014-15) and putting stuff together for the training camp and for the season. I’ve kind of been reinvigorated in that way just having my hand in it a little bit more than I have in the last five years. So, it’s been a lot of fun. I’m really excited for the year.”

“I still feel really good. I still really enjoy the entire process. I enjoy working out, getting up early and doing it.”

Collaros has not been approached about a contract extension this off-season.

“You’re always kind of playing on a one-year thing anyway. It’s not going to change the way that I approach the season,” said Collaros.

“It’s not changing the way that I’m training, it’s not going to change the way that I play. Would I like to keep going? If I feel healthy and think I can help the club, then, yeah.”

Broxton will play a key role in keeping Collaros healthy. The highest paid American offensive lineman in the league is coming off a year where he was an all-star left tackle for the B.C. Lions. He’s expected to take over the right tackle spot for the Bombers.

“I know Paddy was speaking to Mikey Couture (former Bombers centre) out there and B.C. was upset that they lost him when that all went down. I was able to speak to him for a couple of days afterward, after that all happened and he seems like a great guy,” said Collaros.

“Some of the people I talked to out there in B.C. who have been around him say the same thing — great guy, great teammate so he’s going to fit in really well. And from my interactions with him I can definitely see all that.”

Adding White and Nield also gives the Bombers a strong receiving corps — something they didn’t have last year after Dalton Schoen went down with a torn ACL.

White is coming off four consecutive 1,00-yard seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“I talked to Scott Milanovich (Ticats head coach) a couple weeks back when this all went down and he said to me, ‘You’re going to love Tim,’” said Collaros.

Then there’s Nield, a Guelp, Ont., product, who is coming off a breakout season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders where he had 42 catches for 535 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games. Collaros, who resides in Aurora, Ont., worked out with a group of CFLers from Ontario that featured Nield several years ago.

“Some of the people I talked to out there in B.C. who have been around him say the same thing… great guy, great teammate so he’s going to fit in really well.”

“Tommy was there and it was my first day throwing in the off-season and he was running and I pulled Shamawd (Chambers, a former CFL receiver) aside and said, ‘Who is that? What college does he go to?’ And he was like, ‘That’s Tommy Nield, you idiot.’ You don’t see anybody without their helmet on, and I don’t really watch on TV, so he really impressed me and I developed a relationship with him there,” said Collaros.

“Over the last two seasons I’ve watched him a lot more closely and the run he put together in Sask last year was really impressive.”

All the shiny new toys help, but at the end of the day, Collaros needs to be better. The two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player has 34 touchdown passes and 31 interceptions in his last two seasons.

“The numbers are what they are. Obviously, they haven’t been up to the standard that any quarterback wants to play and you want those to look better,” he said.

“But at the same time, each week, you kind of just do what you need to do to win each football game and that looks different from time to time. But, yeah, certainly, I’d rather be throwing 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions. That’s always the goal.”

ELGERSMA REMINDS COLLAROS OF ROCKY’S RIVAL

The Bombers were hoping Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma, their second-round pick in the 2025 CFL draft, would be in Winnipeg this year to learn the ropes from Collaros.

They’re no longer hopeful that’s going to happen, at least not in the immediate future, as the 23-year-old Wilfrid Laurier product has made it clear he wants to exhaust all NFL opportunities before heading north.

Collaros was asked about Elgersma on Tuesday and he shared an entertaining story on his first impression of the young player. The two met once while training as part of a group in Ontario.

“Walked in, I just couldn’t believe how tall he was (6-5). I didn’t know who he was, to be quite honest with you. I thought he was a tight end or a left tackle or something. Not that he’s a heavy dude, but he’s big. Like Ivan Drago, honestly. Really, it was like, ‘If he dies, he dies,’” said Collaros, quoting Drago’s famous line in Rocky IV.

“Big guy. He throws it very hard. Seemed like a good guy. Spent about an hour and a half throwing with him. I think this was before we drafted him. Seemed like a great dude, and has a lot of physical gifts, for sure.”

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