First reported on February 2, and then made official on February 10, Jake Ceresna has joined the Bombers. Yes, I know that this is being written 12 days later (and it will be really easy to see who reads this article and who just posts a comment on social media letting me know this signing happened a while ago). But after taking some time to reflect on this signing, let me add my thoughts.

If what Jake says is true, that should strike fear in the hearts of every other CFL team.

First of all, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have one less player to worry about taking off their quarterback’s head. And if you think I am joking about that, I was…until I read this, “Ceresna said Stanley Bryant was the first player to reach out to him, but he also heard from Nichols, Brady Oliveira, new defensive line coach Jake Thomas and Zach Collaros, whose pitch was along the lines of ‘Hey, how about you join my team and stop hitting me?’ (Source)

Sure, Ceresna suffered a meniscus injury in 2025. But at 31 years old, I believe that he can still get the job done. Yet it appears that the Elks had other thoughts,

“It was funny… I thought it was going to work out, and we were going to get a contract done,” said Ceresna on Tuesday during a media conference at Princess Auto Stadium. “But it just didn’t materialize and then I hit free agency and there were other teams out there that expressed more interest and there’s a saying I always have that’s, ‘Go where you’re wanted.’ I want to be somewhere that wants me and I want them and if we have a great relationship, we can make it work.” (Source)

As I wrote earlier, “I believe it could be hard for the Bombers to attract defensive line players due to their scheme – you are not likely to rack up the stats based on how they play. However it seems like Ceresna is more interested in winning than he is his stats. That makes sense to some degree. Having been in the league for 7 years, he already has the stats to show what he can do. Signing a 2 year deal is both good for the Bombers and Jake.”

Bomber’s Past Issues
The Bombers have had a couple of issues the last two years. On Offense they have not been able to get the job done in the biggest games (and for most of the 2025 season). A great deal of that in 2025 has to do with the play calling. The second part of that has to do with the protection of Collaros. And except for the somewhat joke I made above, this signing does not rectify that.

But that fact does not negate this from being a good and notable signing. Because the other issue the Bombers faced the last couple of years is that they were leaky. I do not actually care what the defensive ranking/stats of a team are, if you don not make the big stops at the big moments. More than defensive rankings and statistics, I care about making the the stops when they are critical. Jake Ceresna should help the Bombers in that area.

Size Matters
When we are talking about defensive linemen, size matters! Whether it is a goal line stop, plugging a hole, or creating a pass rush, size simply cannot be forgot about. And Jake brings that in spades! He is listed as 6’4″ and 295lbs…and that is pure muscle.

Whether Jake jumps off the page this year with statistics, that remains to be seen. The Bombers’ defensive style of play does not necessarily lead to that. But as I mentioned above, I do not care about stats. I care about big plays in big moments, because those lead to wins. Sure you have to get to the playoffs, and to the Grey Cup. But if memory serves me well, at least in the last 10 years, the best team in the CFL was won the Grey Cup less than 50% of the time (just ask Winnipeg and Calgary).

Final Thought
The Bombers seemed to be aggressive in this year’s free agency, and this signing points to that again. I am not convinced that the Bombers have beefed up their offensive line enough, nor that they have a solid number 2 quarterback. But that was not the point of this article. There is nothing I don’t like about the Jake Ceresna signing. In fact, as mentioned above, there is lots that I love about this signing. I believe that this was both a good deal for Jake and for the Bombers.

The Bomber have made it clear that they are not interested in a slow rebuild. They have tased glory. They had tased defeat. They are still missing some pieces, in my opinion…but you can only control what you can control; and I am not convinced that the Bombers left any players out there that they should have made a play on.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.