The Bombers are not wasting any time ahead of free agency to get pieces in order to make them (hopefully) competitive again in 2026. However there is more work to be done.<\/p>\n
Recent Re-Signings
*Sergio Castillo
*Sheahan
*Michael Griffin II
*Pat Neufeld
*Gavin Cobb<\/p>\n
New Signings
*Bryan Addison<\/p>\n
Most Notable
For my money, the most notable signing is that of Sergio Castillo \u2013 paired with Sheahan.
Known for his clutch ability, and a propensity to hit long field goals, Castillo provides the Bombers a lot of confidence in that position. remember him breaking is own record by making a 63 yard field goal in 2025?!<\/p>\n
Did he miss some field goals that he should have hit in the 2025 season? For sure. But there were also some questionable coaching decisions on when he was and was not sent out in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cCastillo has now appeared in 61 games over his three periods with the Blue Bombers and is coming off a 2025 season in which he connected on 85.7 percent of his field goal attempts (48-of-56) and 93 percent of his converts (40-of-43).<\/p>\n
His 48 made field goals last season ranked as fourth most in a season in franchise history behind Justin Medlock (60 in 2016 and 56 in 2017) and his own mark of 51 in 2024.\u201d (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cSheahan finished 2025 with a punting average of 47.8 yards on 94 punts and a net (minus the opponent\u2019s return) of 38.4 yards. His 47.8-yard average was the second highest in Blue Bombers history to Jon Ryan\u2019s 50.6 average in 2005. In the battle for field position, he kicked just two singles in 2025 while placing nine punts inside the opponent\u2019s 10-yard line. (source<\/a>)<\/p>\n The combination of Castillo and Sheahan, provides the Bombers with a very solid kicking platoon. <\/p>\n Runner Up So in 2026, all eyes will be on the offensive line players. And Pat Neufeld, at right guard will be highly criticized if he cannot do his part in protecting the Bombers\u2019 quarterbacks\u2026and rightfully so.<\/p>\n Who Is Bryan Addison? No, this is not some type of Chris Jones experiment, with Duron Carter. This is legit. \u201cAddison began his career at Oregon as a receiver, catching 19 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown in 18 appearances. Addison switched to defensive back for the 2020 season and totaled 51 tackles (29 solo, 22 assists), one tackle for loss, four interceptions, six pass breakups, and one forced fumble in 54 games (11 starts).\u201d (source<\/a>).<\/p>\n I would say that those statistics are not great for a receiver\u2026but his defensive stats are a different story. \u201d\u00a0Addison started 11 of 12 games at safety, recording 43 tackles (31 solo, 12 assists), two interceptions for 106 return yards including a 96-yard touchdown, seven pass breakups and one fumble recovery.\u201d (source<\/a>) I can get behind that!<\/p>\n Work To Be Done Returner? Quarterback Perkins spent three seasons in the NFL (2021-22, 2025), winning a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. He started one game in 2022 against the Kansas City Chiefs, going for 13-for-23, threw one touchdown and rushed nine times for 44 yards in a 26-10 loss.<\/p>\n *\u201dHe signed with the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 18 but was released a week later.<\/p>\n Perkins played two seasons in the United Football League with the Michigan Panthers, winning UFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 after throwing for 1,342 yards with nine touchdowns in six starts.<\/p>\n The Chandler, Ariz., native spent four years in college, split between Arizona State (2015-16) and Virginia (2018-19) and played one season at Arizona Western College (2017).\u201d (source<\/a>) <\/p>\n The Bombers also signed quarterback, Payton Thorne, but there expectations here are tempered.<\/p>\n What about Elgersma? The Bottom Line(s) *The Bombers need to get a better receiving group than that which they had in 2025. And that is likely going to cost them some money. That is money that they better be willing to spend, unless they want a similar outcome to 2025.<\/p>\n *Offensive Line
Pat Neufeld
Can I just be honest here? The Bombers were terrible at protecting their quarterback, regardless of who was in at pivot. Was that play calling or personnel? I think it was a bit of both. Well, the Bombers got rid of their play caller (Hogan), and you can read about that here<\/a>. They also got rid of Jarious Jackson, who was their quarterbacks coach in 2025 (and you can read that story here<\/a>).<\/p>\n
Is he a receiver or a defensive back? If you just googled his name, you may be confused. That is because he started out as a receiver and then transitioned to defensive back. I guess that makes sense? If you have hands to catch the ball, surely you have hands to defend the ball. <\/p>\n
Here are the players that the Bombers have yet to sign (at the time of writing this):
*Stanley Bryant \u2013 left tackle
*Willie Jefferson \u2013 defensive end
*Vaughters \u2013 defensive end
*Keric Wheatfall \u2013 receiver
*Jerreth Sterns \u2013 receiver
*Demerio Houston \u2013 cornerback
*Dexter Lawson, Jr. \u2013 defensive back
*Kyrie Wilson \u2013 linebacker
*Jamal Woods \u2013 defensive tackle
*Shayne Gauthier \u2013 special teams
*Nick Hallett \u2013 special teams<\/p>\n
As of writing this on January 19, Vaval is getting a lot of attention from the NFL \u2013 and rightfully so.
I had a good long chat with Vaval, at the CFL Awards Afterparty, and I can tell you that he has the type of character that any team, in any league would be looking for. Combined with his return skills, the jury is out on whether he will be returning to the CFL. What we do know is that the NFL workout window ends on February 10th, and NFL teams can begin signing these player as soon as January 6th. Since it is January 19th (the day of writing this) Vaval may still be in play with an NFL team\u2026but the window is closing. <\/p>\n
I have to be honest, I am not loving what I am seeing here. Sure, in November the Bombers signed Bryce Perkins; but his numbers do not give me a lot of confidence. <\/p>\n
While he may be the Bombers\u2019 hopeful successor to Collaros, Elgersma\u2019s agent has made it abundantly clear that they are trying to a NFL contract. <\/p>\n
*The Bombers need to open the floodgates wide open, look under every rock, and invite about 1,000 people to try out for quarterback. Even if Streveler were going to play again (and I think that\u2019s a big question mark), the Strevler and Collaros combination simply is not good enough. <\/p>\n
Neither the quarterback position, nor the receiver positions will matter if the Bombers cannot give their quarterback time to throw the ball. This is an issue that has been hounding the Bombers for a while. For a number of years, fans have been believing that the Bombers\u2019 offensive line has been getting long in the tooth, and slow. The Bombers are certainly going to have to make sure that their offensive line is less porous if they want to have a better outcome than 2025.<\/p>\n