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<\/p>\nThe Winnipeg Blue Bombers don\u2019t get to where they are today in Canadian Football League free agency \u2014 scoring A\u2019s across the board from fans and pundits alike for their substantiative haul and their aggressive retool \u2014 without asking the hard questions of themselves in late November\/early December.<\/p>\n
Yes, landing proven stars like Jarell Broxton, Tim White, Jake Ceresna, Jovan Santos-Knox and Jonathan Moxey and an up-and-comer like Tommy Nield doesn\u2019t happen unless an organization can come to a consensus that a 10-8 record and being bounced in the first round of the playoffs doesn\u2019t meet the stratospheric standard set in these parts with nine straight double-digit win seasons, five consecutive trips to the Grey Cup from 2019-24 and two championships.<\/p>\n
And that narrative was certainly hammered home in an extensive media conference Blue Bombers GM Kyle Walters held via zoom Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve been saying since the end of the year is fourth place in the West wasn\u2019t good enough with the bar that\u2019s been set around here going to the Grey Cups and winning the West those years, to take an honest look at ourselves and whenever we talked in December that it wasn\u2019t good enough and to admit that we weren\u2019t good enough on the field and we needed to change, we needed to improve,\u201d Walters began.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, organizationally, it\u2019s a big year because you go from first place all those years to fourth place and then the next slide is out of the playoffs and that\u2019s not something we were prepared to think of as a realistic option. So, yes, let\u2019s be aggressive, let\u2019s get back to making a splash. It\u2019s been a few years. We\u2019ve been quite status quo, to be honest, so it certainly was a concerted organizational effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s target the guys we want and let\u2019s get them.\u201d<\/p>\n
They hit all their targets and, coupled with the work done before the free agent market opened in locking up key starters like Brady Oliveira, Nic Demski, Stanley Bryant, Pat Neufeld, Willie Jefferson, Deatrick Nichols, Evan Holm, Redha Kramdi and Cam Lawson, well, let\u2019s just say there\u2019s an infectious buzz building in Bomberland again.<\/p>\n
As to the hindsight-is-20\/20-take that this should have happened a year ago when Winnipeg was playing host to the Grey Cup, he added: \u201cIt is that fine line \u2014 we\u2019re winning, we\u2019re going to Grey Cups so it\u2019s status quo, status quo and then that eventually bites you in the ass and it did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Walters spoke with the media for almost 30 minutes on Thursday and touched on a variety of subjects. Here are the key takeaways from his media session\u2026<\/p>\n
A TAKE ON THE NEW FACES\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2013Jarell Broxton, offensive tackle: \u201cWe identified the offensive line needed to be something we were going to spend on. That was the top priority. And dealing with Marty (Costello) and the scouting department, Jarell was a guy we had as the best offensive lineman free agent that we could get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive: Broxton will move from left to right tackle, with Stanley Bryant remaining on the left flank. The club has both Micah Vanterpool and Kendall Randolph returning and they\u2019ll get looks on the inside. The signing of Canadian receiver Tommy Nield also impacts this, as there is now a possibility the team will have three Canadian receivers in Nic Demski, Nield and Kevens Clercius\/Joey Corcoran at wideout.<\/p>\n
-Jake Ceresna, defensive lineman: \u201cWe\u2019ve liked him for a while. Big and physical and tough and we had decided this year \u2014 the plan when we first started talking and were allocating our funds \u2014 was getting back to the inside presence. We had some ends some up in the PR (practice roster) expansion that we liked that showed maybe these young guys have a chance to step up and play and because of that we decided to spend our money on the inside. Jake is dominant. He\u2019s 100 miles an hour, he plays the game the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive: The Blue Bombers also love what Matt Jaworski and Kydran Jenkins did in their lone starts in the regular-season finale and are also big on De\u2019Shaan Dixon, who also jumped out when he was added to the practice roster at the end of last year. Ceresna\u2019s ability to play both tackle and end means he\u2019ll get a lot of reps at different spots alongside Willie Jefferson, and the Canadian tackles led by Cam Lawson depending on whether the club goes to a four-man or three-man defensive front.<\/p>\n
\u2013Tommy Nield, receiver and how it is linked to the idea of starting three American offensive linemen: \u201cThat was the big one, how do we figure out to get our best offensive line on the field next year? Without pencilling in the Canadians or having Americans play certain spots, and having the Canadian receiver Tommy Nield was a key piece of that that we felt he had an opportunity to play slot and take over that Jerreth Sterns type role for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Deeper dive: Nield is the youngest of all the free agents the Blue Bombers signed at just 26. He\u2019s coming off a career year in Saskatchewan (42 receptions for 535 yards and five touchdowns in 11 starts) and already has three Grey Cup rings to his name as a member of the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2024 and the Roughriders last year. There\u2019s a sense in the Blue Bombers offices he\u2019s just scratching the surface, too.<\/p>\n
-Tim White, receiver: \u201c\u2026 If we\u2019re going to be playing two American receivers with this thought, they need to be 1,000-yard guys. They need to be big play guys and with Tim White, there was a familiarity with Tommy Condell (new offensive coordinator). He spoke very highly of him. We expect between him, Ontaria (Wilson), and Nic Demski we got our three, big time 1,000-yard guys that need to perform like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive: White has posted four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and his ability to take the top off a defence gives the team a speedy and versatile deep threat that could result in a boost for the numbers for Demski, Wilson, Nield and the other starting Canadian.<\/p>\n
-Jonathan Moxey, defensive back: \u201ct\u2019s no secret: we had some issues at corner last year, whether it be injuries, whether it be performance. It just wasn\u2019t good enough. And that was certainly talked with JY (defensive coordinator) at the end of the year. Getting the interior guys signed clearly was important with Redha and Deatrick and Evan. And with Cam (Allen) back, getting thrown in there last year and doing quite well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat interior group was pretty set but we really needed to improve the outside. And he was the guy that JY had put ahead of any of the corners at the time that this is the guy we wanted. So, aggressively, we went out and made a play for Jonathan to play corner. You still have to have your scouting department to fill some holes which we expect. You know, corners, and defensive end on the defensive side of the ball need to be taken care of by the scouting department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive: The Moxey addition is important given of the six different players who started at corner for the club in 2025, only Trey Vaval has returned. Demerio Houston signed in Ottawa, Marquise Bridges was released last summer and is now with B.C. while Jamal Parker, Dexter Lawson, Jr. and Terrell Bonds are all currently free agents.<\/p>\n
-Jovan Santos-Knox, linebacker: \u201cObviously we\u2019re very familiar with him and the coaches are very comfortable with him. Through the process that was a name that we identified as an interest piece to come in and compete and see how things shake down over training camp. When his name was available, we reached out to the agent, and they were excited to come back. It\u2019s just a guy we\u2019re familiar with, that the coaches know and like and trust. In that linebacker group he\u2019ll be able to come in and compete, and we\u2019ll wait and see how things shake down after training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive: Walters said the club isn\u2019t sweating about where Santos-Knox might fit, instead he and head coach Mike O\u2019Shea have talked about the value of competition in camp. \u201cI\u2019ve had this discussion with Mike: let\u2019s try to be careful not to have our Week 1 roster set prior to training camp. You have an idea of where everything fits in but, to your point, there\u2019s nothing wrong with having some competition out there with players and let\u2019s see who wins the jobs. If there\u2019s an injury or something in training camp, we do have a little bit of a back-up plan as well. It\u2019s just adding a good football player that we\u2019re familiar with and not stressing how it\u2019s all going to work on June 2nd when final cuts have to be made. We\u2019ll worry about that then. Lots can change between now and then.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE TAYLOR ELGERSMA WAIT AND WHO IS NO. 2?<\/p>\n
The Blue Bombers are still waiting on an answer from Elgersma, drafted last year and \u2014 after attending training camp with the Green Bay Packers last summer \u2014 still waiting on NFL interest. He\u2019s also been drafted by the UFL\u2019s Birmingham Stallions. Elgersma has two agents \u2014 one for the CFL and another helping him chase his dream down south.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still trying. They\u2019re still holding out hope that there\u2019s an NFL contract. And there\u2019s still the UFL who\u2019s figuring it out. So, there is zero clarity and I guess the longer it goes, from my standpoint, I guess the worse it feels that he\u2019ll be in Winnipeg. I guess I was hoping come February 1 if there\u2019s no futures contract that he\u2019d jump at the chance to sign a Blue Bombers contract but that has not been the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deeper dive on the QB depth chart: Walters made a great point about Zach Collaros needing most of the work in training camp to get accustomed to the new offence to be implemented by Condell, the new coordinator and how that\u2019s not ideal for those trying to jockey for position behind him on the depth chart. As they wait on Elgersma, they do believe there is an answer for the No. 2 spot somewhere with returnees Terry Wilson and Chase Artopeous and new faces Bryce Perkins and Payton Thorne.<\/p>\n
FYI:<\/p>\n
-Walters was asked about the three free agents all coming back from knee injuries \u2014 quarterback Chris Streveler, Dalton Schoen and Bonds \u2014 and whether some could be brought back once healthy: \u201cThat\u2019s the big one \u2014 we\u2019ll follow up with that once we get all the medical clearance and things like that. So, there\u2019s still some work that needs to be done health-wise before we even discuss how they do or don\u2019t fit into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n
-The club has told veteran linebacker Shayne Gauthier he won\u2019t be coming back. Ditto for receiver Dillon Mitchell, whose arrest in the U.S. after the season did not impact their decision.<\/p>\n
WALTERS\u2019 LAST WORD:<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe we\u2019re better. We\u2019re better heading into next year. We\u2019ve added some talent. Organizationally, we need to show the fans, the players in the locker-room, everybody, that as I\u2019ve been saying all along, last year wasn\u2019t good enough. And for us just to stand pat or make minor moves, I don\u2019t think sends the right message of who we are as the Winnipeg Football Club. And the bar we\u2019ve set is, I want to say we\u2019re the model of the CFL, we had that run of going to Grey Cups and being aggressive and showing them that last year was a blip, not the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can listen to the entire interview with Walters here:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Winnipeg Blue Bombers don\u2019t get to where they are today in Canadian Football League free agency \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-472016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}