Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters speaks to media about the season and their upcoming plans at his year end press conference at the Blue Bomber stadium in Winnipeg, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - Kyle Walters doesn’t believe losing a third consecutive Grey Cup means the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ roster should be blown up.

The CFL club’s general manager told reporters at his year-end availability Tuesday that reaching a fifth straight championship game by overcoming lots of injuries was a big accomplishment.

Even before Winnipeg’s recent 41-24 Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts, Walters said he was looking forward to next season.

“I was excited for next year based on what I'm looking at, compared to years past, where we've got more young guys that have contributed that are under contract," he said. "We've got more young players in the building. So, the idea of, ‘This is the end of the road. The team is in a free-for-all downward,’ I don’t think is accurate.

"We have a good group of guys and we were in a one-point (Grey Cup) game with 10 minutes left … before things went downhill.”

The Blue Bombers started the season 0-4, moved to 2-6 and finished 11-7 to claim the West Division title.

Star receiver Dalton Schoen, veteran linebacker Adam Bighill and backup quarterback Chris Streveler all suffered season-ending injuries and are pending free agents.

Negotiating with the team’s 27 unsigned players could be impacted by moves across the league among coaches, personnel staff and players such as quarterbacks, Walters said.

The Bombers have given permission for offensive coordinator Buck Pierce to speak to the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks about those teams’ vacant head-coaching jobs, he said.

Walters also revealed the Ottawa Redblacks were given the go-ahead to talk to Richie Hall about their defensive coordinator vacancy.

Hall was a Winnipeg defensive assistant this season after Jordan Younger took over from him as defensive coordinator.

Walters said the Bombers received permission to speak to Lions offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic in case Pierce leaves.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have already been given the OK to talk to Winnipeg assistant general managers Danny McManus and Ted Goveia about the Ticats’ GM opening.

“You're hesitant to have too much conversation with people who may not be in the organization next year, so it's just been me and (head coach) Mike (O’Shea) in this moment huddled together and talking about next year,” Walters said.

He said an NFL team had asked Tuesday morning to work out one Blue Bomber, but he didn’t reveal the player’s name in case he wasn’t aware of the request yet.

The Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup in 2019 and ’21, but lost 28-24 to the Montreal Alouettes last year and 24-23 to Toronto in 2022.

Winnipeg re-signed placekicker Sergio Castillo last week. Walters said he’d like to have deals done with three or four main players before the end of the year.

The team has some up-and-coming young players inked for next year, and injuries gave others valuable experience on both sides of the ball, Walters said.

Receivers such as rookie Ontaria Wilson (1,026 yards receiving in 18 games) and Keric Wheatfall (273 yards in seven games) are signed through next season.

“The experience that they got was invaluable,” Walters said.

Re-signing players who missed time because of injuries can get tricky.

“Organizationally, can we approach (their agents) and say, 'Well, your guy was hurt, he should come back for less money?’” Walters said. “Generally, they don't view it like that. They view that they'll be back 100 per cent.”

One question mark is the backup to starting quarterback Zach Collaros, who suffered a deep cut to the index finger of his throwing hand late in the third quarter of the Grey Cup.

Collaros got five stitches and numbing agent applied to his finger. He returned with a bandage on it, but admitted he had a hard time gripping the ball.

“We'll have to find out who our offensive coordinator is first,” Walters said when asked who might be Collaros’s backup.

Terry Wilson, who briefly replaced Collaros in the Grey Cup, and Jake Dolegala are signed for next year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024