Montreal Alouettes defensive back Kabion Ento (48) breaks up a pass to Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide receiver Tim White (12) during second half CFL eastern final football action in Hamilton, Ont., Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Tim White is somewhat surprised to be a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

The veteran receiver signed a one-year deal with Winnipeg on Wednesday night but said the club entered negotiations with White very late in the process.

"Winnipeg really came in very kind of last minute, I really wasn't even expecting it," White told reporters Thursday during a Zoom call. "They kind of just came through and felt like the right fit."

White's contract includes $225,000 in hard money and a $75,000 signing bonus with a maximum value of $231,000. The 31-year-old American joined the Bombers following five seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, cracking the 1,000-yard receiving plateau the last four years.

White says money is always a factor in negotiations but feels going to the right team and situation is more important. In Winnipeg, he'll reunite with offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell — who held that post with Hamilton from 2019-23 — and join an offence that includes quarterback Zach Collaros (twice CFL outstanding player) and running back Brady Oliveira (league's top player in 2024 and Canadian in 2023-24).

Winnipeg has posted double-digit wins in each of the last nine seasons under head coach Mike O'Shea and reached the Grey Cup five straight years (2019, '21-24), earning wins over Hamilton in 2019 and '21.

"You step into a locker room that has a great culture, winning tradition," White said. "The fans there are very into the game of football … you see Tommy Condell, I'm familiar with him and his offensive scheme, his ability to get receivers the ball and spread the ball around.

"Zach Collaros, obviously that's a champion in himself … you have to mention Brady Oliveira, who's a dominant back in this league so it felt like the right fit for me and definitely something I wanted to be a part of."

The five-foot-nine, 175-pound White had 383 catches for 5,488 yards and 33 touchdowns in 83 regular-season games with Hamilton. Three times he was a CFL all-star and earned All-CFL East Division honours on four occasions.

"Tim had multiple offers," said Kenny Kim of Summit Athletes, White's Florida-based agent. "He ultimately chose to go to Winnipeg because it gave him the best opportunity to showcase his play-making ability and have a great 2026 season."

White said he'll bring a lot to the Bombers in 2026.

"I feel like I'm extremely electric, obviously a very consistent player," White said. "I'm a guy that you can depend on, that's going to be in the lineup consistently and be available for his teammates and for the (coaches), for the staff.

"I feel like I'm pretty versatile so you can utilize me in the screen game, you can utilize me in (the) intermediate passing game and you could utilize me in the deep game and then you can move me all around the field. If you look at me like a weapon I'm kind of like a utility knife, you can use me all over but I can also be dominant in one area as well."

White joins a Bombers receiving corps that includes veteran Canadian Nic Demski (1,000 yards in each of the last three years) and Ontaria Wilson, who registered 71 catches for 1,024 yards with three TDs as a CFL rookie in 2024.

"They (Bombers) just had the right pieces," White said. "It was definitely something I wanted to be a part of."

White was slated to become a free agent Feb. 10 but he and the Ticats agreed mutually to a release last weekend.

"Really, there was just no movement as far as being in the negotiating process," White said. "When we got towards the end we realized, 'Hey, we need some movement or we have to get ahead in the free-agency process,' and that's what we did at the end."

White said he has no animosity toward the Ticats.

"It's a business so at the end of the day everybody is looking at their plans for the team and everything like that," he said. "In the end they made their decision and I had to go my direction.

"I think just figuring where I was going to go in this next chapter was like the next step. Now I'm excited to get with my new teammates and see what they're about and really show them what I'm about."

And White is glad to know where his CFL home will be in 2026.

"I feel like it's always a good thing to have direction," he said. "I feel like obviously change is something that can spark somebody and I feel like that's what it's done for me already.

"Maybe I was ready for the change beforehand but it seems like the right time for me and the right place for me and that's important."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2026