WINNIPEG — Brady Oliveira might leave home.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers star running back is a pending free agent and told media in Tuesday’s end-of-season press conference that the team’s future roster and money will factor into where he plays next year.
”Playing for my hometown, it’s been incredible,” said Oliveira, who was drafted by Winnipeg in 2019. “I have nothing but good things to say about my time here.
“And would I love to be back? Absolutely, but I think I owe it to myself to sit down with my agent and OTG Sports and to talk to my family and kind of see what the best scenario and situation is for me.”
The Blue Bombers finished with a 10-8 record for fourth place in the CFL West Division. They crossed over to play the Montreal Alouettes in the East semifinal and lost 42-33, ending the team’s five-year run of Grey Cup appearances.
It was crushing for Oliveira as this year’s Grey Cup is in Winnipeg on Nov. 16. It was announced Tuesday the 32,343-seat Princess Auto Stadium is sold out for the game.
Oliveira, the league’s reigning most outstanding player and back-to-back top Canadian, rushed for more than 1,000 yards for the fourth consecutive season. He had 201 carries for 1,163 yards and three touchdowns, plus career-highs of 61 catches for 546 yards.
He finished fourth in league rushing and second in yards from scrimmage in only 15 games.
“I’ve got a lot of tread left, the arrow is still pointing up,” Oliveira said. “I’m 28 years old and I’ve got a lot left in me and I know I can make a massive impact and I just want to win a championship.
“I do believe we had a roster to go compete for a Grey Cup this year and we fell short of that.”
It’s what next year’s roster might look like that he’s keying on, especially the offensive line.
“I’m only as good as the guys around me,” Oliveira said. “There’s a lot of core pieces that have been here for the last number of years that I think still continue to this day to make an impact on game day.
“So we don’t know what it’s going to look like moving forward. There’s a lot of free agents, so I think as the months kind of unfold we’ll see who’s coming back, who’s not going to be brought back, and I think that’s big into the decision. I need to know what’s around me and we’ll go from there.”
When Oliveira signed a two-year extension in 2024, he took a “hometown discount” that reportedly paid him $230,000 last year and $240,000 this season.
It was also reported that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had offered him a two-year deal worth a total of $550,000, while the B.C. Lions had put a three-year contract in front of him worth $770,000.
He was asked if negotiations will be different this time around and is he open to looking at other teams.
“You talked about the hometown discount, and I think everyone knows that,” Oliveira said. “There were some big suitors out there when I did my deal a few years ago.
“And yeah, this is where I wanted to be, right? But understanding that I don’t know how many more years I have to play this game. I still know I have some time, but we’ll see.
“So, I think I owe it to myself to capitalize on that because I’ve earned that. I work my butt off to put myself in that position to kind of get what I deserve.”
The Bombers finished second in the league in rushing yards with an average of 124.1 per game, but the inconsistent offence was seventh in points (416) and last in passing yards per game (235).
Critics laid some of the blame on the play calling of rookie offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan, who was the team’s running backs coach the previous three seasons and someone Oliveira credits with his development.
Oliveira wasn’t available to talk to reporters Sunday because he was in a meeting, which he said Tuesday was with Hogan.
“Good conversation, but also some tough conversations as well,” Oliveira said.
He was asked if hiring Hogan was mistake.
“I don’t think it was a mistake,” he replied. “He deserved an opportunity to showcase his abilities. I mean, the guy works extremely hard. He showed that the last number of seasons.
“So I think that’s why he was rewarded that opportunity to be an offensive co-ordinator. And I’ll leave it at that.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2025.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
