WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have agreed to terms with All-Star quarterback Zach Collaros on a three-year contract extension through the 2025 season. He was scheduled to become a free agent in February.
Great news for Bomber fans.
I guess that kills any speculation about him heading East.
I can understand the team wanting to keep Collaros, but 3 years is an expensive gamble.
3 years!
He will be 38 yrs old at the end of that contract
Best older QB in the League, by far
I'm an Ottawa fan, and I think this is really awesome that he's signing such a contract. It's great when players stay on the same team for a number of years, I just hope Ottawa does the same thing with their players.
Looks like Collaros wants to retire as a Blue Bomber (baring a one day somewhere else I guess) as I can’t see him signing another contract after this new one expires. Great news that he is staying aboard.
What does this mean for Dru Brown? Is he going to want to stick around being the backup QB for another 3 years?
But CFL contracts aren't guaranteed so I don't see how three years makes it expensive.
Considering that one of CFL fans' major complaints has been clubs not retaining star players, this is a good move.
I only hope that this doesn't dissuade Brown, a potential future starter, from sticking around. Can he be patient enough? Can Walters find enough money to entice him to back up for a couple of years? Or is it a matter of rolling the dice to see what QB's are available when its time to move on?
the reason for 3 years is that cfl contracts are NOT guaranteed $$. they can cut any player at any time and not have to pay out the contacts. How many players have been dumped 24 hours before bonuses are due to be paid.
Often a three year contact comes with hefty signing bonus in year one because even the players know the third year of a contract is seldom honoured...especially for the older veteran players.
Another case in point. I do not know what Bo Levi has left on his contract with the stamps but if he is traded there will be a renegotiation of his existing contract with any new team as he had contract by cfl standards, quite generous., and who knows perhaps he will want to be on the tsn panel instead.
New CBA was proposing some guaranteed money in the third year.
The new agreement also implements partially guaranteed contracts for the first time in league history. A player that has played through their rookie deal may now guarantee up to 50 percent of the final year of any subsequent contract, so long as it is a multi-year deal signed with his original CFL club.
Good to put any speculation to bed for Collaros, but it shifts it over to Brown, so we'll still have something to wonder about. 3 years is an eternity in pro sports, will he want a shot somewhere else?
Definitely a concern but Brown may become more involved even before Collaros' contract expires. Calgary's situation with Maier/BLM for example.
The only surprising thing here is the length of the contract. Like Grover points out, he'll be 38 yo by the end of it. Tom Bradys (45yo) are one in a million so at some point Zack will start to feel Father Time take his toll. More concussion issues could put an end to his career rather quickly. One question will be whether he'll be able to complete this contract, like I say 3 years is a loooong time in pro sport.
Right on the mark Dibs. I think they work Dru Brown into the system, give him the opportunity to work with one of the best QBs and get more reps/games in without the added pressure of being “The Guy”.
Brown is only 25, so he will still have years left to guide the Bombers.
2 QB system has worked previously. Clements/Hufnagel is the one I remember most. Remember 1984…anyone? Then of course there was Collaros/Streveler.
But the biggest reason to sign Collaros for 3 years…Bombers bidding to host 2024 or 2025 Grey Cup. If they get it in ‘24 and win, Collaros goes out a Champ and Brown takes over in 2025.
If they get it in ‘25, Brown will be finely tuned to take on a larger role if necessary. He’ll be 28/29..in his prime.
Hats off to the Canadian Mafia for their brilliance.
My thinking too. He has already been through 2 concussions. Players have to think about their life after football.
So, instead of the positive, focus on the negative?
Not one fan wants to see a player get injured or forced out of the game by a concussion or otherwise, so why discuss it? He’s by far, the best active QB right now.
I guess from a non Bomber fans perspective, it makes sense to discuss the ‘C’ word. Pretty sure that wasn’t part of the discussion.
He’ll be grooming a future starter. Positive.
What if..Masoli comes back and has another injury. What if Rourke comes back and re-injures his foot and loses his NFL shot. What if Evans has another injury. What if Fajardos leg is more serious than we know. What if..what if..
Nothing negative about it. You can't look at this at any other way from a Bomber perspective as a very good move. Congrats to the Bombers. Not a Bomber guy but they signed up arguably the most important free agent way ahead of time. Zach deserves it. 
I like the deal but agree 3 years is a long time. Look, he's good but there's lots of examples of good QB's being not so great if the team around them isn't. My concern in Bomberland is they have 3 OL in front of him who will be 33 or older next year & are old in a # of other areas - oldest team in the league. So there is work to be done going into next year. The best OL in the league this year may be the Stamps - & they have nobody over 30 except Dennis, who has been capably replaced while he's out on injury. 3/4 of the starting DL for the Bombers will be 32 next year also. Bighill is older yet. Too many guys aging together along both sides of the LOS.
They are aging for sure.
Did you see how well the mostly backup and out of position group played against a starting BC defence? Kept Brown pretty clean. Would the end result have been different if Collaros had played?
On the D side, they were playing young and 1st year guys, except on the line and they looked pretty good against BCs starting offence the way it is now.
Not taking injuries into account because both teams had starters out of the lineup.
They are grooming guys for the next few years and doing a good job of it. Like the Stamps have been doing.
Most of the Stamp starters, to use that example, are much younger. When you have the oldest team in the league, you are looking at making wholesale changes within a year or 2. You can see what happens once they get into their early 30's. Jeffcoat has been missing chunks of games for 4 years now. Ellingson missed 4 games in 4 years & then 15 this year & last. As I said @ the beginning of the year, they needed to drop Harris & a couple of others, like Adams. Both IMO were done. Harris was already missing time due to injuries prior. I probably would have gone ahead without Jeffcoat when the Jefferson/Jeffcoat debate was on due to salary cap issues. But that's hindsight. At the time I thought they should keep both.
This team looks a lot like the Edmonton team that went to 7 GC's in a row to me. Lost the 1st one when not quite ready, lost the last one when too many players got old, DESPITE having the MOP in Warren Moon. A great QB is only as good as the team around him. The 2nd oldest team in the CFL this year - Hamilton. You can see the trajectory. Built up to a 15-3 team, went 8-6 last year & this year paying a price for too many old guys.
But that's for future debate. This year, having that experience, still playing well, is a benefit. We'll see if they win the CUP. It would be a feelgood story for the league if they do.
The way I see it, keeping Collaros is the Bombers' best chance at winning Grey Cups in 2023 and 2024. And if they have to sign him for three years, so be it.