Bombers signed him today. He's a good player but where does he fit into the excess at LB. Can't get them all onto the roster. He was 11th in top paid LB's topping out at about $136K, similar to J. Jones last year.
Bombers have been very active and 1st to the front of line bringing players in.
Need a minimum of 12 LBs on the game day roster, lol.
This isn't a signing I was expecting.
I have no idea what the plan is with the LB corps this season. LOL
Quote from: blue_gold_84 on Today at 03:22:27 PMThis isn't a signing I was expecting.
I have no idea what the plan is with the LB corps this season. LOL
I suppose it's insurance against injury in TC or beyond. Not that different than adding J.Jones last year except we don't have the extra cushion of unspent SMS added late.
It does suggest we still have some room to add some depth players today.
There is so much competition at that WIL spot. One of those guys will end up getting released before our first game.
These are all guys who could start:
WIL
Wilson
Santos-Knox
Woodbey
Ayers
Are they giving Tony Jones competition? I'm hoping we didn't spend too much on this one. We don't have room to roster these guys.
I can see Wilson and Santos-Knox both competing for the same job in TC. May the best man win; best of luck to the odd man out.
Hard to see Shay or Smith getting any defensive reps in year 2.
Blue Bombers agree to terms with linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox
WINNIPEG, MB., February 10, 2026 – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox.
Santos-Knox (6-2, 240; University of Massachusetts; born: July 5, 1994, in Waterbury, Connecticut) returns to the Blue Bombers after beginning his CFL career with the club in 2017. He spent his first two seasons (2017-18) in Winnipeg, followed by Edmonton (2019), Hamilton (2021-22) and the last three seasons in Ottawa (2023-25).
Santos-Knox, 31, is a veteran of 111 regular season CFL games and has amassed 528 defensive tackles, 16 sacks, five interceptions and four forced fumbles.
Santos-Knox had an exceptional season with the Redblacks in 2025, finishing second on the club to Adarius Pickett in tackles with 80, adding an interception while being named the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player. He earned the same honour 2022 while with the Tiger-Cats and that year was also named to the East Division All-Star Team.
He played his college ball at UMass, where he was First-Team All-MAC in 2014 and Second-Team All-MAC in 2015, earning his first pro shot with the Blue Bombers after attending a free agent camp the club was holding in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Important to have yet another linebacker.
I'm good with it if it means we're moving on from Wilson.
Wow
You'd think we'd want that money for WR
Maybe we're doing a 3-4?
On the surface this makes no sense at all. We cant roster all the lbs we currently have . Unless theres an issue with one our current lbs.
I guess there is no signing bonus, so there is no downside.
JY/Hall know him well, and Wilson has had injury issues, so there is literally no downside to this.
Yes, we have NAT LB's coming out our ears, and there will be some that don't make the opening day AR if we keep JSK and Wilson, but that's not the worst thing.
With 7 NAT starters needed, you basically need to replace one Nat starter out of each draft, on average. With Oline being 3/7ths of that, and having long careers, losing a high draft pick because they aren't better than other players is not a bad thing. Its part of a good draft/recruitment system.
I m thinking they aren't 100% certain or happy with Wi1son so they brought in a vet. I thought we had younger ta1ent waiting in the wings, but apparent1y we're going in a different direction. Knox is very good at b1itzing, and we need to bring better, consistent pressure, and he's a proven defensive p1ayer, so I can see the reasoning behind this.
Always liked Santos-Knox but this signing makes no sense, he's a couple of years past his prime and not much younger than Kyrie, this is not what progress is supposed to look like.
Picture this: a defense made up entirely of linebackers.
I am a little surprised at this signing. Don't really think we need him.
Was unhappy when he did not re-up with our Blue and became a very good player elsewhere.
Great season last year so hoping he shows well at TC and becomes
a solid contributor for this season
Santos-Knox is a tremendous blitzer but... why bring back Wilson?
Love the serious competition.
To me this signals a shake up to our D approach. We're beefing up the front 7 and giving ourselves as many tools as possible to show a lot of different looks. You need the tools do that and most of that comes from LBs who can do run stop and pass coverage mostly equally effectively. Gives lots of ability to keep fresh legs out there too.
These are the kinds of signings we should have been making last year when we hosted...
Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on Today at 05:29:46 PMAlways liked Santos-Knox but this signing makes no sense, he's a couple of years past his prime and not much younger than Kyrie, this is not what progress is supposed to look like.
Literally coming off his best year ever, playing all 18 games.
His last year here, he had 6 sacks.
I am sure JY/Hall/MOS all were involved in this acquisition, and he will have the opportunity to make an impact in camp, and continue on to the AR is he is still at that elite level.
Literally no downside to this. If he is "past his prime" and can't make the cut, noting lost.
Quote from: blue_gold_84 on Today at 05:39:09 PMPicture this: a defense made up entirely of linebackers.
Rich Stubler's dream
Quote from: peg_city on Today at 06:41:55 PMRich Stubler's dream
Mike O'Shea's reality since he got here.
Only thing surprising about this is it's a vet LB signing and not a Canadian ST lifer
One benefit to this signing is that Knox is better suited to back up MLB should Jones get hurt. It does make Wilson redundant though
Quote from: kkc60 on Today at 06:12:09 PMSantos-Knox is a tremendous blitzer but... why bring back Wilson?
Because we didn't know JSK was going to be available? We could have eyed JSK the whole time but thought OTT would re-up him (late) or another team would out-bid us in FA.
We got our lucky wish that JSK made it to FA and probably had no/few other offers so we could right-price him.
Quote from: Throw Long Bannatyne on Today at 05:29:46 PMAlways liked Santos-Knox but this signing makes no sense, he's a couple of years past his prime and not much younger than Kyrie, this is not what progress is supposed to look like.
JSK is one of the few who left and continued to play at a high level. Like C.Sayles (well, and the other Sayles too). I've really never seen JSK suck even when stuck on dumpster fire teams. That speaks to his character.
Yes, this means one of Ayers or Wilson will have to be cut. Since Ayers hasn't proven much of anything yet, my money is on him.
Yes, I think we all would rather have heard news we signed a very capable DE, but c'est la vie.
Quote from: Pete on Today at 07:30:55 PMOne benefit to this signing is that Knox is better suited to back up MLB should Jones get hurt. It does make Wilson redundant though
He's only redundant if he stays healthy, doesn't perform as well as he did last year, or is not used on the field whether as a conventional WIL or in a 3-4 D.
I'm tellin' y'all, this is about having options!!
Quote from: blue_gold_84 on Today at 05:39:09 PMPicture this: a defense made up entirely of linebackers.
What about an entire offensive backfield made up of linebackers....RB/FB/SB/WR.....hell, maybe an LB TE for gadget plays.
Sounds like an OSH dream team.
Quote from: Tecno on Today at 08:25:54 PMJSK is one of the few who left and continued to play at a high level. Like C.Sayles (well, and the other Sayles too). I've really never seen JSK suck even when stuck on dumpster fire teams. That speaks to his character.
Yes, this means one of Ayers or Wilson will have to be cut. Since Ayers hasn't proven much of anything yet, my money is on him.
Yes, I think we all would rather have heard news we signed a very capable DE, but c'est la vie.
Quote from: Tecno on Today at 08:23:12 PMBecause we didn't know JSK was going to be available? We could have eyed JSK the whole time but thought OTT would re-up him (late) or another team would out-bid us in FA.
We got our lucky wish that JSK made it to FA and probably had no/few other offers so we could right-price him.
Not like they couldn't have brought him back anytime as he has been a frequent FA over his career, he's gone from Wpg. to Edm. to Hammie to Ottawa back to Wpg. He had his best year playing beside Biggie when he racked up 6 sacks in 2018, they've fallen off to a couple a season since then.
I suspect we're going to see a lot more 3-4 this season which should please O'Shea and Mike Miller as it gives them a solid ST core to work with.