Santos-Knox

[Blue In BC]

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.

[Jesse]

Need a minimum of 12 LBs on the game day roster, lol.

[blue_gold_84]

This isn't a signing I was expecting.

I have no idea what the plan is with the LB corps this season. LOL

[Blue In BC]

This 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.

[LXTSN]

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.

[VictorRomano]

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.

[Jesse]

Hard to see Shay or Smith getting any defensive reps in year 2.

[ModAdmin]

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.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Important to have yet another linebacker.

I'm good with it if it means we're moving on from Wilson.

[peg_city]

Wow

[peg_city]

You'd think we'd want that money for WR

Maybe we're doing a 3-4?

[Pete]

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.

[theaardvark]

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.

[dd]

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.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

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.