Blue Bombers extend contract of Canadian linebacker Jesse Briggs

[ModAdmin]

Blue Bombers extend contract of Canadian linebacker Jesse Briggs

WINNIPEG, MB., January 16, 2022 - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has agreed to terms on a one-year contract extension with Canadian linebacker Jesse Briggs who was scheduled to become a free agent next month.

Briggs (6-1, 207; McGill University; born: April 14, 1990, in Kelowna, BC) returns to the Blue Bombers for a seventh season with the club in 2022.

A second-round selection by the Blue Bombers in the 2014 CFL Draft, Briggs has suited up for 104 regular season games with Winnipeg, ranking him behind only Jake Thomas (150) as the longest-serving member in terms of games played with the team.

His 2021 season was his best statistically. Working in a defensive rotation at linebacker, he finished with 24 tackles and five more on special teams while adding a forced fumble and an 83-yard fumble-return touchdown in a game in Toronto on August 21st. That was the first TD in Briggs' professional career.

Briggs has made 62 special teams tackles in his 104 games with the Blue Bombers. In 2013, his final year at McGill, Briggs won the Friends of McGill Football Trophy as the team?s most outstanding defensive player

[the paw]

Good for him.  He was very steady for us in the early going this year.  I like to see the team show loyalty to long time veterans.

[Blue In BC]

After losing Kongbo we need players like Briggs which can rotate on defence when needed. He's a better than average Canadian back up player and plays well when needed.

[pjrocksmb]

Some folks thought we might move on but I knew we would bring him back.  Killer depth guy.

[Pigskin]

 Nice to have JB34 returning for his 7th season with the Bombers.

[Blue In BC]

Some folks thought we might move on but I knew we would bring him back.  Killer depth guy.

CFL rosters change every season for a multitude of reasons: Age, SMS, performance, players desire to move elsewhere. Every team will lose good players during the off season.

After 2019 we lost Canadian players: Peterman, Spooner, Exume, D. Jones, Hecht, Calver, Lalama, Miles and Rempel to name a few. Some were very good players, MIles and Rempel in particular.

To think we won't lose other good players is not realistic. Status quo is not always a good thing or possible.

Who we draft and at what position remains to be seen. Who we lose or gain in free agency remains to be seen. The more we do lose, the more we'll want to retain those veteran players.

[TecnoGenius]

Getting older, but 2021 might have been his best year yet?  Many downs at LB, and didn't he start a couple?  He does his job well, and you often don't notice he's subbing in.  Good on ST.  Seems to have a high football IQ, which is probably why The Mafia is keeping him on so long even with the younger guys around.

I think I recall him screwing up badly at LB maybe only once or twice in '21.  That's pretty darn good for "just a NAT LBer".  I was sad to see Miles go (and no one pick him up), but Briggs was probably the better choice with a few extra years left.

[Blue In BC]

Getting older, but 2021 might have been his best year yet?  Many downs at LB, and didn't he start a couple?  He does his job well, and you often don't notice he's subbing in.  Good on ST.  Seems to have a high football IQ, which is probably why The Mafia is keeping him on so long even with the younger guys around.

I think I recall him screwing up badly at LB maybe only once or twice in '21.  That's pretty darn good for "just a NAT LBer".  I was sad to see Miles go (and no one pick him up), but Briggs was probably the better choice with a few extra years left.

Yes he had to start at WIL while Wilson was on the IR to start the season. Did fairly well and at the moment he's the next best player to be a rotation / depth Canadian on defence. He does have a high football IQ and never seems to take a play off mentally.