Blue Bombers sign Redha Kramdi to two-year contract extension

[ModAdmin]

Blue Bombers sign Redha Kramdi to two-year contract extension

WINNIPEG, MB., December 16, 2025 –   The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has agreed to terms on a two-year extension with veteran Canadian defensive back Redha Kramdi.

He was scheduled to become a free agent in February.

Kramdi (5-10, 189; Université de Montréal; born: December 22, 1996, in Montreal, Que.) returns in 2026 for his sixth year with the Blue Bombers and following a stellar 2025 campaign in which he finished with 47 defensive tackles, two more on special teams, a forced fumble and his first career interception against Saskatchewan in the Banjo Bowl.

He also tied a career high with eight tackles in a win over Hamilton in September, equalling a total he first set against Toronto in late July of 2024.

A versatile defender who started at both the dime spot and at safety, Kramdi started 16 games in 2025 and the Eastern Semi-Final and has now played in 72 games as a Blue Bomber while emerging as a defensive and team leader.

He was selected in the second round, 16th overall, in the 2021 CFL Draft after a solid college career with the Carabins, including his selected to the RSEQ All-Star Team in 2018 for his work on special teams.

[blue_gold_84]

Good news.

[Blue In BC]

More good news as we re-sign our top Canadian players. Also liking the fact that these all have been more than 1 year deals so far.

Now get Demski on another 2 - 3 year deal.

[Tecno]

Never any doubt.  He's a MOS fave.  Anyone have any $ numbers?

And once again, a 2 or 3 year contract.  My KW theory looks more solid every signing announcement.  Keep 'em coming!  I want every "important" player locked in 2 & 3 years.

[markf]

Great player, he makes plays everywhere on the field. I was surprised to see him back helping Holm, way downfield.
Doesn't seem to get caught out of position, not afraid to make tough tackles even though he's not big. Zero quit.

 I really like watching him play.

Now Holm please.

[Tecno]

In Brady's presser he talks up Kramdi as the brains and voice of the D.  He said he & Kramdi were close and talked a lot.

To me Kramdi is like a Sam Hurl that can actually play and is athletic.  Hurl was always touted as the QB of the D, but he simply was useless at actually playing.  With Kramdi we have a Hurl that is actually pretty darn good.

Not the best SAM out there, but certainly the best when you factor in passport and cost-reasonableness.

[Jesse]

Never any doubt.  He's a MOS fave.  Anyone have any $ numbers?

And once again, a 2 or 3 year contract.  My KW theory looks more solid every signing announcement.  Keep 'em coming!  I want every "important" player locked in 2 & 3 years.

I thought about this a little, it makes no sense to me that Walters wouldn't always be trying to sign guys to longer deals. It makes his life easier in every way. So I don't believe he's operating any differently.

But it does make sense that players/agents didn't want to sign for longer than 1 year when that's all the coach and GM were signed on for.

[Pete]

I thought about this a little, it makes no sense to me that Walters wouldn't always be trying to sign guys to longer deals. It makes his life easier in every way. So I don't believe he's operating any differently.

But it does make sense that players/agents didn't want to sign for longer than 1 year when that's all the coach and GM were signed on for.

putting on technos hat for conspiracies maybe it was for Job security..see how many players I signed every year? Who they gonna get to sign all these guys

[Jesse]

putting on technos hat for conspiracies maybe it was for Job security..see how many players I signed every year? Who they gonna get to sign all these guys

If you want to do conspiracy theory, you'd have to believe Walters intentionally put the team in a bad spot to put pressure on Wade to keep the status quo in order to deal with all these contracts.

But you'd also have to believe that Wade and/or Walters had any belief that Walters wouldn't be back. Even when MOS went through his little data collection in Toronto, Walters says he and Wade were discussing HC candidates together. Walters always knew he was staying, so why would he ever make his job more difficult?

[Tecno]

I thought about this a little, it makes no sense to me that Walters wouldn't always be trying to sign guys to longer deals. It makes his life easier in every way. So I don't believe he's operating any differently.

And yet, so far, it appears we are doing way more 3's and 2's than last FA.  No need to speculate, though: let's just wait until most of FA is done and then just count how many 2 & 3 year deals in FA26 vs FA25.  It will either be true, or not.  After that, we can figure out the "why".

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

putting on technos hat for conspiracies maybe it was for Job security..see how many players I signed every year? Who they gonna get to sign all these guys

Maybe the players are getting tired of the hassle of contract negotiations every year as well, jumping around from team to team rarely worked out well for teams or players. The CFLPA needs to work towards making the league stronger.

[Tecno]

If you want to do conspiracy theory, you'd have to believe Walters intentionally put the team in a bad spot to put pressure on Wade to keep the status quo in order to deal with all these contracts.

But you'd also have to believe that Wade and/or Walters had any belief that Walters wouldn't be back.

It doesn't have to have a negative connotation.  It could even be a subconscious thing.

Or it could be a comfort thing.  If I'm not sure I'm here next year, and I'm on the final year of the contract, I may be perfectly comfortable signing more people to 1-years.  If I'm just starting my new 3 year term, I may feel more comfortable aligning my top players with my term.

It could also be natural that if you're not sure you're coming back as a GM, you may want the guys you desire most to be available for you to snipe with your next team.  Even if your chance of changing teams is only 10%, wouldn't you want at least the option to bring over your best players should the worst occur?

It could also be KW has created a new long-term 3-year plan/vision to get to more cups and he wants to lock in the core pieces now; whereas last year he was at the end of the previous 3-year plan.

He could also have inside knowledge the cap will go up a lot every year, meaning locking in players at a set price now is advantageous.

There's a myriad of reasons.  I could probably think of even more.  Almost none are nefarious.

[Tecno]

Maybe the players are getting tired of the hassle of contract negotiations every year as well

But most players have agents -- that's what they pay them a huge cut for.  I guess there's still some stress on the players in either case.  I'm pretty sure the agent is taking his normal cut even in non-new-contract years!

The theory can easily be tested by seeing a) if Mafia is really signing for longer, and b) if it's just Mafia or if other teams are doing this.  If it's just us, then it has nothing to do with player preference.