The CFL’s trade deadline usually comes and goes with little fanfare.
But more than an hour after the trade deadline officially passed on Wednesday, word came down the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made a deal to upgrade their quarterback position.
The Bombers acquired quarterback Zach Collaros from the Toronto Argonauts, and all they had to do to get him was move down two rounds in the 2020 CFL Draft. In return the Argos receive the Bombers’ third round draft pick, but the Bombers also get the Argos’ fifth round selection as part of the swap. If the Bombers re-sign Collaros, they’d also forfeit a first round draft pick.
The trade was made just one minute before the trade deadline and it comes after four experienced quarterbacks turned down the Bombers’ overtures.
“We’ve been looking to add a veteran quarterback and just hadn’t had much success convincing someone to come here,” general manager Kyle Walters said.
What role Collaros will have moving forward is still to be determined. In all likelihood he’ll start out as the back-up to Chris Streveler, but Walters indicated there’s always competition at every position.
“Let’s get him in the building, get him sitting with Paul (LaPolice), get him out practicing. I guess from this end of things, we have the meetings, and we talk about personnel, and we talk about potential guys that we want to bring in, or have a chance help us win – Zach’s name, as I mentioned, was brought up.”
“Now let’s turn him over to Paul and Mike (O’Shea) and the offensive guys, and let’s see how quickly he can pick things up, and where he goes from there.”
Collaros, 31, hasn’t played this year since the season opener. He suffered a concussion on June 13 after receiving a head shot from Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence, and he’s been on the injured list ever since.
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It’s the second time this season Collaros has been traded, after the Argos acquired him from the Saskatchewan Roughriders back in July. The Bombers are Collaros’ fourth CFL team. He’s also played with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Bombers’ offence has struggled since Matt Nichols was lost for the season with a shoulder injury. Streveler has just a 2-4 record in six games as their starting quarterback since taking over from Nichols. He’s thrown just two touchdown passes during their current three-game losing streak compared to five interceptions.
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Collaros is a free agent at the end of the season.
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