Photo courtesy: CFL.
Brady Oliveira wants to start and end his Canadian Football League career with one team: the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“As I’m getting older and I’m going into year seven, I very much know where I want to end this thing off: it’s definitely with Winnipeg. I got a lot going on in Winnipeg, my family’s there, businesses are there, filming the TV show. Life is good for me in Winnipeg and playing for my hometown — dream come true,” Oliveira recently told 3DownNation.
“I want to retire as a Bomber — totally on the record. Signing a longer-term deal, that puts me with nine years with that team. For me to go somewhere else for maybe two more seasons, what is that going to do for me? That actually negatively affects my legacy, I would say. If I can stay with the same club, be loyal to that organization and retire a Bomber, that’s amazing. That would be a dream come true for me.”
The five-foot-nine, 229-pound running back was selected by the Blue Bombers in the second round, 14th overall during the 2019 CFL Draft. He learned how to become an elite player at his position from fellow Winnipegger Andrew Harris for three years and two seasons, then took over the starting job in 2022.
Since then, the Oak Park High School graduate has posted four-straight 1,000-yard rushing campaigns, earned two Most Outstanding Canadian awards, and one Most Outstanding Player nod.
“I’ve definitely chatted to my people, my family, my girlfriend, my loved ones about what this will look like moving forward. I’m going to play out this three-year contract, that’ll take me to 31-years-old. A goal of mine has always been to play 10 seasons. Every football player has that in mind, play a decade as a pro — it’s a very hard feat to accomplish. That’s definitely what I have in mind,” Oliveira said.
“It’s going to be about, how’s my body feel? If I still feel good, do I still love the game? If I still love the game, I still have that passion and I still enjoy the process that comes with it — everyone wants to play on game day — but what about getting up early in the morning? Doing your speed workouts, going to the gym, all the offseason routine that comes with being a good pro. Do I still want to do that? If so, I would like to sign back with Winnipeg. If it’s not with Winnipeg, I don’t need to go anywhere else.”
Oliveira will earn $290,000 in 2026, then $300,000 in 2027 and 2028, with $140,000 guaranteed in the final year of the contract. The 28-year-old local star was already the CFL’s highest-paid running back, earning $240,000 in 2025. The Bombers gave him a pay raise for his durability, productivity, and ratio-breaking capability on the field. That prevented him from entering the three-down league’s negotiation window.
“When I was going through negotiations and conversations I had with my agent, it wasn’t necessarily going after all the money. If I wanted that, I would have tested the market. From my past experiences from other negotiations two years prior, I got massive offers. I could have pushed that if the money was the end-all, be-all — it wasn’t for me,” Oliveira explained.
“One of the most important things in negotiations was show me the respect by a respectful offer and show me that loyalty by giving me guaranteed money. They didn’t flinch. When they did that, it was the best negotiations that I’ve ever been a part of. The last one I went through, I definitely saw the business side and it sucks, but it’s the reality of the industry that we’re in. This time around, it was so seamless, so easy.”
Through the last four seasons, when Oliveira has been the Blue Bombers’ starting running back, he’s played in 68 out of a possible 72 regular-season games and all seven playoff games the team has been in, including three Grey Cups. No. 20 has averaged 225.5 carries, 1,262.8 rushing yards, 44.8 receptions, 439 receiving yards — 1,701.8 yards from scrimmage — and 6.3 touchdowns per year since becoming the lead back in 2022.
“I’ve shown how consistent I’ve been week in, week out, year-after-year. I wanted to be compensated properly and to show their respect. Like, ‘Hey, we appreciate what you do for this organization, not just on the field, but off the field as well in the community.’ Very thankful that they came to me with a very respectful offer, it showed how much they appreciate what I do for the organization,” Oliveira said.
“When we were able to get a deal done quickly, I knew that I didn’t need to go and engage in the market out there because I was very much happy and pleased with what they offered me. … Could I go get a little bit more? No one will ever know now, but I was happy with what the team offered me. This is where I wanted to be.”
In a salary cap era where players change teams with regularity, Oliveira could be a rare professional athlete who stays with one franchise for his entire career — and it’s his hometown team to boot.
