Winnipeg Blue Bombers Re-Sign Two, Including Starting Center
Two offensive players are returning to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on contract extensions, with back running back Johnny Augustine and starting center Chris Kolankowski back for at least 2024.
Winnipeg’s big re-signing was locking up Kolankowski for the next two years. He’s held the starting center position since 2022, taking over the job early that season. Last season, Kolankowski started all 18 games.
Before Winnipeg, the Toronto Argonauts selected Kolankowski in the sixth round of the 2016 CFL Draft. He played in just 22 games before joining the Bombers in 2020. For Kolankowski, it’s about the culture that Winnipeg has created during his time there.
“We know what it takes,” Kolankowski said in a statement Monday. “We’re not trying to build a culture that understands it, we’re trying to maintain the culture and the standard that’s set and inch a little higher every week, every year.”
Augustine is back for his sixth season with Winnipeg after playing in every game in the past three years. Last season, he finished with 267 rushing yards on 45 carries, adding eight special teams tackles. He has played 75 total games in Winnipeg. Augustine was not taken in the 2017 CFL Draft.
The offensive line has been a focus of late as the Bombers brought back Stanley Bryant two weeks ago on a contract extension. Winnipeg also added seven Americans to the roster last week, including four wide receivers.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers Extend OL Stanley Bryant
You can follow Anthony Miller on X @ByAnthonyMiller.
Catch up with CFL on FanNation on Facebook and X.
Anthony Miller has been covering professional spring football since 2019 including XFL, USFL, and CFL. He was a local news reporter in Texas before transitioning to sports. Other sites he writes for includes College Football Network and NTZ Network.