The first significant trade of the Canadian Football League season took place Tuesday afternoon when the Ottawa Redblacks dealt disgruntled former starting quarterback Dru Brown back to his former team in Winnipeg.
Ottawa will receive Winnipeg’s first-round pick in 2027 and its second-round pick in 2028, which could be upgraded to a first-round pick depending on how much Brown plays in 2027. Winnipeg also gets back its second-round pick in 2027, which it had traded to Ottawa on draft day in April.
The Redblacks then moved quickly to shore up their quarterback depth, adding veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a free agent who hasn’t been active since finishing up last season as a backup in Montreal.
This was one of those trades that solved problems for both teams and may have – at least from each team’s perspective – improved their quarterback rooms at the same time.
Discussions between Winnipeg and Ottawa about a potential Brown trade had been ongoing since midway through training camp after Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie anointed Jake Maier the team’s starter, relegating Brown to a backup role.
Brown wasn’t just sour on the demotion, he wanted out – first asking for his release and then to be traded back to Winnipeg. He had arrived at camp believing he would be Ottawa’s No. 1 quarterback this season and was surprised to learn the job was up for grabs, with Maier being anointed the starter before Brown had played a snap in the preseason.
Once Brown asked out and wasn’t willing to hide his displeasure, he was never going to be Ottawa’s starting quarterback again. From that point forward, his time in Ottawa was on the clock.
Brown, who was a reliable backup to Zach Collaros in Winnipeg from 2021 to 2023, signed with Ottawa before the 2024 season and was handed the No. 1 job, with the hope that he’d become the franchise quarterback the Redblacks had been seeking since Trevor Harris left after the 2018 season.
Both of Brown’s seasons in Ottawa were interrupted by injury, but it was hard to see improvement over his time with the Redblacks. And it was widely known around the CFL that he was never as happy in the nation’s capital as he’d been in Winnipeg.
That hit a new extreme after Dinwiddie’s decision on his starting quarterback, putting poison in the well between Brown and the Redblacks for good. When the Redblacks learned Bethel-Thompson was willing to come play for a coach with whom he’d had his greatest success, Brown became expendable.
That was a delight to Winnipeg, which now will have its offence in experienced hands should something happen to Collaros.
Brown’s arrival will bump 24-year-old former Wilfrid Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma down to the No. 3 role for the Bombers the rest of this season. That shouldn’t be viewed as a demotion, but rather a recognition by the team that the 24-year-old rookie wasn’t experienced enough to lead the offence and that asking him to do so, so early in his career, might interfere with his development.
In adding Brown, the Blue Bombers have a quarterback who will be comfortable in the No. 2 role behind Collaros and is familiar to head coach Mike O’Shea, general manager Kyle Walters and many of the coaches on staff.
Simply put, the Bombers feel better about their prospects of keeping their heads above water should anything happen to Collaros this season today than they did a week ago.
The Redblacks feel they’ve improved their quarterback room as well, especially given the irreparable relationship between the team and Brown. Dinwiddie never seemed to connect with Brown, and that was evident to the point that he decided to go with Maier before Brown had even played a snap of pre-season.
Dinwiddie also gets an experienced quarterback in Bethel-Thompson who knows his offence and has the ability to push the ball down the field. He also can bring a veteran leadership presence to a group of players still learning to win.
But the Redblacks aren’t looking to replace Maier. They just needed to find some depth to replace Brown, who no longer had any value to them and who ultimately got his wish.
