The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have re-signed Canadian running back Brady Oliveira for two years through the 2023 season.
He was scheduled to become a free agent on February 8. The five-foot-10, 227-pounder returns to the Bombers for a third season in 2022.
Oliveira played 13 games for Winnipeg, starting six, during the shortened 2021 regular season. He carried the football 94 times for 429 yards (4.6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns while adding nine catches for 74 yards.
The 24-year-old displayed his ability as a starting RB with two 100-yard rushing efforts, 22 carries for 126 yards in the Blue Bombers Week 1 win over Hamilton and rushed 16 times for 105 yards in a Week 11 victory against Edmonton.
A product of Oak Park High School, Oliveira was a star at the University of North Dakota, rushing 500 times for 2,822 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 22 touchdowns while adding 25 catches for 241 yards in 42 games over his four seasons with the Fighting Hawks.
He earned All Big-Sky honours in 2016 and 2017 and was a Jon Cornish Award finalist for the most outstanding Canadian player in NCAA football in 2018, his senior year.
The Winnipeg native was selected by Winnipeg in the second round, 14th overall during the 2019 CFL Draft. Oliveira had his rookie CFL season cut short in 2019 with a leg injury in the team’s home opener, limiting him to two games.
