WINNIPEG, MB – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have locked in one of the CFL’s rising defensive stars, signing linebacker Johnny Hodges to a multi-year contract extension, the club announced Friday afternoon. Sources close to the negotiations confirmed the deal is a three-year agreement that will keep the 26-year-old American in Blue and Gold through the 2028 season, with an option for 2029.
Hodges, who exploded onto the scene in 2024 after arriving from the University of Cincinnati via the NFL’s supplemental draft pathway, immediately established himself as one of the league’s most disruptive middle linebackers. In his debut CFL campaign, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound defender led the Bombers with 112 total tackles, forced four fumbles, recorded three sacks, two interceptions, and broke up nine passes. His sideline-to-sideline speed and instinctive playmaking were instrumental in Winnipeg’s return to the West Division final and earned him both East Division and CFL All-Star honours in his very first season north of the border.
“This is where I wanted to be,” Hodges said in a statement released by the club. “Winnipeg believed in me when a lot of places didn’t give me a second look. The fans, the organization, my teammates; this feels like home now. I’m excited to keep building something special here.”
Bombers general manager Kyle Walters called the signing a “top priority” for the off-season.
“Johnny is exactly the type of player you build a defence around,” Walters told reporters at IG Field. “His work ethic, his football IQ, and his physicality at the linebacker position are rare. When you combine that with the fact that he’s still only 26 and getting better every week, it was critical for us to get this done early. We’re thrilled he’s committed to Winnipeg long-term.”
The contract is believed to make Hodges one of the highest-paid non-quarterback Canadians or Americans in the league, though exact financial terms were not disclosed due to the CFL’s policy on individual contract details. Industry sources estimate the deal is worth in the range of $275,000–$300,000 per season, a significant increase from the rookie minimum he played under in 2024.
Hodges’ journey to Winnipeg was anything but conventional. After a standout college career at Cincinnati that saw him finish with 287 tackles, 11 sacks, and six forced fumbles, he went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft. Brief stints on the practice rosters of the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders followed, but he never appeared in a regular-season game. When the Bombers selected him in the second round of the 2024 CFL Supplemental Draft — forfeiting a 2025 second-round pick in the process — many viewed it as a low-risk flier on an athletic but raw prospect.
That gamble paid immediate dividends.
“People forget he was playing behind NFL-calibre talent in college and then sat on practice squads for a year,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “He came here hungry, studied the game like a veteran, and physically dominated from Day 1. You don’t see many first-year linebackers handle the mental side of our defence the way he did.”
Hodges’ impact went beyond the stat sheet. His forced fumble against Saskatchewan in Week 18 shifted momentum in a pivotal West Division clash, and his 16-tackle, one-interception performance in the Western Semi-Final helped the Bombers upset the heavily favoured B.C. Lions on the road. Though Winnipeg ultimately fell to the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts in the division final, Hodges’ emergence gave the organization confidence that their defensive core — anchored by veterans Willie Jefferson, Adam Bighill (when healthy), and now Hodges — remains among the league’s elite.
The signing also sends a strong message to the rest of the CFL: Winnipeg is not entering a rebuild.
With quarterback Zach Collaros under contract through 2026, star receiver Dalton Schoen recently extended, and now Hodges secured in the middle of the defence, the Bombers have quietly assembled one of the strongest nucleus groups in the league despite operating under the constraints of the salary cap.
“Continuity matters,” Walters emphasized. “We’ve seen what happens when you let your best players walk. Johnny is a cornerstone. Keeping him in Winnipeg was non-negotiable.”
For Hodges, the decision to stay was simple. After spending his first professional season in a football-crazy city that embraced him from the moment he stepped off the plane, he never seriously entertained testing free agency.
“Banjo Bowl, the cold, the fans screaming at the top of their lungs — I’ve never played in an atmosphere like this,” he said. “I’m a Bomber for life now.”
The Bombers will officially introduce Hodges at a press conference next Tuesday at IG Field, where he is expected to don the new contract alongside a fresh No. 44 jersey — the same number he wore while terrorizing opposing offences throughout his breakout 2024 campaign.
As the CFL off-season heats up and free agency looms in February, Winnipeg has fired the first major shot, ensuring their defensive heartbeat will be pounding in Blue and Gold for years to come.