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“I hope I get redemption and can get there with this group of guys and have a better fate this time.”

Remember that phrase, “this group of guys,” because the second key factor is that free agency will again dominate the CFL off-season. It’s a fact of life for team managers and players in 21st century professional football.

While the 2016 Redblacks constitute a reasonable likeness of their immediate predecessors, next year’s band of football brothers will appear much less so.

Quarterbacks Henry Burris and Trevor Harris are under contract for 2017, as is slotback Brad Sinopoli, but a really good core could be built around others who could land elsewhere if they’re not re-signed before contracts expire in February. Start that list with receivers Ernest Jackson, Greg Ellingson and Chris Williams, left tackle SirVincent Rogers, defensive backs Abdul Kanneh and Jerrell Gavins, and add more.

“We’re in the business where you never know what tomorrow is going to bring in this game, whether it be injury or contracts or getting released or anything,” defensive tackle Moton Hopkins said Sunday.

“We all understand the importance of this. One way or another, the team is not going to be the same next year, so we definitely want to capitalize on this moment. We know we have a good thing here, a lot of good players and good guys on the team, so we definitely want to take advantage of it.”

To get to the Grey Cup game in Toronto and to give themselves that desired second title shot, the Redblacks will first have to beat either the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or the playoff crossover team from the CFL West in the East final on Nov. 20. That will require a performance much more like what they delivered at Winnipeg — solid on offence and special teams, great on defence — than what they’ve produced so far this season at home: 2-5-1 going into Friday’s rematch with the Bombers.