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When Alouettes players conducted their exit meetings Sunday at Olympic Stadium, they went upstairs to the office of assistant general manager Joey Abrams — and not Jim Popp.

And this has led to speculation Popp, the only GM this franchise has known since returning to the Canadian Football League in 1996, could be on his way out.

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“It sounds ominous,” said a CFL executive. “That’s the day you start talking to guys whose contracts you’ll want to extend. It’s an important time. If the team’s in the head coach’s hands during the season, the baton is handed to the general manager immediately after the final game.

“But,” the executive quickly added, “it would be dangerous to assume he’s out.”

Popp has one year remaining on his contract as GM — a deal that could pay him in the vicinity of $500,000. That’s money owner Robert Wetenhall potentially would have to eat, and the team’s proprietor constantly has been forced to reach into his pocket the last two decades.