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“We certainly talk about the what-ifs, but we don’t worry about the what-ifs. We’re gonna plug along from a football standpoint as if it’s any other year and hope that the powers that be between the union and the league can sort things out so we can start the season and have a great football year.”

The Bombers’ scouts, coaches and co-ordinators will join Walters in Bradenton, Fla., next week for what is being called a “free-agent camp” Wednesday and Thursday at the IMG Academy. It’s similar to the mini-camp the team has hosted at Investors Group Field the last few years, but will feature only American rookies, including quarterbacks.

“We have kind of run a rookie camp before but we did sprinkle in the veteran quarterbacks and a couple of other veteran guys that we want to see how they look,” Walters said. “This camp will just be for guys that the fans really won’t be too familiar with.

“It is a free-agent camp. There will be guys that have signed contracts and there will be guys that are on our neg list and things of that nature. It’s just making sure we follow all the protocols of what the CBA dictates.”

The Bombers are planning to bring about 40 players to the camp, mostly receivers and defensive backs, and about 50% of those players are expected to be invited to main training camp in Winnipeg.

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Winnipeg’s sports landscape continues to shift and grow, with two more franchises calling the city home than in 2018.

Valour FC, a franchise the Blue Bombers operate, will begin play in May in the new Canadian Premier League of soccer, while the Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League will set up shop at the University of Manitoba in the fall while they await construction of their permanent south Winnipeg facility.