Maybe it was a playful threat by teammate and Bromance pal Brad Sinopoli.

Maybe it was the love affair with a city where football fever was further ignited by a Grey Cup victory 21/2 months ago.

Maybe it was the new two-year contract worth a reported $210,000 per season.

For Greg Ellingson, when it came time to figure out his future, it was probably a bit of each. He’s thrilled he’s still an Ottawa Redblack, signing on Friday and bypassing the chance to become a free agent on Tuesday.

“I had guys chatting me up in the background,” said the 28-year-old Ellingson. “I’ve talked to Brad almost every other day since the Grey Cup. He was saying to me, ‘You can’t be a Bud if you don’t come back, I can’t be your Bud anymore.’ Well, the Buds are back in town. (Quarterback) Trevor (Harris), every couple of days, he was, ‘Hey, you coming back, you coming back? I need you.’ We’re a tight-knit group in the locker room. That had a lot to do with it, the camaraderie you build.

“Ottawa is definitely where I want to be. Deep down in my heart, I knew I wanted to go back. I’ve grown to love the city, all the guys in the locker room, the coaching staff ... it just feels right to be there.

“If I wanted to really test it out, I could have gone to free agency. But even if another team offered me a bit more money than Ottawa, I think I would have come back. Loyalty is hard to have in football, but I have a strong emotional tie to Ottawa after being there two years — being at two Grey Cups and winning one of them. It’s a bit more than money that’s on the table. I’m happy to be there for another two years ... and then hopefully more.”

With the potential loss of two other key receivers — Chris Williams and Ernest Jackson — it was important for the Redblacks to bring back one of their 1,000-yard pass catchers.

“He can go deep, he makes the tough catches over the middle — he’s kind of a mix of all the other guys,” said Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins. “He brings a bit of everything to the table. It’s just a piece that really was important to get done for the offence to continue to flow the way it has been.”

Ellingson signed with the Redblacks before the 2015 season after playing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for two years. It was a big leap of faith, with the Redblacks coming off a 2-16 season. But it paid off big time for him and for the team. In 2015, he had 69 catches for 1,061 yards in the regular season, then caught a now-legendary 93-yard game-winning touchdown pass in the East Final to send the Redblacks to their first Grey Cup.

In 2016, Ellingson finished with 1,260 yards on 76 catches, helping get the Redblacks to another Grey Cup game, this time a 39-33 overtime win over Calgary.

“Two years ago, I was putting my faith in Ottawa,” Ellingson said. “(Quarterback) Henry (Burris) was texting me, ‘You’ll love it here, it would be good to hook back up.’ Ottawa was going out on a limb, hoping I could make plays for them and help build success. I was hoping the coaches would believe in me and give me an opportunity. It turned out well. We’ve come to be one of the powers in the East. We want to keep it that way. We want to be a contender ... and get to the Grey Cup game in Ottawa this year.”

Ellingson had NFL tryouts with Chicago, Philadelphia and Jacksonville before deciding to come back.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I performed well at all of them, did everything I could. But sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.”

Like Ottawa has taken a liking to Ellingson, he’s quite taken with the nation’s capital.

“It’s a good place to be, it’s a good place to play football,” Ellingson said. “It’s a positive atmosphere, outside of the football, too. One of the moments where I could see that, where it dawned on me, was after we won the Grey Cup, at the parade. People were grabbing my hand, holding it for long periods of time, almost so it was uncomfortable. But I could see how passionate they were. Seeing people excited about football, seeing that buzz ... I don’t think every CFL city has that.”