Jonathan Jones had been officially a Winnipeg Blue Bombers for only an hour and his enthusiasm and excitement for his new football home was obvious in every syllable that came out of his mouth.
“Everything is lovely. This is the news I was waiting for and this makes it a great day,” began Jones Thursday night when reached by bluebombers.com in Toronto. “I can’t wait to get there. It’s going to be a blast.”
The Blue Bombers announced the signing of Jones to a one-year contract late in the afternoon and his addition has landed them a versatile athlete who has played both middle and weak-side linebacker over the last three years with the Toronto Argonauts. He was released on January 16th, not long after the Argos completed a trade with the Calgary Stampeders to bring Canadian linebacker Cam Judge back to Toronto.
“I saw the writing on the wall at the Grey Cup,” said Jones. “I was on IR, there was a younger guy who was playing really well (Isaac Darkangelo) and we just won the Grey Cup and I was due a lot of money so this may not be where you’re going to be next year. That was unfortunate. But this is just part of the business, and you just have to part ways.
“Cameron Judge was in Toronto for a few years, went to Calgary and they just got him back. Again, just part of the business.”
Jones appeared in 12 games last year with the Argos, six of them starts, and was on the injured reserve list in Toronto’s Grey Cup run with a hamstring injury. He flashed his best skills in 2023 when he had 49 tackles, seven sacks and an interception in 18 regular-season games.
“After 2023 I had a lot of NFL teams calling and had workouts with the (Denver) Broncos and (Pittsburgh) Steelers and at the Steelers workout I ended up tweaking my hamstring and it really did affect me for the whole season. But I muscled through the season, I still played and played to the best of my ability but an injury like that will cause some drop off.
“I would definitely say my versatility is a strength. I would say I’ve only shown a fraction of the things I can do on the football field. I can get back and play safety, I can rush off the edge… I’m a complete linebacker and I hate that I wasn’t able to show my full versatility last year due to this injury.
“Now I have this whole offseason,” he added. “I’ll tell you this: by the time May 9th comes this won’t be a question at all or even something to talk about. I’ll be ready to go.”
Jones credited his faith and his agent, former CFLer Andre Kirwan, for helping guide him to Winnipeg. Turns out if you can beat ’em — and yes, this is painful, Bomber fans — join ’em.
“Winnipeg has always been interested, and it just seemed like the right fit,” he said. “Once I got word they wanted to give me a shot, I didn’t hesitate. It just seemed right.
“It’s a storied organization, an organization that is right there at the peak. It’s just a good team that puts its players first and is led by a wonderful coaching staff. This isn’t necessarily about plugging Toronto but being around excellence for the last couple of years if you are going somewhere new you want it to be somewhere familiar and Winnipeg holds that same standard.”