Bombers release star Canadian linebacker Henoc Muamba so he can pursue NFL opportunities

The CFL offseason is full of losses as well as gains for most teams, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are no exception. They acquired a new starting quarterback Thursday, bringing in and signing Drew Willy, but this week has also seen them lose linebacker Henoc Muamba, the former first-overall draft choice who was named the team's top player, top defensive player and top Canadian player in 2013. Winnipeg released Muamba Wednesday so he could try and land a spot in the NFL, and it looks like that's set to happen, with several teams showing interest in him. (Update: he signed with the Indianapolis Colts Thursday night, where he'll join another former CFL star linebacker, Jerrell Freeman.) Muamba will be a big loss for the Bombers, so it will be notable to watch and see how they try to fill the void he leaves.

The NFL's always been on the horizon for Muamba, as there was at least some south-of-the-border interest in him even before he went to the CFL thanks to his impressive CIS career at St. Francis Xavier, which saw him win the Presidents' Trophy as Canadian university football's top non-lineman defensive player in 2010. Muamba also shone at the CFL combine in 2011, shooting up from10th in pre-combine draft rankings to third in the post-combine rankings, and the athleticism he displayed there helped put him even more firmly on NFL radar screens. In fact, his initial contract talks with the Bombers stalled over the change in the league's option year rules, which had previously allowed under-contract players to try the NFL before the final year of their deal, but switched in 2010 to a pure club option with no NFL window. A deal was eventually worked out, and Muamba did very well for the Bombers for three years, but the NFL always seemed like a plausible future destination for him.

Thus, it makes sense for Winnipeg to cut Muamba and let him pursue his NFL dreams. He would have been a free agent next week anyway and like Armond Armstead who were still under contract for future seasons. It's more analogous to the Argos letting pending free agent Dontrelle Inman go to the NFL in December or Saskatchewan releasing Weston Dressler for similar reasons last week. However, it's still more generous than the Bombers had to be, and it allows Muamba extra time to explore his NFL options. That's smart from Winnipeg GM Kyle Walters; he was likely to lose Muamba in a few days anyway, so letting him go early doesn't cost the club anything and perhaps instills some gratitude that could potentially pay off if Muamba elects to return to the CFL down the road.

How will Muamba do in the NFL? Well, his success certainly isn't assured. He's been great in the CFL and was one of the league's best defensive players last year, notching 106 tackles (second to only Montreal's Chip Cox), but the CFL to NFL transition is a tough one to make, and it doesn't work out in the long run for the majority of players who try it. Muamba has a mix of size and speed that could help him, though, and he's shown promising ability as a special-teams cover guy, likely the role he'd have to start in south of the border. The odds aren't great, as NFL teams can now have up to 90 players on their offseason rosters, but just 61 (53 active, eight on the practice roster) during the season, meaning that almost a third of players on NFL offseason rosters won't have a home in the league once regular play begins. However, Muamba has enough skill that he might have a shot. He's certainly overcome the odds before; he and brother Cauchy (who played against him in the 2011 Grey Cup and was a teammate in Winnipeg this last year) were both born in what's now Zaire, came to Canada while they were young and only wound up in football thanks to Cauchy losing a basketball game to their high school's football coach, so they didn't had the most conventional path to pro football. Why should Muamba's route to the NFL be any different?

What is for sure is that Muamba will leave a substantial void with the Bombers. He proved to be one of the league's best defenders and top Canadian players last year, so his departure leaves Winnipeg not just without a great player, but also with a ratio hole to fill. It's awfully difficult to find Canadians who can play middle linebacker and play the position well, so the Bombers may have to rejig their roster dramatically to meet the import ratio requirements. That's a significant challenge ahead for Walters and head coach Mike O'Shea, and it's going to be interesting to see how they work to address it this offseason.