If another disappointing four-win season that led to the firing of head coach Bob Dies was the bottom, R-Nation can only hope the Ottawa Redblacks are on the rise.
That belief will be fueled by the franchise's aggressive push and the addition of former Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie comes to the nation's capital with a winning reputation and offensive history, becoming the fourth head coach and third general manager in team history.
While hiring the 45-year-old solves a number of problems, many questions continue to swirl around the franchise. Here are five things I'll be paying close attention to this offseason.
Drew Brown's boyfriend Dinwiddie?
On the surface, the question of whether quarterback Drew Brown will return as the Redblacks' starter in 2026 seems simple. He signed a contract for next season, which, according to Justin Dunk, pays $462,500 in hard money with a cap of $471,500. This is absolutely not the money a team would pay someone to hold a tablet.
Moreover, although he missed half the season due to various injuries, when healthy, Brown completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,389 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In nine starts, he had four games with over 300 yards passing. At times, when the Browns took the field, he looked like the upper echelon of CFL defense.
And one more question Not simple. First, the team will need to decide whether Brown's frequent absences can be chalked up to simply bad luck or whether he may be injury-prone. There is also an issue with Brown's tendency to drop off his back foot and seemingly miss passes into high-danger areas, resulting in turnovers. Moreover, there was a clear lack of desire on Brown's part to expand his field, as he rarely hit deep in 2025, although he may have been limited by the system he was forced to operate within.
During his time in Toronto, Dinwiddie was a master at squeezing productivity out of anyone he put in the spotlight. Hell, he won the Gray Cup with Nick Arbuckle and he looked like a mop for most of last season. With him calling games next season, Brown's future looks like this: Does Dinwiddie believe he can help the 28-year-old Brown take his game to the next level? Would he rather work with someone he's more familiar with—like someone from his time in Toronto? Or is he eyeing a free agent?
It goes without saying that if the Redblacks decide to move on from Brown, they will do so before free agency begins to maximize the return.
How will Dinwiddie staff his staff?
Tommy Condell has left as offensive coordinator and Will Fields is set to return as defensive coordinator. While some in R-Nation may not be too eager to see Fields again given how mediocre his division was in 2025, he won two Gray Cups while part of Dinwiddie's team in Toronto, so it makes sense that he would return.
What I really want to know is how many more familiar faces from Toronto will follow Dinwiddie down Highway 401 to Ottawa?
Names like Pete Costanza, Kevin Eiben and Mike Miller are potential candidates for the now-vacant Argos head coaching position, but if none of them end up getting the job, could we see one – or all three – trade their dual blues for the red and black?
Costanza is an elite attacking player with six Gray Cups to his name. In addition to his 11 years of playing experience, Eiben spent eight years with the Argos, holding positions ranging from special teams coordinator to defensive coordinator to linebackers coach. As for Miller, he has been Toronto's defensive backs coach since 2022.
An added benefit for the Redblacks is that the more Dinwiddie strengthens his roster by luring the former Argos to Ottawa, the more he will weaken his division rival.
Which unfinished FAs should be returned?
Last offseason, immediately following the team's first postseason appearance since 2018, general manager Sean Burke's theme seemed to be “running back and supporting.” Faced with 31 pending free agents, Burke quickly prioritized those he believed could still make meaningful contributions, ultimately bringing back 22 players while strengthening weak positions by adding impact players such as three-time All-CFL receiver Eugene Lewis, two-time All-CFL running back William Stanback, Canadian center Peter Godber and completely overhauling the secondary.
Unfortunately, the 2025 season turned out to be what it was. For the fifth time in six seasons, the Redblacks had four (or fewer) wins. This could mean that this offseason Faced with 36 potential free agents, Ottawa is opting for a full-scale change.
Dinwiddie is the new general manager, but will continue to work with Burke following his transition to vice president of football operations. Dinwiddie will no doubt want to make his mark on the team, and even if the start of a culture change is in the cards, there are still a number of impactful players the Redblacks should retain.
Topping the list is strong midfielder Adarius Pickett. Not only is he one of the best in the league at the position, but he is also a valuable special teams player. Despite tearing his Achilles midway through the 2024 season, the 29-year-old was ready to play at the start of the 2025 campaign and started all 18 games as Ottawa's top defensive player. Pickett finished with 84 defensive tackles (team high), 14 special teams tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, four pass knockdowns and two fumble recoveries.
Another name that should get a lot of attention is Justin Hardy. Even if he turns 34 at the start of next season, the Washington, North Carolina native shows no signs of slowing down. Not only did he score a career-high eight touchdowns last season, but he also became the first Redblacks receiver since the Budds to record three straight 1,000-yard rushers. Hardy made more catches than anyone else in Ottawa's receiving corps and had the most 100+ yard games with four and the most yards after the catch.
Quarterback Dustin Crum, running back Daniel Adeboboye, offensive lineman Jacob Ruby, defensive linemen Aidan Jonme and linebackers Lucas Cormier and Frankie Griffin are others who might be worth bringing back.
Will the crowds return?
As terrible as the results were on the field in 2025, things didn't get much better for the Redblacks franchise after that. As the season progressed and losses piled up, it became clear that R-Nation was showing its frustration by staying on the sidelines. Instead of expecting a return to the playoffs in 2024, the exact opposite happened: Attendance dropped 4.2 percent.
In fact, the Redblacks' average fan count of 18,136 fans per game was only ahead of the Argos' 15,054 fans. For an organization that, back in 2019, regularly sold out its 24,000 seats and often another 1,000 standing tickets, this was a real fall from grace.
Not only did the 2025 team record its smallest home crowd ever – just 15,054 against the Ticats in July – but only two of its nine home games broke the 20,000 mark. The 2-7 result at Lansdowne certainly didn't help, but the problem goes deeper than just losses. As the franchise's early successes of playoff victories, Gray Cup trips and championships fade from memory each year, the norm has become that the team remains in the basement every year. To make matters worse, Ottawa played boring and uninspiring football for most of these poor seasons.
Just three seasons with a record above .500 in 11 years tested R-Nation's patience, especially considering the track record stems from decades of futility from the Rough Rider and Renegade eras.
It's good that OSEG has clearly recognized that their fans need the shot in the arm that Dinwiddie's hiring is. But to truly get the franchise back to where it needs to be, there's still a lot of work to be done. Two skips on the court in 2025 were a solid initiative, and if a trip to the Great Lawn at Lansdowne becomes a permanent game-day feature – something R-Nation members like a group of Southsiders fans have been demanding for years – a new Ottawa tradition could be born. All this speaks to the design of Lansdowne 2.0, which is already underwaymay limit or even make it impossible to open the rear door in place.
Continued aggressive marketing will also help, but you can't blame those in wait-and-see mode. The talent Ottawa adds this offseason will go a long way in building hype and confidence heading into the 2026 season.
Is Dinwiddie too busy?
On one hand, adding Dinwiddie to the franchise checks a lot of boxes. On the other hand, there are only so many hours in the day, and given that he will be filling three different roles – general manager, head coach and offensive coordinator – it is fair to wonder how he will be able to effectively handle three extremely demanding jobs at the same time. On other occasions we've seen a coach try to implement a GM/HC/coordinator trifecta, but things soon get out of hand (see Chris Jones in Edmonton).
What will help is that while Burke's title is different, he will still be the ever-present and experienced voice in Dinwiddie's ears. As the duo explained in an interview TSN1200 earlier this month, Dinwiddie will have the final say on roster decisions, but that doesn't mean it won't be a collaborative process.
Another factor that could ensure Dinwiddie succeeds where Chris Jones failed is a strong coaching staff. Even if he's the one in charge on game day, if Dinwiddie has someone he trusts implicitly as his right-hand man to be the QB coach or game coordinator, he won't have to spend as much of his time directly putting together weekly game plans.
Since the restrictions on CFL operations, it has become common for front office staff to serve in multiple roles, and Dinwiddie stated that a large part of the reason he came to the Redblacks was because he wanted to build a roster that he would coach. However, three jobs for one person is an ambitious task by any standards.
