How realistic are Canadian RB Brady Oliveira’s NFL aspirations?

Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Running back is one of the rarest positions at which CFL players garner NFL opportunities. Receivers, offensive tackles, and defensive backs get signed south of the border virtually every off-season but ball-carriers are often overlooked.

Brady Oliveira is hoping to take a shot at the NFL this off-season following a standout campaign during which he rushed for 1,534 yards and nine touchdowns and caught 38 passes for 482 yards and four scores. The Winnipeg native was named a CFL all-star, the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian, and became just the fifteenth player in league history to record 2,000 yards from scrimmage in a single season.

According to 3DownNation’s records, only five running backs in the recent history of the CFL have gone on to sign NFL contracts: Kory Sheets, William Stanback, Jerome Messam, Lache Seastrunk, and James Butler. Assessing the way in which these signings came about could shed some light on Oliveira’s chances of getting inked.

Sheets spent three seasons in the NFL prior to signing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2012, dressing for two games with the Miami Dolphins. He ran for 2,875 yards and 23 touchdowns over two seasons in Riderville and was named the Grey Cup’s MVP in 2013 after rushing for 197 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-23 win over Hamilton.

The native of Manchester, Conn. was signed by the Oakland Raiders in 2014 on a deal that reportedly included $30,000 in guaranteed money. He attended training camp at the age of 29 but suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the preseason, which turned out to be career-ending as Sheets never signed another contract after being waived by the Raiders.

Stanback signed with the Montreal Alouettes in 2018 after participating in training camp with the Green Bay Packers the previous year as an undrafted free agent. He ran for 1,587 yards and five touchdowns over two seasons with the team before he was signed by the Raiders in 2020 at the age of 26.

The two-time CFL all-star reportedly received a $100,000 signing bonus to join the team, though he missed the first part of training camp due to the death of his parents. He was released by the Raiders at the end of training camp and rejoined the Alouettes in 2021 and has since rushed for 2,129 yards and six touchdowns, recently winning a Grey Cup with the team at Tim Hortons Field.

Messam had a breakout season with Edmonton in 2011, rushing for 1,057 yards and six touchdowns to be named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian. The Brampton, Ont. native signed with the Miami Dolphins and appeared in two preseason games before being released and returning to the CFL. He turned 27 shortly after signing with the Dolphins.

Seastrunk was an odd case as he never played a down in the CFL. The former college star spent time with four different teams after being selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft before signing with the Calgary Stampeders in 2016. He spent one month in Calgary and had a brief stint on the practice roster with the Saskatchewan Roughriders before the New York Jets signed him to compete in training camp.

The Baylor product clearly didn’t garner a shot in the NFL due to what he achieved north of the border as he never recorded an official statistic, nor did he in the NFL despite being a member of five different teams. Seastrunk returned to the CFL in 2017 as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but was released near the end of training camp.

Butler also never played a snap in the CFL prior to getting his NFL shot, though he’s since become a household name in Canada. The five-foot-nine, 210-pound ball-carrier signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and spent the year on their practice roster. He was waived the following season and joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders shortly thereafter.

The Chicago native was cut at the end of training camp in Saskatchewan and signed back with Oakland the following month, spending the rest of the year on their practice roster. He played in the XFL in 2020 before returning to the CFL in 2021 and has since rushed for 2,673 yards and 16 touchdowns as a member of the B.C. Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Unlike most of the players listed above, Oliveira never signed an NFL contract prior to playing in the CFL. He reported to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers straight out of the University of North Dakota after being selected in the second round of the 2019 CFL Draft.

Based on the history of Sheets and Stanback, Oliveira’s age shouldn’t be a big problem for the NFL. He turned 26 in August and has relatively low mileage. He missed almost his entire rookie season due to an ankle injury, the CFL didn’t play at all in 2020, and Oliveira started only six games during a truncated season in 2021. For all intents and purposes, he’s played essentially two full seasons of professional football.

Oliveira put up strong testing numbers coming out of college but has clearly improved his explosiveness at the professional level. He’s not merely a ball-carrier, either, as he excels in pass protection and gets rave reviews from Zach Collaros as a receiver out of the backfield.

Several sources around the league have privately expressed skepticism that Oliveira will be offered an NFL contract this off-season, which seems fair. He plays a position at which few players have been given opportunities and the value of running backs has arguably never been lower in the NFL.

However, given the admittedly limited recent historical sample size, it doesn’t seem impossible to think Oliveira will get an NFL shot this winter. And, if past trends hold true, it will apparently be with the Raiders.

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