Winnipeg Blue Bombers sign all-star receiver Adarius Bowman

One of the CFL's most highly sought-after free agents has landed in Winnipeg.

The Blue Bombers have signed all-star receiver Adarius Bowman to a one-year contract, bringing him back to where he played during his early years in the league.

It also reunites him with quarterback Matt Nichols, who played with Bowman in Edmonton.

Bowman, 32, was one of the key reasons the Bombers' promising 2017 season ended without a sniff at the Grey Cup. He caught two touchdown passes during the CFL West Division semifinal in November to help the Eskimos sink the Bombers 39-32. 

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound speedster from Tennessee has spent the past seven seasons in Edmonton, consistently being one of the league's most dangerous receivers. He recorded more than 1,000 yards receiving in four of those seven seasons, including leading the CFL in yardage (1,761) and receptions (120) in 2016.

"Adarius will certainly add another level of playmaking ability to our offence," said Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. "He has grown tremendously both on and off the field over his years in the CFL."

Bowman is a three-time CFL all-star and three-time division all-star, and was honoured with the 2017 Tom Pate Memorial Award, given to a player who has made a "significant contribution to his team, his community and association."

Once regarded as a potential first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Bowman's stock dropped after he suffered an injury.

After going undrafted by an NFL team, Bowman joined the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders in May 2008. He played one season for the green and white before being traded to the Bombers for the 2009 season.

After a season and a half in which he was plagued with butterfingers, dropping many passes, Bowman was demoted from the Bombers' starting lineup and finally released in October 2010.

He went on to sign with Edmonton the next season and had a breakout year, getting named an all-star for the first time. He followed that up with two more big years and two more all-star nods.

Those performances helped him become the highest paid receiver in the league in 2017. But he missed a third of the season after suffering a hamstring injury after the third game of the year.

Bowman was released by the Eskimos earlier this month.

Bowman has played in 124 career regular season games, hauling in 653 receptions, 9,024 yards and 48 touchdowns. He has also recorded 40 receptions for 622 yards and six touchdowns in post-season play, while also registering four receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown in a Grey Cup victory in 2015.

He is one of only 10 CFL players to ever record at least three 200-plus-yard receiving games.