2018 Draft Choice Reportedly Signs Up For 2019!

Earlier this afternoon, 3DownNation reported that the RedBlacks signed 2018 draft pick (fourth round) Kene Onyeka.

This is good news on a couple of levels. First, Onyeka had a hell of a good season for Carleton in 2018. He attended RedBlacks training camp but chose to return to the Ravens for his final season with the team. This came as a surprise to no one as the team was already aware of Oyeka's intentions.

Originally from Brampton, Onyeka earned All-Canadian honours in 2018 after leading the Ontario conference in quarterback sacks with seven and contributing 24 tackles.

Second, like most teams, Ottawa has an insane number players set to become free agents in February 2019. Keeping the band together, as it were, might prove tricky. Stocking the shelves now can not be a bad thing.

For an illustration of this, let's review a position-by-position breakdown of who's under contract and who isn't. Guys about to become free agents are listed in red.

QUARTERBACK

Trevor Harris
Dominique Davis
Danny Collins
William Arndt


RUNNING BACK

William Powell
Mossis Madu 
Brendan Gillanders
JC Beaulieu
Greg Morris
Anthony Gosselin
Dakota Brush


RECEIVER

Greg Ellingson
Brad Sinopoli
Diontae Spencer
RJ Harris
Julian Feoli-Gudino
Dominique Rhymes
Noel Thomas II
Marco Dubois
Jacob Scarfone
Seth Coate


OFFENSIVE LINE

SirVincent Rogers
Jon Gott
Alex Mateas
Josue Matias
Evan Johnson
Jason Lauzon-Seguin
Nolan MacMillan
Mark Korte
Andrew Pickett


DEFENSIVE LINE

Avery Ellis
AC Leonard
Danny Mason
Michael Klassen
Jonathan Newsome
JR Tavai
George Uko
Michael Wakefield
Ettore Lattanzio
Andrew Marshall
Nigel Romick 
Daryl Waud
Don Oramasionwu
Blaine Woodson
Kene Onyeka


LINEBACKER

Chris Ackie
Kyries Hebert
Avery Williams
Kevin Brown II
Anthony Cioffi
Mickael Coté


DEFENSIVE BACK

Antoine Pruneau
Rico Murray
Sherrod Baltimore
Corey Tindal
Jonathan Rose
Randall Evans
Justin Howell
JP Bolduc
Andrew Lue
Dan West
Tafon Mainsah
Zed Brown
Devin Butler
Mikael Charland
Kyle White


SPECIAL TEAMS

Richie Leone
Lewis Ward
LP Bourassa


I included everyone right down to the practice squad and disabled list. Some positions aren't as depleted as some other but man...That's a lot of red!

This was all caused by the collective bargaining agreement expiring after the 2018 season. Not knowing by how much the player salary cap might increase, many players who signed contracts prior to 2018 signed only one-year deals hoping to cash in (relatively-speaking) in 2019. Add in the players who signed two-year contracts in 2017 and you are mostly left with rookies, first-year players and mid-season pickups with few options.

But every team in the league is in the same boat. And there is some good news!

Ottawa has a pretty solid record of bringing back its own people. Yes, the CBA renewal complicates this in some cases, but they have already inked Antoine Pruneau and JC Beaulieu to multi-year deals (three and two respectively, if my memory is sound).

And that's because the majority of players enjoy being a part of this organization. It would not surprise me to see Ottawa re-sign several more of its Canadian players prior to the start of free agency, particularly someone like Ettore Lattanzio who has local ties and was injured most of the year.

It will be a busy time for GM Marcel Desjardins but hopefully it makes the offseason go by quickly.

Edit: It was pointed out to me on Twitter by John Ng that the team had signed two players at the end of November that should belong on the list above. I failed to include them because they were not added to the roster on the team's website.  Then in looking for details, found a boatload more.

The transactions below are are copied from cfl.ca.

OTT ADD  INT Charles BROUSSEAU  (LB)    Sherbrooke
OTT ADD  INT Zaycoven HENDERSON (DL)    Texas A&M
OTT ADD  NAT Drew MORRIS (LB)    Acadia *
OTT ADD  NAT Tyrone PIERRE (WR)    Laval *
OTT ADD  INT Daniel TSHIAMALA (LB)    St. Francis Xavier *
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Ironhead GALLON (DB)    Georgia Southern
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Tay GLOVER-WRIGHT (DB)    Utah State
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Denzel JOHNSON (DB)    Texas Christian
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Tyler PALKA (WR)    Gannon
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Ranthony TEXADA (DB)    Texas Christian
OTT ADD FROM ACTIVEXX INT Blaine WOODSON (DL)    Delaware

Some of those guys (including Morris and Tshiamala, whose designation as an INT I question) had been brought in for a look when the practice roster was expanded at the end of the season (I believe from ten to 15) so their return does not come as a surprise.

I'll include Blaine Woodson above because he actually played a bit during the regular season though I admit I have no memory of that. He had two tackles during the game in Edmonton.