Done Deal: Arbuckle is a Redblack

So this was a bit of a relief. The REDBLACKS announced yesterday that quarterback Nick Arbuckle, whose rights were obtained earlier this month from Calgary for a third round draft choice, had signed a two-year contract with the team. As a result of the signing, Calgary and Ottawa now also swap first-round picks in 2020, giving Calgary the first-overall selection while Ottawa drops to 6th.

Here are his CFL careers numbers.

Some quote which are either lifted from Tim Baines' Sun/Citizen article about the signing or from the team's press release.

GM Marcel Desjardins: “We’ve been going back and forth for a while, being patient with the process. It came to fruition early (Friday). We just had to wait for the paperwork to come back. This is the first step of many as it relates to getting what we expect out of this team on the field.”

“You never know how it’ll work out. Sometimes you have to roll the dice a bit and that’s what we did. We didn’t have any inside knowledge as to how this would play out. But we had confidence in what we, as an organization, could provide from ownership on down — also what our facilities are like and what living in Ottawa is all about for a young man and his wife who are going to have a baby.”

“It starts with what he’s done on the field, when he got a chance to play, going back to two years ago when he came in and beat us here in Ottawa. He did a lot of good things in the games he played for Calgary last year. When we got him here to Ottawa, when he accepted the opportunity to visit with us and visit the city, he showed he was a first-class individual."

HC Paul Lapolice: “We were really impressed with Nick when we met with him and felt that, with what we’ve seen on tape, he’s someone who could put us in a position to be successful. Nick brings the ability to lead a team to wins, with his intelligence, with his leadership, his ability to throw the ball and how he can process information on the football field. We’re excited to have him.”