"REDBLACKS sign American defensive trio"

The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced three player signings earlier today. Oddly, enough, they weren't the players I was expecting.  

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS on Thursday announced the addition of three American defensive players to the roster, including defensive linemen Jhaustin Thomas and Trevon McSwain and defensive back Denzel Rice. 

Thomas, 28, spent the 2021 season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after kicking off his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts in 2019. In 11 regular season contests, Thomas has 14 defensive tackles and a sack, all coming with the Argos. 

HEIGHT: 6-6 | WEIGHT: 275 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1993-04-13

HOMETOWN: Atlanta, GA | SCHOOL: Trinity Valley

McSwain, 25, was revealed as a member of the REDBLACKS negotiation last December and has now officially signed with the club. In 49 career games at Duke, McSwain had 18 starts, 102 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. 

HEIGHT: 6-6 | WEIGHT: 285 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1996-11-04

HOMETOWN: Suwanee, GA | SCHOOL: Duke

 Denzel Rice by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Rice, 28, joins the REDBLACKS after spending 2021 with the Spring League's Blues. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015, Rice spent time with Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo and Baltimore, appearing in 19 total NFL games while recording 14 defensive tackles and an interception.

HEIGHT: 6-0 | WEIGHT: 187 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1993-03-31

HOMETOWN: Winston-Salem, NC | SCHOOL: Coastal Carolina

All right, so that's that. So why were these guys not the signing announcements I expected? Because they've been signed for weeks.

Rice appeared on the league website's transactions list on January 26th, McSwain on February 23rd and Thomas on February 14th. So the most recent of these signings took place on Valentine's Day.

Who did I expect to be included in the announcement? Well, Justin Hardy, finally. He signed February 28th so maybe they'll make that one official around April 3rd or so. And yesterday, two more guys appeared on cfl.ca. 

One is Randy Richards, an American offensive tackle who played his college ball at Missouri State. He turned 31 in January. Here's the info provided about him by the Elks when he signed with Edmonton last year. 

Randy Richards is a six-year CFL veteran with experience playing both the left and right tackle positions. In his career, Richards has played in 39 games between stints in Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Toronto. (He) has started in two Grey Cup games for the Calgary Stampeders (2017 and 2018), winning in 2018. Richards attended the College of the Sequoias before transferring to Missouri State from 2011-2012. The offensive lineman spent time in the NFL with both the San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the CFL in 2014.

The other player is a linebacker from Florida State, named Terrance Smith. He'll be 29 in May and I believe this is his first CFL stint. He played in 34 NFL games, mostly with Kansas City, between 2016 and 2021, contributing 24 tackles, a sack and an INT.

Maybe there's a good reason it's taken between 4-6 weeks to announce these new acquisitions and perhaps other teams take several weeks to announce new players too. I don't track other teams so I can't say either way. But I remain baffled at how roster moves seem like an afterthought for this team.