February 17th, 2023: Free Agency, Day 4

The team was still adding bodies four days into FA. Much like the previous day, one was a new face, the other a familiar one.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS have signed National receiver Lemar Durant to a one-year contract, the team announced today.

Durant, 30, has suited up in seven CFL seasons, most recently with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2022. He appeared in 11 games, hauling in 12 passes for 112 yards, and a touchdown.

A native of Vancouver, BC, Durant was drafted in the second round, 18th overall, by the Calgary Stampeders in 2015. He spent four seasons in Calgary, highlighted by a Grey Cup victory in 2018, in which he earned Most Outstanding Canadian honours for the championship game. He then spent two seasons with the BC Lions, before moving on to Hamilton.

Through 85 career CFL games, Durant has caught 195 passes for 2,465 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns, to go with 67 rushing yards on nine carries.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced, today, that they have re-signed American defensive back Sherrod Baltimore through the 2023 CFL season.

Baltimore, 30, heads into his sixth CFL season, all of which have been played with the REDBLACKS. The Fort Washington, Maryland native appeared in 13 games during the 2022 campaign, tallying 22 defensive tackles, as well as eight pass knockdowns: the fifth-highest total in the league. 

A product of the Maine Black Bears program, Baltimore has become a fan favourite in Ottawa, through 60 career games. He arrived to the REDBLACKS in 2017, putting together a debut season that earned him a Most Outstanding Rookie nomination from the team, and has gone on to record 136 total tackles, two interceptions, and a forced fumble.

We need to celebrate having the fifth highest pass knockdown total in the league because Baltimore hasn't recorded an interception since the end of the 2018 season. He's played in 34 games since the start of 2019. 

I know that statistic isn't completely indicative of level of play and one can't make too much of it.  I also get that Baltimore is a community guy and well-liked.

It doesn't seem like there was much interest in him in this free agency period yet here he is again. We appear to be the only team to sign him over and over...

I can't shake the perception that some guys are retained longer than they should be because it's a popular thing to do for the locker room. GM Shawn Burke swears there'll be competition and that jobs won't be handed out. I'll believe it when a popular but unspectacular player like Baltimore is shown the bench so someone else can be given the chance to shine.

Baltimore was the 49th player from the 2022 squad to be retained, and the 20th from the 2021 edition. You probably don't need a reminder that the team has won seven games during that period and lost 25. When the team talked about having "building blocks" in place, I didn't think they meant 49 of them.