2023, July 4th: Redblacks Acquire National LB Kevin Francis From Elks

The Ottawa REDBLACKS have acquired National linebacker Kevin Francis from the Edmonton Elks, today, in exchange for Ottawa’s fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft.

The full trade breakdown is as follows.

TO OTTAWA

National LB Kevin Francis

TO EDMONTON

2024 Fourth-round draft pick

Francis, 30, is in the midst of his eighth CFL season, having also spent a pair of stints each with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, REDBLACKS, and BC Lions, respectively. The Toronto native spent the 2022 campaign with the Lions, appearing in all 18 games, and recording a league-leading 22 special teams tackles.

He signed with the Elks on February 14, 2023.

He sure did. Then a month later asked for a trade or his release. Evidently he felt the terms of his contract were not being honoured by Edmonton to his satisfaction and understanding.

There is an additional detail to this deal that is not being reported by the REDBLACKS, though Edmonton included it in their own announcement.

The trade is for Ottawa's highest pick in the fourth round, not simply Ottawa's own pick. Ottawa looked to receive a conditional fourth-round draft choice from BC in a trade made last year for Terry Williams.  If BC were to pick higher in the round than Ottawa, Edmonton gets BC's selection in the round, not Ottawa's.

The photo of Francis above was copied from a 3DownNation article which credited Scott Grant for the work. 

Sept 4th, 2022: REDBLACKS acquire draft picks from Lions for WR/KR Terry Williams

Catching up a bit after a few days at the cottage. 

This one's too bad. The young man was one of very few productive players as the team floundered through the first half of the season.  I hate to see him leave for an unknown like a third round pick but it's probably better for his career. I just find it hard to believe there was no way to squeeze him onto the game day roster even with Devonte Dedmon having returned. Ah well.

The photo below was lifted from Williams' Instagram account. The post did not include photo credit. 

The Ottawa REDBLACKS completed a trade, Sunday, sending American receiver/kick returner Terry Williams to the BC Lions. In return, Ottawa receives a third-round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft, and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024.

A native of Greenwood, Mississippi, Williams signed with the REDBLACKS in 2021, and has since gone on to appear in 11 games across two seasons. The 26 year-old has posted 1,479 combined punt and kick return yards, as well as 71 receiving yards, and 26 rushing yards on offence.

"REDBLACKS acquire QB Nick Arbuckle from Elks"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have traded their fourth-round selection in the 2023 CFL Draft to the Edmonton Elks, in exchange for quarterback Nick Arbuckle, the team announced today. 

“We’re pleased to be able to add Nick to our locker room at this point of the season,” said REDBLACKS General Manager Shawn Burke. “He’s an experienced player in our league and we look forward to having him on our side as a member of the RNation family.”

Arbuckle, 28, is a veteran of four CFL seasons, having signed with the Calgary Stampeders in 2017, and winning a Grey Cup with the team the following season. He briefly joined the REDBLACKS in 2020 via trade, but with the season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbuckle moved on to the Toronto Argonauts, and was traded to the Elks in 2021.

All told, the Oxnard, California native has appeared in 48 CFL games, completing 361 passes for 4,297 yards, and 19 touchdowns. 

HEIGHT: 6-1 | WEIGHT: 213 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1993-10-04

HOMETOWN: Oxnard, CA | SCHOOL: Georgia State

"REDBLACKS acquire linebacker Nelson from Hamilton"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS completed a trade, today, acquiring American linebacker Patrick Nelson from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in exchange for a player from the team's negotiation list. 

Nelson, 24, arrived in Hamilton by way of Southern Methodist University, where he recorded 146 tackles, 23.5 for a loss, 14 sacks, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles through 22 games. Prior to that, the Chicago, IL native appearing in 20 games with the University of Illinois, notching 140 tackles, five for a loss, 0.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. 

HEIGHT: 6-0 | WEIGHT: 215 lbs | BIRTHDAY: 1996-10-23

HOMETOWN: Chicago, IL | SCHOOL: SMU

"REDBLACKS acquire rights to Nick Arbuckle in deal with Stampeders"

This is an interesting move. You rarely see a team acquire a player a few weeks before he hits free agency.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS have acquired quarterback Nick Arbuckle from the Calgary Stampeders in exchange for Ottawa’s third-round pick in this year’s CFL Draft.  

The Stampeders will also receive a conditional draft selection if Arbuckle, a pending free agent, signs with Ottawa.  

The 26-year old Arbuckle impressed in his second year in the CFL in 2019 after taking over for an injured Bo Levi Mitchell. The Georgia State product finished the season having completed 191 passes for 2,247 yards and 12 touchdowns.

So now it's just a matter of signing him. It's kind of an important step but it shouldn't surprise anyone if there was some sort of framework in place on a deal already. Calgary was well aware that Arbuckle intended to seek a starting role somewhere so they'd have no objection to Ottawa talking to him (and his agent) in order to get something for a player they were near-certain to lose anyway.

I do question the necessity of the move a little bit. To achieve his goal of being a regular starter in 2020, Arbuckle did not have many options besides Ottawa. Only Toronto and perhaps Winnipeg might be looking for such a player. Every other team pretty much has its starter firmly in place.

So Ottawa essentially gives up a 3rd round pick to get a head start on Toronto in negotiations with Arbuckle. Arbuckle's former QB coach in Calgary is now the head coach in Toronto so maybe that isn't a bad idea.

What kind of production has that pick produced in the past? Let's check that out.

FB Gabe Polan
OL Andrew Pickett
DE Eli Ankou
DT Mehdi Abdesmad
DE Nigel Romick

Wow. Romick is the only one to provide any sort of production on that list. Pickett and Polan still could, mind you.

Ankou and Abdesmad were gambles based on interest they received from the NFL. So burning this third round pick on a free-agent-to-be is just a different kind of gamble, at worst.

Early reaction to the move seems good. After a year that was difficult from beginning to end, that alone is value for the pick.

Jake Ceresna traded for draft pick / negotiation list player

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS were involved in pair of trades on Friday. In their first transaction, they dealt defensive lineman Jake Ceresna to Edmonton in exchange for defensive lineman Odell Willis. 

Ottawa followed that up by dealing Willis to the BC Lions in exchange for a fourth round pick in 2018 and a player off the Lions' negotiation list.

Much is being made of this but I find it a little overblown.

Defensive tackle is a tough position to evaluate because it's not easily defined by its statistics. It's difficult to ascertain whether Ceresna had an impact in eating up blockers and freeing up other players, for example. There's just no statistic for that.

It's hard to believe he did, however because Ottawa tried several players at the defensive end position and no one was particularly successful. His own stats were nothing out of the ordinary; 18 tackles and two sacks in 14 games.

Derek Taylor is an excellent stats analyst and he provided the following assessment.

Those are the numbers that aren't widely reported. it's hard to get a solid stat for pass knockdowns and pressures. In Ceresna's case, they're good, but I'm not sure they're irreplaceable.

Perspective reminder: Jake Ceresna was picked up in May of 2017. At the time, we were wondering who would replace Cleyon Laing after a strong playoff performance through to Grey Cup 104. Ceresna was a complete nobody at opening kickoff of the 2017 season.

So while on the surface losing a young player for a fourth round-pick may not seem to make sense, I think the front office believes he is a commodity that can be replaced relatively easily whereas quality Canadian players (acquired through the draft, mostly) are more valuable players. They may also believe his replacement is already on the roster, like Ceresna was last year.

I want to revisit this after the draft to get a better picture of what trading Ceresna led to. Putting a face to the draft choice will help up evaluate this trade far better.

REDBLACKS acquire J.C. Beaulieu from Alouettes

It may not appear like it, but this blog still has a pulse.  There have not been any posts since I added the article about the formation of the (eventual) Ottawa Rough Riders last July but several pages that used to exist on my Capital Region Football website have been restored recently.

I do want to include local football news as well going forward and the trade of Patrick Lavoie seemed like a good place to start. The Redblacks hardly need my help in spreading word of their activities so I'll typically be more focused on the amateur scene in that respect, and history of football in the region in general, but this move was noteworthy.

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS have acquired fullback J.C. Beaulieu from the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for fullback Pat Lavoie, the club announced Tuesday. 

"Pat has been an integral part of the REDBLACKS from Day 1 and our franchise would not have accomplished as much as we have if not for his contributions. We wish him the best in Montreal," said REDBLACKS General Manager Marcel Desjardins.   "We are also excited to acquire J.C. Beaulieu and look forward to seeing him on the field as a member of the REDBLACKS."

Beaulieu has played four CFL seasons, all with Montreal. Last season, the 27-year-old native of Trois-Rivieres rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown while suiting up for 10 games with the Alouettes.

Lavoie has spent the last four seasons with the REDBLACKS after spending the first two years of his career with the Alouettes. The 30-year-old Laval University product had 35 catches for 280 yards last year after winning the Grey Cup with Ottawa in 2016. 

For context, let's add some comments from the Ottawa Sun article by Tim Baines related to this move.

“We’re trying to find a way to maximize our (salary) cap space,” Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins said. “We’re really trying to maximize our money, put our money into our starters, not having to invest as much in players who are not necessarily full-time starters. J.C. was a guy we felt would be able to come in and do a lot of things Pat does for significantly less money, and he’s also younger, which never hurts. That’s how it all came about.”

Lose experience, gain youth and save a few bucks. I think this is a locker room loss as well, said from the outside looking in, of course. Lavoie seemed like a popular player among his peers.

With this move, only three players remain from the REDBLACKS expansion draft of December 2013; OL Matt Albright and DLs Zach Evans and Andrew Marshall. Marshall is the only one currently under contract for 2018.