PHOTO Pascal Ratthe, Collaboration Spéciale - Montréaa, Quebec Alouettes - / Monday/ 17/ June/ 2024 - #
Now that we’re a couple of days removed from the start of free agency, we can properly begin to analyze the moves general manager Danny Maciocia has made since the opening of the market. The Alouettes weren’t terribly busy on Tuesday, but they still made three shrewd signings. Let’s break down the new acquisitions and look at which players are no longer with the Als.
The acquisitions:
The first two moves that came through the wire were the signings of a pair of Quebec-born players Cyrille Hogan-Saindon and Joshua Archibald.
Hogan-Saindon is a versatile offensive lineman who can play guard and centre in a pinch. The Quebec City native played his U Sports football with the Laval Rouge et Or before being drafted in the second round of the 2022 CFL Draft by the Ottawa Redblacks.
With the retirement of Kristian Matte and the departure of Philippe Gagnon (Saskatchewan), the Als needed to add a player at that position, and they were able to land a good one. The 27-year-old is still young both in age and football experience. Before making the leap to the pro game, he had only started one year at Laval, which makes his immediate jump to the pros even more impressive.
“He’s already had the opportunity to be a starter in this league. I think he’s started like 29 games,” Maciocia said during the Alouettes free agency live broadcast. He gives us depth and he’s able to play both centre and guard. Even though he’s young, he still brings quite a bit of experience to the table…He’s a really good Canadian offensive lineman, and in this business, those guys aren’t easy to find.”
Archibald joins the Alouettes after spending three years with the B.C. Lions, who drafted him in the third round of the 2022 CFL Draft. The defensive end spent the first two years of his career playing primarily on special teams, but he started becoming a factor on defence for the Lions in 2025. The 27-year-old finished last season with 15 defensive tackles, six on special teams, and four sacks in 17 contests.
“It was like a dream,” Archibald said of his first experience in free agency. “I woke up one morning and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing…I called my agent and told him that I had just missed a call, and he told me it was coach (Noel) Thorpe and that Danny (Maciocia) and coach (Jason) Maas wanted to talk to me…It’s all new for me, but I was extremely grateful that I could possibly play for the Montreal Alouettes.”
The former McGill University Redbird gives the Als another quality Canadian on the defensive line, as the team will likely start at least two Canadians up front with Lwal Uguak and Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund.
The only American the Alouettes signed on Tuesday afternoon was veteran defensive tackle Shawn Oakman, who played for the Edmonton Elks last season. Oakman is tough to handle on the interior of the defensive line, as he’s extremely athletic for a six-foot-eight, 280-pounder.
The 32-year-old was named to the All-CFL during his time with the Toronto Argonauts and won a Grey Cup with them back in 2022.
Whether or not Dylan Wynn returns for a second season in Montreal remains to be seen (as of right now he’s a free agent), but don’t be surprised if Oakman is a starter from Day 1 of training camp. He’s that kind of talent.
The former Baylor product had 32 defensive tackles, three quarterback sacks, one interception and one forced fumble in 14 games in 2024.
The Departures:
In pro football, it’s impossible to keep all your players every year, and the CFL is no exception. With a salary cap of just over $6 million this year, choices had to be made.
Some players who have left the Alouettes organization include offensive lineman Philippe Gagnon (Saskatchewan Roughriders), receiver Kaion Julien-Grant (Edmonton Elks), receiver Reggie White Jr. (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), defensive lineman Brock Gowanlock (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), defensive back/linebacker Reggie Stubblefield (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and defensive back Nafees Lyon (Ottawa Redblacks).
Others like defensive linemen Wynn and Avery Ellis, quarterback Dom Davis and receiver Nate Behar are all free agents that have yet to sign with new teams.
If you’re an Alouettes fan, this was to be expected. Maciocia re-signed so many pieces of the team’s existing to core that it was only normal that they wouldn’t be active in free agency and that they’d lose some bodies. Players like Walter Fletcher, James Letcher Jr., Kabion Ento, Wes Sutton, Najee Murray, Sean Thomas Erlington, Regis Cibasu, Joseph Zema and others were all eligible to become free agents this winter, and all of them were retained.
“There’s a salary cap and you have to adhere to the cap,” Maciocia said. “At the conclusion of every season, we get together with our coaching staff and our football operations department and we identify whose contract is up, who’s free as free agents are concerned, and the amount of dollars that we have to spend. So, there are decisions that must be made. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to keep everybody, especially when you’re coming off a 12-win season and a Grey Cup. These are players of value, but unfortunately with the dollars we had available, we couldn’t meet all their requests.
The next key date on the off-season calendar will come on April 29th with the Global and CFL Drafts. The Alouettes currently own the sixth, 15th, 23rd and 26th picks in the first three rounds of the CFL Draft. The Alouettes have the seventh and 16th picks in the two-round Global Draft.
