With the Canadian football league preseason beginning soon, here’s what to expect from the Canadian teams
After a long six months, the 2025 Canadian Football League (CFL) season will commence on May 19 with a preseason matchup between the Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions.
This year, the 112th Grey Cup will be held in November 2025 at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg Manitoba, where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will hope to secure their 13thwin, with their most recent triumph taking place in 2021 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Last November, the Toronto Argonauts conquered the Blue Bombers in BC with a score of 41-24 to win their 19thtitle, the most out of any team in the league.
Over the past several months, nine total teams in the CFL have made big moves in the free agency to maximize their probability of securing hardware in their prospective seasons. Most notably, Edmonton, Hamilton, Ottawa and BC.
The Edmonton Elks secured players like Tyrell Ford (Defensive Back and twin brother of QB Tre Ford), David Beard (Offensive Lineman formerly with Hamilton) and Steven Dunbar JR (Wide Receiver formerly with Hamilton). Their biggest free agency move was signing Ford, a Niagara Falls native, who played with the Bombers last season and got seven interceptions.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats also attained notable athletes including Reggie Stubblefield and Kenny Lawler. Stubblefield played with the Montreal Alouettes last season and recorded 42 defensive tackles since 2023, and Lawler, a former Blue Bomber and wide receiver from California, tallied an impressive 662 yards and 4 touchdowns last season and will likely prove useful for the Tiger-Cats’ upcoming season where they aspire to win their 9th Grey Cup and first since 1999.
The Ottawa Redblacks recently signed William Stanback (Running Back), Eugene Lewis (Wide Receiver)and Tunde Adeleke (Defensive Back). These impressive moves came after a disappointing 2024 season where the Redblacks finished 3rd in the east division with a 9-8-1 record. Eugene Lewis, who played with the Alouettes for fiveyears, and was named the East Division’s Most Outstanding Player in 2022, accumulated an outstanding 1070 total yards last season and ten touchdowns. He will certainly be an asset for the Redblacks, who won their last title in 2016 against the Calgary Stampeders.
This report would not be complete without discussing the significant moves that the BC Lions made recently in free agency. Some of their signings include Jeremiah Masoli (Quarterback) and James Butler (Running Back), both of whom had extensive histories in Hamilton but have been severely limited with various injuries. With the combination of Butler, who amassed 522 yards and 2 touchdowns with Hamilton in 2024, and Masoli, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury last season, BC hopes to recover from their disappointing and lackluster 2024 season where they finished 3rd in the West Division with a 9-9-0 record.
As the weeks pass quickly, CFL fans across the nation get closer to watching their favourite teams commence a new season, one in which has already piqued the interests of many with the astonishing player selections that have taken place over the past few months. The first regular season game is on June 5 in Regina, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Redblacks will compete in their first game since before the 2024 playoffs.
This story was originally published in Volume 24, Issue 7 on March 6 2025
