KANNEH NOT THE ONLY REDBLACK HEADING OUT
Everybody foresaw the departure of Abdul Kanneh from the Ottawa Redblacks on Tuesday.
Releasing both Chris Milo and Damaso Munoz on the same day, though? Those moves were a little unexpected for their timing, though less so for the fact they happened.
“Not that I didn’t expect it, but maybe I saw it coming a little bit,” Milo, a 30-year-old kicker, said a few hours after the Redblacks released him. “It’s part of football, it’s part of business.
“I definitely want to still play. It’s tough when your team is signing guys right after the Grey Cup and I have been kind of hurt, too, so you start playing out scenarios in your mind and this is the scenario that has played out.”
Milo signed with the Redblacks in 2015, not long after he was released by the Roughriders, the club with which he spent his first four-plus CFL campaigns.
His last Redblacks kick was a 45-yard field goal in overtime against Hamilton at TD Place stadium on Oct. 21. A lower-body injury in warm-up before the next contest, at Winnipeg, forced punter Ray Early into emergency duty for field goals and he remained in the dual roles for the rest of the season.
Early was recently signed to a new contract, as was Ottawaarea kicker Sean Decloux, who spent four years at the University of Maine. On the roster are also Zack Medeiros, who handled kickoff duties late last season, and Ronnie Pfeffer, who missed the 2016 campaign because of injury after punting in 2015.
“I want to thank the fans and everybody here for (their support),” Milo said. “Hopefully you haven’t heard the last of me.”
Overall with Ottawa, Milo made 78-of-92 field-goal attempts (84.8%), 63-of-71 one-point converts (88.7%), and he averaged about 40 yards for 29 punts, mostly as an injury replacement for others.
Munoz, who signed with the Redblacks midway through their first season in 2014, led the team in tackles in each of the past two campaigns with 74 and 84, respectively. He also intercepted two passes, recovered two fumbles, forced four fumbles, collected eight quarterback sacks and knocked down six passes.
According to general manager Marcel Desjardins, though, the Redblacks couldn’t afford to keep the 30-year-old Munoz on the roster. There was also something of a logjam at linebacker since the team had also re-signed Taylor Reed and Jerrell Gavins.
“Chris was more of a performance thing. He did some very good things for us, but there was some inconsistency there,” Desjardins said. “We felt with Ray Early, Zack Medeiros, Ronnie Pfeffer and Sean Decloux, we have a good group of guys.
“With Damaso, finances came into the equation. We were able to free up some money to go do other things.”
The departure of Kanneh, a two-time all-star at defensive halfback who had also been with the Redblacks since 2014, was not surprising. He ended up with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Kanneh had been among 16 players whose contracts with the Redblacks expired Tuesday. Also among that group were offensive lineman J’Micheal Deane; receivers Ernest Jackson, Scott Macdonell, Khalil Paden and Chris Williams; running backs Kienan LaFrance and Travon Van; quarterback Danny O’Brien; defensive linemen Moton Hopkins, Mike Moore and Aston Whiteside; linebacker John Boyett; defensive back Nick Taylor; and kick returners Tristan Jackson and Jamill Smith.