Lions staying busy in free agency, sign 4 more players
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Lions made four more moves in the CFL free agency Thursday including the signing of quarterback Cody Fajardo, who served as a back-up for the Grey Cup-winning Toronto Argonauts last season.
The Lions also signed defensive backs Cauchy Muamba and Mike Dubuisson and defensive lineman Edward Godin.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Fajardo dressed for all 18 games last season, and has completed 29 of 48 passes for 261 yards and four TDs in his career.
“Adding Cody to our stable of quarterbacks is a big signing for us and we’re very pleased he’s elected to come here after receiving a number of offers from other clubs,” said Lions general manager Ed Hervey. “He has a lot of outstanding qualities and he’ll be an asset heading into training camp.”
Fajardo’s signing came later in the day after the team announced they were signing Muamba, Dubuisson and Godin.
Muamba, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 195 pounds, will be entering his ninth season after originally entering the league with the Lions in the 2010 draft. The two-time Grey Cup champion spent the last four years with the Edmonton Eskimos. He’s racked up 147 tackles and 10 interceptions in 108 regular-season games.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Dubuisson will be joining B.C. after playing two games with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2017. He has tallied four defensive stops, 14 special teams tackles and an interception in 55 regular-season games. Godin will compete for a spot in the lineup during his second training camp session with the team after being drafted in 2017.
Blue Bombers targeting other Muamba brother
WINNIPEG — Kyle Walters is going to take a shot at bringing Henoc Muamba back to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The general manager met with the media Thursday to talk about the team’s moves since free agency began on Tuesday, but questions quickly turned to Muamba’s release by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Wednesday.
Walters said he’s let the agent of the veteran Canadian linebacker know that Winnipeg is interested. Henoc Muamba, 28, is the younger brother of Cauchy Muamba, 30, who signed with the B.C. Lions on Thursday.
“He’s a quality Canadian starter, which in our league is at a premium,” Walters said. “Everybody right now will kind of take a look at their roster and their ratio and say, ‘Can we or can we not fit Henoc in? What’s the price point? How does it fit with the ratio?’”
Muamba has been in and out of the league since Winnipeg drafted him first overall in 2011. He played three seasons with the Bombers before the pending free agent was released early in 2014 to pursue the NFL. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts, but got let go and joined the Montreal Alouettes in September 2015.
After playing the remainder of that season with the Als, he was released to try the NFL again in 2016. He signed with Dallas, but was cut and joined Saskatchewan.