Sep
Santos dealt to Bombers
Courtesy Montreal Gazette:
Ricky Santos was superb in college, but his professional career had reached a dead end with the Alouettes; a fourth-string quarterback not about to play behind Anthony Calvillo, Adrian McPherson and Chris Leak.
But now, following his trade to Winnipeg, Santos gets a new lease on life. In exchange for Santos, as first reported in The Gazette, the Als receive a pair of Canadian defensive ends – Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne; the latter, a Montreal native.
On the surface, it appears the Bombers were fleeced by Als management. “From our standpoint, we felt a need this was something we had to do,” assistant general manager Marcel Desjardins said.
“I can’t speculate on the Bombers, except that they must need a quarterback,” he added. “We’ve added two Canadians, which obviously was an area of concern. This gives us a lot more flexibility to do things.”
The Als have been devastated by injuries to their non-imports, especially those who play on special teams, although they appear set on the defensive line, which is manned by rush-ends Anwar Stewart, John Bowman and Jermaine McElveen, all Americans. Both Johnson and Mayne have played on special teams.
Johnson, 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, was acquired by Winnipeg in a trade from Toronto last February. The five-year Canadian Football League veteran enjoyed his best season in 2007, with 10 quarterback sacks for the Argonauts. Johnson was a sixth-round draft choice by Cincinnati in 2001 and spent three seasons with the Bengals.
He’s eligible for free agency this February and was unlikely to re-sign with the Bombers. Coincidentally, he told several Montreal players before Sunday’s game – a 33-14 Winnipeg defeat at Molson Stadium – he was anticipating a trade. Johnson had two tackles in the game.
Mayne, 6-foot-3 and 248 pounds, has been predominantly a backup with the Bombers in four seasons although he dressed on Sunday and contributed three tackles.
Both players became available after Winnipeg acquired defensive-lineman Odell Willis from Calgary in a multi-player deal following Sunday’s defeat.
Although the Als now take on two contracts, Desjardins denied they’ll have issues with the $4.2-million salary cap. Santos has spent the season on the nine-game injured list, although he’s eligible to come off this week. His salary hasn’t counted against the cap.
“We invested a lot of time and money developing a quarterback,” Desjardins explained. “We weren’t looking to get rid of an asset. We have nearly a half-season to adjust and we’ll be fine, cap-wise.”
Santos set school records at New Hampshire for passing yards and touchdowns, with 13,212 and 123, respectively. But he never played a regular-season down for Montreal in two seasons and undoubtedly was growing frustrated.
“Every athlete’s a confident guy, but you can’t go wrong playing any of those other guys,” he said. “I was the odd man out, although they kept me around for a year and a half. But it was extremely frustrating not playing or dressing. I’m extremely happy to be getting this opportunity.”
Note – Bombers head coach Mike Kelly is considering sending a tape to the CFL of Shea Emry’s fourth-quarter hit on Terrence Edwards, which knocked the slotback out of the game. “He pretty much caught a right hook from Mike Tyson,” Kelly told the Winnipeg Free Press.
