Montreal Alouettes Look to Bolster Defense
The Montreal Alouettes enter the 2010 season with a task that every other CFL team dreams about: defending their Grey Cup championship. But the team has had an eventful offseason they attempt to put the pieces together for a successful title defense, lead by the strange saga of Gavin Walls. Within a ten-day stretch, the team acquired the veteran defensive end in a trade from Winnipeg, released him for salary cap purposes and then resigned him. Despite coming off of a season-ending knee injury in 2009, Walls is expected to bolster the Alouettes’ pass rush.
Walls is not the only player brought in during the offseason to help on the defensive line. The Alouettes recently signed former NFL defensive tackle Marcus Smith, who played for the last two seasons with Buffalo and also signed Ian Campbell to a two-year deal. Another defensive player with NFL experience brought in during the offseason by the team was former Indianapolis defensive back Travis Key.
The signing of former Toronto quarterback Cody Pickett raised some eyebrows, especially with the team already having two veteran signal callers in Anthony Calvillo and Adrian McPherson. Despite having scored a league-best 600 points in 2009, the Alouettes recently added some firepower to their offense, including signing wide receiver DJ Boldin, a former all-ACC selection at Wake Forest and brother of NFL star Anquan Boldin. The Alouettes also signed a pair of running backs in Eric Lee and Roosevelt Ross.
