Depth at the core of Danny Maciocia’s 2026 vision for Montreal

Danny Maciocia didn’t hesitate for one second as he finished the open-ended statement I’d made to him.

That statement was: “I would like our team to be more…”

“Healthy?” was Maciocia’s reply. “HealthiER?”

That, then, spring-boarded a conversation with the Montreal Alouettes senior vice president of football operations and general manager about what will be an important consideration as the off-season winds its way through recruitment, free agency and the CFL Draft.

Depth.

“The foundation is in place,” Maciocia said as he took a break from league meetings in Calgary. “There’s a lot to be excited about.”

The Alouettes are well-stocked with returning stars on the field and great continuity in the coaching staff, led by head coach Jason Maas.

All arrows point to another successful season, especially if the starters remain mostly healthy for most of the schedule.

But Maciocia isn’t willing to count on that, wary of his club’s recent past.

“If you take a look at the last few years, we’ve had north of 70 players dress for a minimum of one game,” lamented Maciocia, who signed a contract extension with the Alouettes last October. “We had more quarterbacks during the season (in 2025) than we did going to training camp.”

Seven quarterbacks, when you count them up, with four different starters including franchise pivot Davis Alexander who missed 10 regular season games and was continually hampered by a nagging hamstring injury.

The Alouettes suffered through Alexander’s absence, as well as the absences of other key starters at other positions, at one time enduring a five-game losing streak before rallying to a second-place finish in the East Division and then an appearance in the 112th Grey Cup game.

There’s only so much one can do to ensure the ongoing good health of any player, though, and Maciocia knows that. That’s why his off-season plan for the Als will be anchored by ensuring that Montreal’s stars are backed up by more-than-capable understudies.

“Depth is going to be important,” said Maciocia. Making sure that you’ve got enough of it, whether it’s American or Canadian players.”

“Making sure that you’ve got depth at every single position.”

It starts with ensuring the Als have a back-up quarterback they can count on.

“We had that depth when Davis was the number two guy,” Macocia said with a laugh, remembering Alexander’s superb performances in place of an injured Cody Fajardo during the 2024 season.

Last year, with Alexander elevated to QB1 and Fajardo traded to Edmonton, Montreal struggled on offence during their young quarterback’s lingering absence, unable to gain much traction with any of McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Caleb Evans and James Morgan as starters.

While Morgan is under contract for 2026, Bethel-Thompson and Evans — as well as short-yardage quarterback Shea Patterson — are all potentially free agents, come February 10.

“Every single year, you have to have a back-up that’s able to win you two or three games, because there’s going to be a point in time that you’re going to play with them,” said Maciocia.

“That’s going to be a major topic of conversation for us as an organization and as a football ops staff, to make sure that we put ourselves in a position where we’ve got that guy. That if we need to play him, well, there’s not going to be any reservations doing so.”

“That’s the mindset,” said Maciocia. “To make sure that we’re able to find that guy.”

While improving quarterback depth is high or even at the top of the list for the Alouettes, they do believe that proven depth at another position is precisely what allowed them to make quite a bold move with the roster this off-season.

In releasing 2025 East Division All-CFL linebacker Darnell Sankey, the Als parted ways with a defensive star who many would have figured was indispensable to the team.

The Alouettes plan on turning to 27-year-old Geoffrey Cantin-Arku to fill the void left by Sankey’s release.

“We’ve watched him play the last couple of years,” said Maciocia of Cantin-Arku. “We think that he’s ready to take over the position. I think we have enough data on him.”

In spot or rotational duty over the last two seasons, the native of Lévis, QC has impressed. In 2025, Cantin-Arku tallied four sacks, an interception, and three forced fumbles to go along with 38 tackles in limited play.

“We can line him up on the line of scrimmage, and he’s got a way to get to the quarterback,” said Maciocia. “We know he can play the run, and we know that he can play coverage for us.”

“We think the time is right to turn it over to him.”

Depth at linebacker has afforded the Alouettes a chance to alter how they employ their roster ratio.

Now, building depth at some other key positions will be a priority as the season approaches.

Depth at the core of Danny Maciocia’s 2026 vision for Montreal

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