After making the Grey Cup in three of the first five years of the team’s existence – including winning in 2016 – it’s been virtually all downhill for the Ottawa Redblacks’ organization since then.

Since 2019, the team has had one playoff appearance – in which they allowed 58 points and lost by 20 to the Toronto Argonauts in 2024 – and have put up a dismal 27-76-1 record.

Not ideal.

Enter Ryan Dinwiddie, who, after leading the Argos to two Grey Cup championships, four consecutive East finals, and a 51-35 record, jumped ship to the nation’s capital on a three-year deal to become the team’s general manager, head coach, and offensive coordinator.

He’ll look to bring some of that Toronto success to Ottawa, with this upcoming free agency period being the first opportunity for Dinwiddie to really make his mark.

The Free Agency Communication Window, in which teams can openly speak with any clubs pending free agents, opens Feb.1 at 12 p.m. ET and closes Feb.8 at 12 p.m. ET. The official CFL free agency period opens Feb.10 at 12 p.m. ET

Pending Free Agents

* = Canadian

QB Dustin Crum

QB Tyrie Adams

RB William Stanback

RB/SB Bralon Addison

RB/SB DeVonte Dedmon

WR Luther Hakunavanhu*

OG Jacob Ruby*

OG David Knevel*

C/OG Eric Starczala*

C/OG Dariusz Bladek*

DE Nigel Romick*

DE Kene Onyeka*

DT Blessman Ta’ala

LB Jonathan Jones

LB Jovan Santos-Knox

LB Frankie Griffin

LB Davion Taylor

LB Tyron Vrede

LB Les Maruo

HB/NKL Robert Priester

HB/S Deandre Lamont

S Justin Howell*

P Richie Leone

Outside of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, no one has more pending free agents than the Redblacks, which isn’t necessarily surprising given the new regime in town.

Receiver Bralon Addison and quarterback Dustin Crum headline the offensive side of things, while defensively, six linebackers remain unsigned, including the three players who soaked up a majority of the snaps last season in Jovan Santos-Knox, Frankie Griffin, and Davion Taylor.

Offence

Ottawa Redblacks offence

The biggest area of improvement that could come from Dinwiddie, the coach, would be at the quarterback position. The former QB coach has helped numerous pivots throughout his career reach new heights, and Ottawa is hoping some of that fairy dust can be sprinkled on quarterback Dru Brown, who enters 2026 on the final year of his deal in a prove-it season.

First and foremost, protecting Brown and managing his health will be key. Brown only made nine starts last season after missing games dealing with hip, neck, and knee injuries. The 28-year-old has also missed a third of his starts since becoming Ottawa’s starter in 2024, with most of his ailments coming from poor offensive line play (more on that later).

Brown tried to come back from the knee injury towards the end of the year, but the injuries clearly bothered him, as he was benched in favour of Crum (whose free agent market should be interesting) and then eventually shut down for the season.

“Football is a lot of reactionary impulse movement, so just like any of us, I think if someone told you that it doesn’t bother them [to play hurt], they’re full of s–t,” Brown told the media after the season regarding his injuries.

“That’s just the reality, but like I said, I made those decisions, and I’ll take responsibility for my performance when I said I was good enough to go.”

If you scratch out the final two games for Brown last season post-knee injury, his 263.1 passing yards per game (fifth) and 12-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio is more than a solid body of work.

The Palo Alto, Calif. native pushes the ball downfield (second-most throws of 20+ yards last season) and makes tight-window throws, but his best ability has been helping mitigate the poor pass protection. Brown’s 3.7 per cent sack rate over the past two seasons is the lowest among qualified quarterbacks, despite the offensive line allowing the most sacks over that span (87).

That brings us to the offensive line, and where Brown does have that maneuverability in the pocket, you would rather let his arm talent do the work.

The left side presumably could already be set with Dino Boyd at left tackle and Canadians in Drew Desjarlais and Peter Godber in at left guard and centre, respectively. One of the first things Dinwiddie did on the job was re-sign Boyd to a one-year deal, whose 4.2 per cent pressure rate allowed over the past two seasons is one of the better marks among tackles, while veterans Desjarlais and Godber are both solid in the interior.

The right side appears to be undergoing some construction; however, as Canadian right guards Dariusz Bladek and Jacob Ruby remain unsigned. While one of these guys could re-sign, the next best two linemen under contract are Canadian Zack Pelehos and American D.J. Jones, who are both right tackles.

A kick inside to right guard could make some sense for Pelehos, however. While he’s graded out highly as a run blocker over the past three seasons, the 26-year-old’s 6.7 pressure rate allowed is one of the worst marks, while he’s missed over 45 per cent of the team’s games since being drafted.

It also makes sense because of how well Jones played at the tackle position over the final three games of 2025, only allowing five pressures across 127 pass blocking snaps. The 24-year-old should get a shot to be the full-time starter in 2026.

Sam Carson, the 12th overall pick in 2025, also remains on the team as depth. He showed upside as a run blocker in his eight appearances in his rookie season.

If the Redblacks wanted to go spend up front, and they probably should, either one of Hamilton’s Coulter Woodmansey or Calgary’s Joshua Coker would make a ton of sense at right guard or right tackle, respectively. And when looking at Ottawa’s skill positions, it seems to make more sense to go shopping on the offensive line, as the American veterans have re-signed, and there are young Canadians also ready to step up.

Dinwiddie could employ a similarly high passing frequency offence like Tommy Condell did last season, but the new offensive coordinator could use the weapons in a very different way. The recently extended Eugene Lewis (through 2027) and Justin Hardy (through 2026) are ready to pair up on the weak side once again and can be Dinwiddie’s new Damonte Coxie and Makai Polk.

Something Dinwiddie could do is get Lewis on more vertical pushing routes, like how he used Coxie in Toronto, as Lewis’ 11.6 below-league-average depth of target (aDOT) in 2025 just seemed too low for what the 32-year-old brings to the table. Getting closer to his 2024 aDOT when he was with the Edmonton Elks (12.9) or even pushing Coxie’s fourth-best 16.2 mark from last year is something to keep an eye on.

Having Hardy continue to work off those vertical routes in space would be great as well, as the 34-year-old has put together three straight 1,000-yard seasons and always seems to be open.

The strong-side receivers and running back could all potentially be filled by Canadians, as Ottawa has built up a young nucleus of Canucks.

The Redblacks have invested two top-three picks over the past two seasons in receivers Nick Mardner (second) and Keelan White (third), while also adding the reigning Hec Creighton trophy winner Ethan Jordan in the sixth round (51st overall) last draft.

White’s 46 catches and 482 yards were the most by any receiver under 24 years old last season. Mardner missed all of 2025 after suffering a knee injury last training camp, but possesses a rare size (6-foot-6, 208 pounds) and speed combination that you don’t find often in Canadian receivers. And the 23-year-old Jordan enjoyed a third straight 1,000–yard season in 2025 en route to Canadian University football’s most prestigious award.

Canadian running back Daniel Adeboboye is back on a two-year deal and also ready to potentially push for a starting spot.

The 26-year-old’s snap count and carries have steadily gone up over the past three seasons, posting career highs in those categories as well as rushing (386) and receiving (227) yards in 2025. Dinwiddie was a part of the Argos brain trust that took the athletic Adeboboye 15th overall in 2022, and already has three years of familiarity with him.

The Toronto native can catch out of the backfield and is efficient while running (his 5.5 yards per carry was fourth among backs with at least 70 snaps), but he has consistently not passed block well and will need to be better to justify more playing time.

Overall, it’s an offence that has the pieces to make some noise, but will more than likely need a couple of impact signings to solidify things, while also having those younger Canadians make a leap. Taking care of the ball should be another priority, as the team’s league-leading 46 turnovers last season are unacceptable.

Defence

Ottawa Redblacks defence

Now entering his second year as the Redblacks’ defensive coordinator, Will Fields did a good job establishing a solid baseline last season, especially against the run.

Fields’ unit allowed the second fewest number of rushing yards per game (91.4) while also getting penetration into the offensive backfield, finishing second in tackles for loss (34).

The team sat middle of the pack in offensive points and net offence allowed, however, which should almost be considered a win, given how often they were backed up. Ottawa’s opponents had the best starting field position on average (39.5), thanks to the team’s large number of turnovers.

The next step for this unit is to create more havoc and turnovers of their own, as they forced the fewest last season (30), which led to the worst turnover ratio (-16) north of the border.

This starts up front, where the easiest way to force chaos is a good pass rush, something that fell off for this unit in 2025. The Redblacks went from recording the second-most sacks in 2024 (39) to the second-fewest last year (24).

The headliner of the defensive line is Bryce Carter on the strong side, who sets the edge and defends the run better than almost anybody in the league. Nine sacks over the past two seasons after posting 12 in 2023 is a bit disappointing, but Carter getting back to double-digit sack totals would be huge for this defence.

Seeing how the rest of the defensive line shakes out will be something to monitor. American veterans Cleyon Laing and Michael Wakefield are back, with the latter having inside-out flexibility, but the team has already brought in numerous Americans to compete.

Canadians in 2025 sixth-rounder Muftah Ageli, 2024 second-rounder Daniel Okpoko, and even potentially the upcoming first-overall pick – where multiple defensive linemen from Ottawa are featured at the top of the recently released Winter Scouting Bureau – should compete for another starting spot at defensive tackle as well.

It’s a group that simply has to generate more pressure, whether that’s from free agency, the draft, or internal improvement.

At linebacker, it appears there will be a complete overhaul at the position. First, Ottawa acquired Nyles Morgan from the Edmonton Elks, who has been productive over the past three seasons and figures to slot in at MAC. After releasing nickel Adarius Pickett, who later signed with the Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa re-upped backup Bennett Williams, who brings similar thunder to defending the run as Pickett does from the nickel position.

On the weak side, the Redblacks have the option to go Canadian at the position, where Lucas Cormier would slot in after signing a one-year extension. The 24-year-old finally got significant snaps (315) on defence after the team took him 10th overall in 2023, making 32 tackles, one sack, and one interception in the process.

Ottawa still could bring back one or two of its six pending free agents at the position or go shopping elsewhere, but guys like Cormier and Williams have shown they could be ready for a bigger role.

Unlike the linebacker position, most of the defensive backs will be returning as Ottawa re-signed American halfbacks Adrian Frye (through 2027) and Amari Henderson (through 2026) this offseason, though it remains unclear if the latter will be ready to go for Week 1 after tearing his ACL in August.

If he can’t, Mark Milton remains under contract after the team acquired him from the Toronto Argonauts following Henderson’s injury. He filled in nicely, especially in run support.

At corner, C.J. Coldon should once again man the weak side after defending the run extremely well from the position, while one of Cam Lockridge or Shakur Brown would currently slot in on the strong side. Canadian Alonzo Addae is also currently the projected starter at safety after missing every game but one with an elbow injury in 2025.

Some sort of addition on the back end, either at strong-side corner or safety, could/should be one of the highest priorities for the defence in free agency.

Overall, the trenches and the back seven defensively are the main places of concern right now for the Redblacks, and if they really want to get out of the basement, the moves they make at those positions in a week’s time will be crucial to improving.