{"id":478784,"date":"2026-02-16T16:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478784\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:08:17","slug":"calgary-stampeders-return-to-tradition-settle-for-tweaks-in-2026-cfl-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/478784\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary Stampeders return to tradition, settle for tweaks in 2026 CFL free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Calgary Stampeders<\/p>\n

There are many great CFL traditions.<\/p>\n

The Labour Day Classic, the Banjo Bowl, Touchdown Atlantic, and the greatest of all, the Grand National Drunk, better known as the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

Fighting to join the ranks is the Calgary winter tradition I\u2019m dubbing the \u201cNary a Whisper\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that time of year when CFL Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of free agency past, present, and future and upon awakening, throws open the shutters and asks, \u201cYou boy, free agency has started! Did the Stampeders make any noise?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNary a whisper,\u201d the boy would reply. \u201cAs is tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, the Stampeders have eschewed signing players from other CFL clubs, instead focusing on their own players in-house and developing new signings from south of the border and the CFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Last season was admittedly different, but the biggest move they made was trading for the rights to Vernon Adams Jr., and locking him down before free agency even opened.<\/p>\n

This year, thanks to the \u201cEd Hervey Memorial Tampering Window,\u201d<\/a> the Stampeders announcements were a reminder of the three players they brought in, with no new signings to announce once free agency actually began, nor since.<\/p>\n

There were some holes to fill when the window opened, with the offseason departures of Damien Alford<\/a>, Jaylen Hutchings<\/a>, and Jacob Roberts<\/a> to the NFL.<\/p>\n

Largely, the Stampeders decided to retain much of their free agent class, extending the contracts of 15 of their pending free agents, allowing 11 to move on.<\/p>\n

Some of those players are expected to retire, including Adam Bighill, Kyle Saxelid and William Langlais. Lorenzo Mauldin IV signed in the UFL<\/a> after being a late-season trade acquisition.<\/p>\n

When it comes to newcomers, the Stampeders signed a receiver, a defensive back, and a name that will be both familiar and different at the same time, which will lead to no end of mispronunciations from fans in the stands.<\/p>\n

Losing Alford, the former first-overall pick after just one season, was a blow the team is hoping to soften with the signing of Dejon Brissett<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The second-overall pick in the 2020 CFL Draft had a breakout year in Toronto, turning 65 catches into 907 yards and three touchdowns. While Brissett doesn\u2019t offer the size mismatch Alford did, he\u2019s shown himself to be a reliable downfield target, averaging 14 yards per catch.<\/p>\n

As a former Grey Cup Most Outstanding Canadian, he\u2019s also proven he can perform when the lights are shining the brightest, something this team could use, having not won a playoff game since 2018.<\/p>\n

Switching to the defensive side of the field, the Stampeders spent last season laser-focused on generating turnovers, citing them as a key to winning games. They achieved that goal, finishing second in both total takeaways with 44 and turnover ratio at +9. Calgary used that margin and success to more than double its win total from the year before.<\/p>\n

So, it was no surprise that they went out and signed Devodric Bynum from the Edmonton Elks<\/a>, who, in his last healthy season, collected five interceptions. The Stampeders are hoping Bynum can return to that form after spending all but five games on the injured list in 2025.<\/p>\n

As for the familiar name, Deonta McMahon<\/a> may be looking to change how Calgary fans refer to their home stadium.<\/p>\n

Pronounced Mac-ma-hawn, the running back was a reliable backup in Toronto and will be looked upon to fill a similar role behind the 2025 CFL rushing champion, Dedrick Mills. McMahon will turn 26 before the season and should have lots of tread left on the tires with just 128 career carries so far.<\/p>\n

The Stampeders should enter week two of free agency with the ability to fill needs and get bargains for players looking to continue their careers in the CFL.<\/p>\n

However, given the volume of offseason rookie signings the team has made \u2014 with 23 players without CFL experience and counting now on the roster \u2014 the team may also feel that they have what they need to build on the 2025 season and return to the top of the standings.<\/p>\n

Primarily on the defensive line, defensive backfield and receiving corps, the Stamps seem to be trying to return to the glory days of scouting well and developing talent, rather than feasting on the meals prepared by the other teams in the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Calgary Stampeders There are many great CFL traditions. The Labour Day Classic, the Banjo Bowl, Touchdown Atlantic,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,49,2798,48,7028,521,522,520,180619,193994,183360,527,14108,2002,82,55630,166838],"class_list":{"0":"post-478784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-3down","9":"tag-3downnation","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-calgary","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-canadian","14":"tag-canadian-football-league","15":"tag-canadianfootballleague","16":"tag-cfl","17":"tag-dejon-brissett","18":"tag-deonta-mcmahon","19":"tag-devodric-bynum","20":"tag-football","21":"tag-free-agency","22":"tag-league","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-stampeders","25":"tag-stamps"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}