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<\/p>\nThe Canadian Press – Feb 18, 2026 \/ 1:14 pm | Story: 599705<\/p>\n
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Photo: The Canadian Press<\/p>\n
There’s still quality available more than a week after the start of CFL free agency.<\/p>\n
Over 250 players hit the open market Feb. 10. Many signed extensions with their current teams, others moved on while some simply retired.<\/p>\n
However, good players remain, including proven American receivers DaVaris Daniels and Dominique Rhymes.<\/p>\n
Daniels, 33, has spent nine seasons with Calgary (2016-18), Edmonton (2019) and Toronto (2021-25). The six-foot, 203-pound Daniels is a three-time Grey Cup champion, was the CFL’s top rookie in 2016 and has 444 career catches for 6,609 yards and 43 TDs.<\/p>\n
But the former Notre Dame star registered career lows for games played (10), catches (30) and yards (408) last season. And Daniels has cracked the 1,000-yard receiving plateau once (1,009 yards in 2023).<\/p>\n
The six-foot-four, 215-pound Rhymes has three 1,000-yard campaigns over eight CFL seasons. Last year, he averaged a career-best 17.7-yards per reception with Calgary (50 catches, 886 yards, six TDs).<\/p>\n
Rhymes, 32, has registered 372 career catches for 5,822 yards with 32 TDs in 110 regular-season contests with Ottawa (2017-19, 2024), B.C. (2021-23) and Calgary (2025). Rhymes, a ’22 CFL all-star, has also been durable, missing a combined nine games the last four seasons and just one the last two years.<\/p>\n
American Steve Dunbar, 30, twice a 1,000-yard receiver over five CFL seasons, was also on the open market before retiring Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Free-agent fullback William Langlais retired Wednesday. The six-foot-three, 233-pound Canadian spent his 11-year CFL career with Calgary.<\/p>\n
Langlais, 35, of Hull, Que., appeared in 144 regular-season and playoff games with Calgary, winning a Grey Cup with the franchise in 2018.<\/p>\n
William Stanback, three times a 1,000-yard rusher, is still without a CFL team. The six-foot, 201-pound American ran for 689 yards (4.7-yard average) with four TDs in 17 regular-season games last year with Ottawa while adding 36 catches for 278 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Over seven seasons with Montreal (2018-19, 2021-23), B.C. (2024) and Ottawa (2025), Stanback, 31, has 5,589 rushing yards (5.6-yard average) and 18 TDs with 189 receptions for 1,749 yards and seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Veteran Canadian centre Sean McEwen tops the list of available offensive lineman. His availability isn’t surprising because the Calgary native missed the ’25 campaign with the Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders due to a torn ACL.<\/p>\n
The six-foot-one, 295-pound McEwen joined the Riders as a free agent after stints with Toronto (2016-19) and Calgary (2021-24). McEwen, 32, is a three-time CFL all-star.<\/p>\n
Also available are fellow Canadian offensive linemen Jacob Ruby and Shane Richards. <\/p>\n
Ruby, 33, is a 10-year veteran with Montreal (2015-17), Edmonton (2017-19, 2021) and Ottawa (2022-25). Richards, 30, drafted first overall by Toronto in 2019, has played five of his six CFL seasons with the Argos while suiting up with Edmonton in 2024.<\/p>\n
Available linebackers include Americans Frankie Griffin — a former starter with Ottawa — and C.J. Avery, who spent the last two seasons with Saskatchewan. The six-foot, 205-pound Griffin played five seasons with the Redblacks but was limited to five regular-season appearances in 2025.<\/p>\n
The six-foot, 232-pound Avery, 26, recorded 54 tackles, nine special-teams tackles, a sack, three interceptions and a forced fumble in 18 regular-season games last season with the Riders.<\/p>\n
Also unsigned is American linebacker Adam Bighill. A decorated CFL veteran — three times the league’s top defensive player, a six-time all-star and three-time Grey Cup champion — Bighill, 37, played six games last season with Calgary.<\/p>\n
Veteran American defensive backs Ciante Evans and Deandre Lamont are both available.<\/p>\n
Evans, 33, is a 10-year veteran having played for Calgary (2015-18), Montreal (2019, 2023, 2025), Hamilton (2021-22) and B.C. (2024). Lamont, 27, spent the last three seasons with Ottawa, recording 151 tackles, eight special-teams tackles and four interceptions in 41 regular-season contests.<\/p>\n
Free-agent American punter Richie Leone spent the last seven seasons with Ottawa after starting his CFL career with B.C. (2015-16). The 33-year-old owns a career average of 47.5 yards although last season’s 45.1-yard mark was his lowest in Canada.<\/p>\n
Canadian kicker Brett Lauther also remains a free agent. The 35-year-old from Truro, N.S., was released Feb. 2 by Saskatchewan following eight years with the franchise.<\/p>\n
Last season, Lauther hit 39-of-54 field goals, the 72.2 per cent success ratio being the worst of his tenure in Saskatchewan. Lauther began his CFL career with Hamilton in 2013 and had made 301-of-370 career field goals (81.4 per cent) and 210-of-225 converts (93.3 per cent) while amassing 1,113 points.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Canadian Press – Feb 18, 2026 \/ 1:14 pm | Story: 599705 Photo: The Canadian Press There’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-490940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490940","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=490940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}