The Montreal Alouettes announced on their website Friday afternoon that they have acquired slotback Fred Stamps from the Eskimos for wide receiver Kenny Stafford.
Stamps had a career-low year in 2014 for Edmonton as he wasn’t the number one receiver any more; Adarius Bowman took over that role and finished with the most receiving yards in the league. The 33-year-old found the end zone only twice last season with 33 catches for 545 yards. He finished 21st in the league in receiving yards, even behind Montreal’s number three man Brandon London. However, Stamps did only play 12 games due to injury.
Stafford is an up-and-coming receiver with a lot of potential. In 2014, only his second season in Canada, Stafford improved from his rookie season with 20 receptions, 230 yards and a single TD. The soon-to-be 25-year-old has a lot of potential for a growing Eskimos team and will form a good one-two punch with Bowman once his true talents come out in a few years. After waiting in the wings under players like Duron Carter and S.J. Green. Stafford will get an opportunity to shine in the CFL when he heads West next season to play with Mike Reilly.
It looks as if the Alouettes will be without their two star receivers in 2015 with Carter holding a showcase in front of scouts from over 10 NFL teams and contract talks between the team and Green going sour. It is reported that general manager Jim Popp has offered to pay Green as one of the top receivers in the league but he is leaning towards testing the free agent market on February 15.
Without those two, Stamps will likely assume the number one spot in Montreal- or at least he’ll battle for it with London. 40-year-old Chad Johnson is still under contract for 2015 and might be used more often with a thinning receiving core. Stamps can serve as a leader to the young receivers and slotbacks like London, Eric Deslauriers and Kyle Graves.
The four-time All-Star Stamps has led the league in receiving in 2009 and 2013 and also went five straight seasons with over 1000 yards of receiving from 2009 until 2013. His career high in yards came in ’09 with 1402 and the most TDs he’s received is 11, which he had two years ago in 2013. Barring any injury, the eight-year CFL veteran can be a lethal weapon for an Alouettes attack that is trying to find their entity and will continue to do so without a stable receiving core.
Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter @LWOSNick. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Interested in writing for us? Find out more by visiting our “Write for Us” page.
