VANCOUVER — The BC Lions signed national defensive back Matt Bucknor and international defensive end DeQuin Evans through the 2018 season, the team announced Thursday.
Bucknor was most recently a member of the Calgary Stampeders and became a free agent earlier this week.
“Matt is an experienced and skilled defensive back who will gives us very good Canadian depth in the secondary,” said GM and head coach Wally Buono.
A five-year CFL veteran, Bucknor was originally signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a free agent out of the University of Windsor in 2012 and appeared in 27 games over two seasons for the Ticats. He was traded to Winnipeg in advance of the 2014 season and was a starter in all 36 regular season games over two seasons with the Blue Bombers.
A late release by the ‘Bombers heading into the 2016 campaign, he was quickly scooped-up by the Calgary Stampeders and made four regular season appearances last year as well dressing for the Grey Cup. Over five seasons and 67 games, the Hamilton native has recorded 150 defensive stops and three interceptions.
Evans was most recently a member of the Montreal Alouettes and became a free agent earlier this week.
“DeQuin is an athletic defensive end who gives us a great starting point at that position heading into 2017,” said GM and head coach Wally Buono. “He’s very quick off the ball and I think of him as a ‘young veteran’ given his experience to this point in his career.”
Originally coming to the CFL as a member of the Calgary Stampeders in 2014, the 6-foot-3, 255-pounder spent two seasons with the Stamps including their Grey Cup-winning campaign, recording 19 defensive stops and three sacks over 13 regular season appearances. He signed with Montreal last year and dressed for five games tallying four tackles and a sack.
