CFL.ca Staff

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Eskimos completed a trade on Wednesday that will see Montreal acquire Edmonto'ns first and fourth round draft picks in the 2013 CFL Canadian Draft as well as non-import kicker Derek Schiavone in return for non-import kicker Brody McKnight.

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Trade Details:
To Montreal: K Derek Schiavone, 1st and 4th round picks in 2013 Draft
To Edmonton: P/K Brody McKnight

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Schiavone has spent his entire five-season career in the CFL with the Eskimos. In 24 career games with Edmonton, the former Western University Mustang made 86.7 per cent of his field goal attempts while maintaining a 39.4-yard average on punts. The 27-year-old kicker has yet to play this season.
 
"We wish Brody McKnight a successful career. He has been a patient and supportive teammate since his signing," explained Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp.

"When we acquired Sean Whyte in a trade prior to the 2011 draft, and still drafted Brody it raised eyebrows. Brody was the best prospect in our view at the time. We made a calculated investment draft pick, that is maybe starting to pay off."
 
"We welcome Derek to our team," continued Popp. "He has already had success on the field in the CFL and I understand that he is a very well-liked individual and a great team player. He should fit right into our locker room."

McKnight, who was the Alouettes first draft pick in 2011, joined the team this season after tryouts in the NFL with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. The former University of Montana Grizzly did not dress for any games with the Alouettes.

Eskimos GM Eric Tillman is excited to welcome McKnight to Edmonton.

"After Burke Dales, who was leading the CFL in punting, suffered a serious injury (recently placed on the nine game injured list), Kavis and I agreed that asking Grant Shaw to handle all three elements of our kicking game wasn't fair to him in the early stages of his development.  As such, we felt that Brody would be the perfect complement to Grant," said Tillman.

"Some will ask why simply not go forward with Derek Schiavone and Grant as a combo, but, we felt Derek's greatest strength was on shorter field goals, as opposed to punting, which was obviously a need after Burke's unfortunate injury.  That said, we respect Derek and believe he has a solid future in our league.  In football, it's often a matter of being in the right situation at the right time.  And, speaking of timing, via this trade, we feel Brody and Grant will give us one of the best young Canadian kicking tandems in our league."