Alouettes ink Cody Fajardo, shore up QB room

CFL.ca Staff

MONTREAL — Cody Fajardo has found his next football home, having signed with Montreal Alouettes. The team announced the signing of the two-year deal on its Twitter account.

Fajardo is the seventh-ranked player in CFL.ca’s top 30 free agents list and the highest ranked quarterback.

The Als have also announced the signing of quarterback Caleb Evans and the re-signing of Davis Alexander, keeping the trio together through 2024.

🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS…🚨🚨
We’re excited to announce that we’ve locked this guy in for two years! Check out Alsflix 🤣 to find out which star is going to be calling the 514 home! #alsin pic.twitter.com/rKgUjxlC9T

— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) February 14, 2023

“Cody has shown great things since the beginning of his career. Jason Maas knows him very well and is very comfortable having him run our offence,” said Alouettes’ general manager Danny Maciocia.

“Cody is a leader of men and has always had the respect of his teammates in the locker room. Having won a Grey Cup in the past, he knows what it takes to win.”

The 30-year-old out of Nevada has spent the past three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, leading them to the Western Final in 2019 and 2021. The 2022 season was a tumultuous one for him and the Riders. His 3,360 passing yards through 17 games were good for sixth in the league and while he threw for 16 touchdowns – two off his career high in 2019 – his 13 interceptions were a career-worst.

It’s no coincidence that as the losses mounted in Saskatchewan last year and the offence struggled, that Fajardo was protected by an offensive line that was historically bad. Fajardo was on the field for the bulk of the league-worst 77 sacks that the Roughriders allowed in 2022. That no doubt affected his performance and in moving to the Alouettes, he should have time to operate and to be able to trust that he’ll receive the protection he needs to play at a high level.

One of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league, Fajardo had 357 yards on the ground in 2022 and ran for eight touchdowns.

Evans (six-foot-two, 210 pounds) accumulated 1,301 passing yards, completing 114 of his 185 attempts and scoring four touchdowns last season with the Ottawa REDBLACKS. The former Louisiana Monroe University Warhawks standout who played in all of his team’s games added 354 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 88 carries.

The Mansfield, TX native appeared in 43 games in four seasons with the Warhawks, including 39 starts. He amassed 9,523 passing yards, throwing 58 touchdown passes and a 60.5 completion percentage and a 134 quarterback rating.

“Caleb has experience in this league and has demonstrated a lot of potential,” said Maciocia. “We look forward to working with him and helping his development.”

Alexander (six-foot, 195 pounds) saw some action in the Alouettes’ 2022 regular season finale, completing eight of his 13 passes for 89 yards while keeping the ball on five occasions for 22 rushing yards and one touchdown. During the team’s two pre-season games, the 24-year-old pivot completed 20 of his 27 passes for 229 yards, while adding a rushing touchdown.

He finished his collegiate career second all-time with the Portland State University Vikings with 10,473 total offensive yards, 9,215 passing yards and 63 touchdown passes. He was voted to the All-Big Sky Team in 2021 after completing 266 of his 433 passes for 3,075 yards and 21 touchdowns.

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