The Canadian Press
CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders announced on Thursday that they have signed American defensive lineman James Vaughters to a two-year contract that will keep him with the Red and White through the 2025 season.
The 30-year-old veteran returned to Calgary in 2023 after a stint in the NFL and he recorded five sacks in the first five games of the season. He suffered a season-ending arm injury in the Stamps’ sixth game.
In 39 career regular-season games with the Stampeders, Vaughters has accumulated 65 tackles including three tackles for a loss, eight special-teams tackles, 16 sacks, three pass knockdowns and one forced fumble. He first signed with Calgary in 2016 and played 33 games over the 2017 and 2018 seasons before heading to the National Football League.
In 27 NFL games with the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons, the six-foot-two, 260-pound Stanford alum had 33 total tackles including two tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble. Vaughters re-signed with the Stamps on Jan. 25, 2023.
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The Stamps have had a busy week. On Wednesday, the club announced it had signed American quarterback Chris Reynolds and American offensive linemen Brandon Weldon. Both players made their professional debuts with the Stamps during the past season.
Reynolds (five-foot-11, 196 pounds) was the Stamps’ No. 3 quarterback for the first nine games of the 2023 regular season and saw action in one contest, completing one of two passes for five yards in Week 10 at BC. He finished the season on Calgary’s practice roster.
The UNC Charlotte product was in uniform for both of the Stampeders’ pre-season games and completed 16 of 21 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown. He also had four carries for seven yards.
In college, Reynolds played 46 games over five seasons and established numerous UNC Charlotte records including career passing yards (10,266) and passing touchdowns (84), most passing yards (2,684) and touchdowns (26) in a season, most passing yards (448) and touchdowns (five) in a game as well as best career completion percentage (62.3) and most career 300-yard passing games (eight). He completed 794 of 1,274 passes and also had 375 carries for 887 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Reynolds was a team captain his final three seasons with the 49ers and was a four-time honourable mention for all-Conference USA honours.
In his rookie season, Weldon (six-foot-two, 306 pounds) played three games for the Stamps and made three starts at left tackle including his CFL debut in a Week 13 victory over the Edmonton Elks in the Labour Day Classic. Weldon finished the season on the Stampeders’ practice roster.
Before turning pro, Weldon played 48 games over four seasons at Sacramento State. He was voted first-team all-Big Sky Conference in 2022 after starting 13 games – 11 at right guard and two at left guard – and helping the Hornets set school records with 3,163 rushing yards and 36 rushing touchdowns. Weldon earned second-team all-Big Sky honours in 2021 as he made 12 starts at right guard and was part of an offensive line that allowed just 18 sacks. During his sophomore season, he started 13 games at right tackle.
On Tuesday, the club announced it had signed six Nationals. That list includes defensive lineman Kwadwo Boahen, offensive lineman Rodeem Brown, kicker Campbell Fair, fullback Sebastian Howard, defensive lineman Ryan Leder and offensive lineman Alexandre Marcoux.
Brown played two games for the Stampeders in 2023 while Boahen, Fair, Howard, Leder and Marcoux are all 2023 draft picks who attended Calgary’s training camp earlier this year before returning to university.
The Stampeders also announced that they have released American linebacker Adarius Taylor.
Boahen, a Calgarian who was a third-round draft pick by the Stamps, was a Canada West all-star for the University of Alberta this past season after recording 30 tackles including five tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two pass breakups and one blocked kick. It was his second season with the Golden Bears after three years at York, where he accumulated 55 tackles and five sacks in 21 games and was part of the Ontario University Athletics all-rookie team in 2018.
Boahen played high-school football for the Bishop McNally/Father Lacombe Laserwolves.
A second-round draft pick by the Montreal Alouettes in 2022, Brown signed with the Stampeders in June of 2023 and made his CFL debut as a reserve offensive lineman on Aug. 25. He was the starting centre for a Sept. 30 game at Hamilton.
Before turning pro, Brown played 32 games over four seasons at the University of Alberta. He earned Canada West and U SPORTS All-Star honours at guard in 2021 and also saw action at centre for the Golden Bears.
Fair attended 2023 training camp with the Stampeders and had a brief stint on the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ practice roster before returning to the University of Ottawa.
During the past season, he earned second-team OUA All-Star punter honours after averaging 42.3 yards on 55 punts. As a place-kicker, Fair accounted for 57 points in eight regular-season games for the Gee-Gees including a game-winning 55-yard field goal on the final play of Ottawa’s rivalry game against Carleton. For his career, he was 62 of 88 on field goals and 80 of 83 on extra points with 15 singles for a total of 281 points. Fair also punted 153 times for a 39.3-yard average.
Selected by Calgary in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, Howard returned for a third season at Saint Mary’s after attending Stampeders training camp. He played seven games for the Huskies and had three catches for 15 yards.
Howard previously played one season at the University of British Columbia and one season with the Langley Rams of the Canadian Junior Football League.
Leder finished the 2023 season on the Stamps’ practice roster after completing his final university season at McMaster.
Leder played 38 games over five seasons for the Marauders and recorded 108 total tackles including 16 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles, one blocked kick and three passes defended.
The Stamps’ fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft, Marcoux played eight games for McGill this season and was part of an offensive line that allowed the Redbirds to rank second in the Quebec conference with 149.1 rushing yards per game.
Over his five seasons at McGill, Marcoux saw action at left tackle, left guard, centre and right tackle.
