A little less than 12 hours after the end of the Canadian Football League draft, the general manager of the Montreal Alouettes, Danny Maciocia, was confident of being able to quickly count on his first choice, Lévisian Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, and this, even if the linebacker is courted by the Miami Dolphins.
The linebacker, who played his college football at the Universities of Syracuse and Memphis, has his attention focused on Florida, where the NFL team has invited him to its mini-camp, from May 10 to 12 next ones.
“Danny Maciocia is a man I respect a lot. In the conversations we had, we were always very honest with each other, Cantin-Arku said by videoconference on Wednesday. But I am a competitor and I show up to this mini-camp with only one idea in mind: to make the team. Without taking anything away from the Alouettes, the NFL is the opportunity of a lifetime. Danny knows about this. […] I am very confident for this camp. »
“That said, if I don’t make the team in Miami, I won’t wait for another call from the NFL. I will take the opportunity that Montreal offers me,” added Cantin-Arku.
“We knew he had the offer from Miami. We asked him, if things didn’t work out for him there, if he would be interested in coming and joining us a few days later. He told us yes,” explained Maciocia, met a few hours earlier in the Alouettes offices at the Olympic Stadium.
“He’s a guy we know very well: we’ve seen more than 900 of his repetitions on special teams and more than 1,000 others on defense between Syracuse and Memphis. We spoke to his coaches. We did our research and we are very comfortable with this selection,” he continued.
“There are a lot of players who would dream of being in my position right now,” added Cantin-Arku. I think of all my American friends who, if they don’t get a call from the NFL, football is over for them. I could have gone to San Francisco too. […] In my head, to stay good at football, I have to play, and in Montreal, I would have the opportunity to do it from the first match. »
Cantin-Arku considers it a gift to have been drafted by the Alouettes.
“Without taking anything away from other CFL teams, I don’t think I would have been as happy with my plan B if it had been in Edmonton or far away in Canada. It’s been five years since I left home. Knowing that I can realize my childhood dream of playing in the NFL, or doing it at home in Quebec, I couldn’t hope for better. »
Precedents in this type of situation
This is not the first time that the Alouettes’ football operations have decided to take a chance with a player linked to an NFL club. In the recent past, we only have to think of Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Pier-Oliver Lestage, Lwal Uguak or Jonathan Sutherland, first choice of the Alouettes last year.
“We are not afraid, because we want the best player,” noted Maciocia. You have to calculate carefully when making these selections. It went well with Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Lwal Uguak, Pier-Olivier Lestage. It didn’t go so well with Sutherland. We are still waiting in his case. We might see it this year. We do not know. »
“It’s important to seek out information [dans ces cas-là]. Having a good network allows you to have the right information. The other aspect is the financial side: how much money is attached to the player? [Theo] Benedet [qui a été repêché au 15e rang par les Lions de la Colombie-Britannique] has US$100,000 guaranteed [avec les Bears de Chicago]. At that price, he might be on the NFL practice squad for two years. We have to take all that into account,” explained Maciocia.
The coveted player
But regardless, NFL or not, Cantin-Arku was the player coveted in the first round by Maciocia and his group.
“In recent weeks, we knew that at number nine, he was someone who could be available. We had five players on our roster, and he was at the top of it. I almost made a trade to improve our draft rank. In the end, it didn’t work, but it worked because he was still available,” Maciocia explained of Cantin-Arku.
At the Alouettes, we are already thinking about how to use it this season.
“It’s certain that he will be able to contribute to special teams,” said the Montreal general manager. In some defensive schemes, he’s a guy who can play linebacker with [Tyrell] Richards. He’s a guy who gives us options. If we ever wanted to change the ratio, we could do so. I’m not saying we’re going to do it in 2024, but he’s a guy who gives us a lot of flexibility on the defensive end. »
So, is Maciocia putting the cart before the horse with Cantin-Arku, planning this far ahead in his case?
“He’s going to mini-camp [des Dolphins], so after three days we’ll have a better idea of what kind of weekend he had in Miami. There is no guaranteed money in his case. It’s a bit similar to the case of Lwal Uguak in Atlanta last year. I wish him good luck, but he knows that if it doesn’t work out, there is a team waiting for him to come home,” concluded Maciocia.
Worthy released
The Alouettes continue to put the finishing touches on their roster before the start of their training camp on May 12 in Saint-Jérôme, and it appears that receiver and punt return specialist Chandler Worthy was no longer part of the plans of the team.
In his two seasons in Montreal, Worthy amassed 1,220 and 1,136 yards in punt returns, scoring two touchdowns in 2022 in this phase of play.
As a receiver, his use was more sporadic, but he still caught 14 passes for 124 yards.