The Montreal Alouettes acquired the rights of offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif from the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday. The Montreal team gave up two conditional choices.
If the former McGill player signed an agreement with the Alouettes or any other CFL team, Montreal would send its next second-round pick to Calgary. The Stampeders would then have the option of reversing the next first-round pick with the Alouettes, if it turns out to be higher than Calgary’s.
If the Alouettes do not have a first-round pick the following season, this option would apply the following year. “We are pleased to have been able to proceed with this transaction. Lawrence [est] a football icon in Montreal and Quebec,” said Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia, in a press release.
“We wish Laurent the best of success for the continuity of his football career and are satisfied that if it continues in Canada, it will be in a city and a stadium that he knows very well,” he added. .
Duvernay-Tardif played 54 games in five NFL seasons, helping the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl at the end of the 2019 season.
In 2020, the former Phénix du Collège André-Grasset received the Lou Marsh trophy (tied with Alphonso Davies), awarded to the athlete of the year in Canada. The 31-year-old Quebecer, who juggles a career as a doctor and a professional athlete, has chosen not to play in the NFL in 2020 and to focus on his career in medicine, at the heart of the pandemic, in order to help those who needed it most.
This decision earned him one of the prestigious titles of Sportsman of the Year, awarded annually by Sports Illustrated. Sixth round pick (200e in total) in the 2014 NFL Draft, Duvernay-Tardif played eight games with the New York Jets last season.
The Stampeders claimed him in the third round (19e in total) in the 2014 CFL Draft.