Hamilton Tiger-Cats trade Johnny Manziel to Montreal Alouettes

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have traded quarterback Johnny Manziel (quarterback), Tony Washington (offensive linemen) and Landon Rice (offensive linemen) to the Montreal Alouettes for Jamaal Westerman (defensive end) and Chris Williams (receiver). The deal also includes first-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

Manziel, a Heisman Trophy winner, made news after signing a contract with the Ticats before the beginning of the 2018 training camp. He played both exhibition games but did not start in any regular season games.

With Manziel now off to Montreal, Dane Evans will take up the role of backing up Jeremiah Masoli when they meet the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday. The two teams are battling for first in the East Division.

Prior to Manziel signing with Texas A&M, the troubled player had committed to play with Oregon State, but after talks with Mike Sherman, who is now the head coach for Montreal, he chose to sign with A&M. The trade now puts the tow back together again, and for Manziel, this is the best place to be after a troubled history in the NFL and the difficulties in finding a team willing to sign him.

Alouettes General Manager Kavis Reed tweeted,

We’ve acquired 🇨🇦 defensive end Jamaal Westerman (@JamaalWesterman), 🇺🇸 wide receiver Chris Williams (@cwillkl80) and two first-round draft picks (2020, 2021) from the @MTLAlouettes in a multi-player deal. #Ticats

DETAILS > https://t.co/wBSy1XyfXu pic.twitter.com/6Eim25iug1

— Hamilton Tiger-Cats (@Ticats) July 22, 2018

Montreal needed a player of Washington’s size after they had released Fulton Xavier. Washington comes in at 318 pounds and stands 6ft, 7 inches tall, and is an opposing force. Washing, who played for two years with the Ticats on Sunday tweeted,

“Thank you to the city of Hamilton for these last 2 amazing years! For the love and support you guys have shown! Crazy biz doesn’t always make sense… keep moving next chapter.”

For his part, at the age of 33, Jamaal Westerman played five games with Montreal after signing as a free agent. Previous to Montreal, he played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2015 to 2017 and played fifty-two games. He recorded 137 tackles, four fumbles and thirty-five sacks. Prior to joining the CFL, he played in in the NFL with the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Chris Williams will be playing for the second time with the Ticats, having previously played for the franchise in 2010, 2011 and 2012. After leaving the Ticats, he played in the HFL for New Orleans and the Chicago Bears.

The CFL season underway, the Tiger-cats will play their first game against the Allouettes on the 3rd of August. For Ticat fans, this is a prime opportunity to show support for their team as the new players take to the field. With the large number of free bets available from our list of Canadian CFL sportsbooks, the opportunities are excellent, especially when you consider the lucrative deposit bonuses up for grabs for future CFL games.