With rookie camps completed and training camps already underway, CFL football is officially back.
As teams begin their preparations for the 2026 season, which begins June 4 on TSN, every franchise has one big question heading into the new campaign that needs to be answered.
Two big names moved on from Montreal this off-season, with receiver Austin Mack heading west to Edmonton and safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy retiring.
The Alouettes have made the playoffs for the past six seasons and the East Final for the past four years, so replacing the production on both sides of the ball that these veterans have left will be key in keeping these streaks alive.
Let’s start offensively, where the team didn’t go out and make a big free-agent splash at the position, but instead will look for the collective group to step up.
Someone capable of even more responsibility is Tyler Snead, who, at 5-foot-7 and 172 pounds, was fantastic in the slot last season while embodying the Alouettes’ swagger.
The 26-year-old in 2025 finished top six in receptions (84), yards (1,129), and yards after the catch (461), all of which were career highs. Over the past three seasons, among receivers with over 200 targets, Snead’s 71.9 per cent catch rate sits second, just below Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Nic Demski (72.1 per cent)
So, Snead gets a ton of targets, catches almost all of them, and makes positive things happen with after the catch ability. Add in a more polished intermediate and vertical game, which popped as well last year, and there’s not much he can’t do.
He’ll be joined by Canadian Tyson Philpot and Cole Spieker, who both finished top 15 in yards after catch last season alongside Snead. The team also signed Jerreth Sterns, who posted career highs in Winnipeg last season in catches (48), yards (530), and majors (four).
It’s a very solid group, and if Snead can replicate or even improve on his 2025 numbers in a larger role and Philpot can stay healthy, it’s a receiver room that can more than make do without Mack.
Defensively, the Alouettes are more insulated at the safety position than at wideout, as they have multiple Canadians ready to step up.
Former first-round pick Jonathan Sutherland (who signed this off-season after starting his career in the NFL), second-round pick Nate Beauchemin, and third-round pick Arthur Hamlin will all seemingly compete for that starting spot, all of whom would be capable of doing so.
Montreal also went out and drafted three other safeties in the 2026 Canadian draft in Shakespeare Louis, Harrison Daley, and Cyrus McGarrell, adding even more support at the position.
There aren’t very many other qualms about this Alouettes roster, and if the collective efforts of both the receiver and safety position groups can make up for the veteran losses, a seventh straight playoff appearance and fifth straight Eastern Final appearance should be the expectation.
