Toronto Argonauts busy re-shaping roster as CFL Free Agency opens

The Toronto Argonauts front office had their work cut out for them with many of the team's free agents choosing to test the open market. Then as the CFL free agency period kicked off, the organization was not hesitant to go after some notable names available.

Toronto looked down the road to their archrival signing former Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive back Tunde Adeleke. The Canadian struggled with injuries last season that saw him fall out of favour in Hamilton but in Toronto, he could be the solution to the SAM linebacker spot opened up by Adarius Pickett's departure.

However, another signing might provide another option with Quincy Mauger joining the team after getting released by the B.C. Lions. Argos analyst Ben Grant believes Mauger would be the ideal candidate for the SAM linebacker spot and Adeleke could move to the halfback position.

The 28-year-old made 46 defensive tackles, eight special teams tackles, three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble in all 18 games this season.

With some other key additions made to address the team's defensive depth and special teams, the team turned their attention to the offensive side of the ball.

With A.J. Ouellette's deal with the Saskatchewan Roughriders made official, the team made sure to secure its running back room. First, the team made a sizeable commitment to Daniel Adeboboye signing him to a new through to 2025 which is reportedly paying him $224,500 in hard money over the next two years, according to Justin Dunk of 3DownNaton.

It was made known the team was looking to add a veteran running back in free agency and one of the names being linked to the team put to paper on a deal. In a bit of a surprising twist, Ka'Deem Carey will form a new duo with Adeboboye and hopefully, the former Stampeders running back can get over some of the injury issues he had last season.

While losing a fan favourite in Ouellette still hurts Argos fans, they should feel comfortable in having a quality replacement in Carey who led the league in rushing back in 2022. At 31 years old, Carey likely sees a bit of reduction in his role but there should be something left in the tank after he had 476 yards on 89 carries and added 21 receptions for 158 yards in nine games 

Given the financial commitment the team gave Adeboboye, expect to hear his name get called more this season. Not many running backs in the CFL average 7.0 yards per carry, and even with a limited sample size, there is a lot of potential for the 24-year-old.

After getting a deal done with Carey, the team made sure to avoid losing another integral part of the defensive front with Shawn Oakman returning. Oakman's size and ability forces teams to double him which frees up other players to get to the quarterback.

Another intriguing signing was defensive lineman LaDarius Hamilton who signed with the Argos after spending time in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers. Considering the team lost both Brandon Barlow and Dewayne Hendrix, they needed to find some talent to replace them.

How much more the team will look to accomplish remains to be seen but it's hard to argue with the worth they did considering how many players were picked off their roster.