As the 2026 season approaches, CFL.ca is here to catch you up with the 5 Things To Know series. Each article will look at key storylines facing each team this season, while examining off-season movement and where your team might stand in 2026.
As the 2026 season approaches, the defending East Division champion Montreal Alouettes can feel secure in the knowledge that they have a vast swath of veteran star power returning to their line-up.
While roster consistency generally prevails in Montreal, that does not mean the Alouettes are not looking at a few significant changes dotted throughout the line-up.
Other changes — like those to the middle linebacker, receiver and return positions — are by design, with the team hoping they can continue if not surpass the productivity of the veterans they have said ‘so long’ to.
Here are five things to know about the 2026 Montreal Alouettes.
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1. THEY APPEAR TO HAVE FOUND SOME COMFORT AT THE BACK-UP QUARTERBACK POSITION
Quarterback Davis Alexander’s 2025 season was plagued by a hamstring injury, originally occurring early in the season and then being aggravated at least three more times as the year wore on.
He appeared in just eight regular season games and when he wasn’t on the field, the Montreal offence suffered greatly.
When he was out there, the Als’ offence moved very fluidly.
So, job one for the Als this season is to keep Alexander healthy and in action, that is painfully clear.
Job two — which was actually job one during the off-season — was to ensure the Alouettes had a suitable back-up in place behind their franchise QB, one who they could be fairly certain could keep Montreal marching when they have the ball.
Out are last year’s understudies; McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Caleb Evans, James Morgan and Shea Patterson.
In signing former REDBLACKS quarterback Dustin Crum, the Alouettes should feel more comfortable about QB2 than they did in 2025.
In 2025, Crum appeared in 17 games for the REDBLACKS, including six starts, throwing for 1,771 yards, six touchdowns and only two interceptions.
It certainly looked like the 27-year-old emerged as more than a run-first, checkdown-pass quarterback.
2. A BIG CHANGE AT THE HEART OF THE DEFENCE
STUFFED!
Geoffrey Cantin-Arku gets in for the sack! #CFLGameDay
🗓️: @MTLAlouettes vs. Elks LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, RDS
🇺🇸: CBSSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/gymhlGa0Oz— CFL (@CFL) June 20, 2025
The Alouettes will have a new look in the middle of their defence in 2026, after releasing veteran Darnell Sankey — an East Division All-CFL linebacker last season — in December.
After watching 2024 first round pick Geoffrey Cantin-Arku play so well in a rotational role in his first two seasons (71 tackles, nine sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions in 36 games), the Alouettes decided it was time for the native of Lévis, QC to take over at middle linebacker.
It’s assumed the 27-year-old will get every opportunity to make the position his own this season, but the Als recently brought in a little insurance in the form of veteran linebacker Micah Awe, the 2025 CFL tackles leader (114) who was released by the BC Lions after they’d gone out and signed Sankey.
3. DIRECTLY BEHIND THE HEART OF THE DEFENCE, ANOTHER BIG CHANGE
Defensive back Jonathan Sutherland returns to Canada looking to make his mark in Montreal’s secondary (Penn State)
Veteran free safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy called it a career earlier this winter, announcing his retirement after five terrific seasons in Montreal, where he was twice named an All-CFL safety (2023 and 2024).
Fast, smart and hard-hitting, Dequoy will not be at all easy to replace but the Als need to do it and they have a number of candidates they can look at including their fifth overall pick in the 2023 draft, Jonathan Sutherland.
Sutherland spent the last three years looking to lock down an NFL gig in places like Seattle, Las Vegas and New York, but signed with the Als this past January.
In addition to Sutherland, Montreal has second-year man Nate Beauchemin in the mix as well as last year’s back-up to Dequoy, Arthur Hamlin.
4. THE RECEIVING CORPS GETS A NEW COAT OF PAINT
The Als still have stars like Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead and Cole Spieker remaining in the line-up for 2026, but the team did part ways with a couple of other familiar faces this past off-season, when they released Austin Mack (now in Edmonton) and opted not to re-sign Charleston Rambo, who remains a free agent.
So, two of five receiving spots are in play this spring, and the Alouettes appear prepared to fill those vacancies well.
Alexander Hollins, who served as a depth player for Montreal last season, was extended this off-season and he is a prime candidate to step back into a starter’s role, a role he had with the BC Lions in 2023 and 2024 (139 receptions for 2,110 yards in 34 games).
In free agency, the Als signed former Saskatchewan and Winnipeg receiver Jerreth Sterns, who is expected to step up after catching 131 passes for 1,471 yards in 37 appearances over the last three seasons.
5. GOODBYE TO A BURNER, HELLO TO ANOTHER ONE
Devonte Dedmon turns on the jets! #CFLGameday
📅: Alouettes vs. @REDBLACKS LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, CTV, RDS
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/1c6gS5URLf— CFL (@CFL) October 18, 2025
There are changes afoot in the Montreal return game for 2026.
James Letcher Jr., Montreal’s primary return man over the previous two-and-a-half seasons after he replaced Chandler Worthy midway through the 2023 campaign, was released by the Als just ahead of free agency, landing with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
In Letcher’s place, the Alouettes have another established return star in their midst, signing former Ottawa REDBLACK DeVonte Dedmon to a one year deal.
Dedmon averaged than 26.1 yards per kick return over 42 games in six seasons with Ottawa, and 13.1 yards per punt return, with three punt return TDs, and three kick return TDs.
