The Montreal Alouettes have signed a pair of Australians to contract extensions, inking punter Joseph Zema to a new two-year deal and bringing back his backup Sam Clark on a three-year deal.
“Joseph has quickly adapted to the CFL since joining us. He knows exactly where to place the ball on punts, and his accuracy greatly helps our team,” Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia said in a statement. “As for Sam, he made tremendous progress this year while being part of our development team and he will continue to improve. The return of these two players is excellent news for our team.”
Zema is entering his fifth season with the Alouettes after being selected with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2021 CFL Global Draft. The 30-year-old punted the ball 106 times for an average of 46.7 yards in 2024, finishing seventh in gross average and sixth in net average. He added six punt singles and placed seven kicks inside the 10-yard line.
Through 68 career CFL games, the native of Melbourne has averaged 46.6 yards across 382 punts. He won a Grey Cup with the Alouettes in 2023.
Clark spent the entire season on the Alouettes practice roster after being selected ninth overall in the 2024 Global Draft. He played 11 games with the James Madison Dukes in 2022 where he punted the ball 49 times for an average of 43.3 yards. The Lilyfield native previously played for the Sacramento State Hornets, where he averaged 41.8 yards through two seasons and was named to the All-Big Sky third team in 2021.
