Montreal Alouettes sign Cameron Dukes, place McLeod Bethel-Thompson on six-game injured list

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The Montreal Alouettes have signed American quarterback Cameron Dukes, who was released by the Toronto Argonauts at the conclusion of training camp.

The 27-year-old native of Shepherdsville, Ky. made nine starts with the Argonauts last season during Chad Kelly’s lengthy suspension. He completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 1,444 yards, seven touchdowns, and six interceptions and rushed 57 times for 321 yards and four scores.

The six-foot, 210-pound passer originally signed with Toronto ahead of the 2023 season. He dressed for 18 regular-season games as a CFL rookie, completing 65 percent of his passes for 760 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also rushed 35 times for 126 yards and eight scores.

The Alouettes have also placed McLeod Bethel-Thompson on the six-game injured list with an elbow injury.

The 37-year-old native of San Francisco, Calif. joined the Alouettes after being acquired via trade from the Edmonton Elks this offseason. He completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 957 yards, four touchdowns, and five interceptions this year, going 1-4 as a starter in place of Davis Alexander. The seven-year veteran previously threw for 17,009 yards, 94 touchdowns, and 60 interceptions over six seasons as a member of the Argonauts and Elks.

Head coach Jason Maas told the media that Caleb Evans, who replaced Bethel-Thompson partway through last week’s loss to Edmonton, would take over as the team’s starter.

Montreal has also released American defensive lineman Byron Vaughns and American defensive back Brandin Dandridge.

Vaughns played seven regular-season games this year, making four starts and recording eight defensive tackles and one special teams tackle. The six-foot-four, 245-pound native of Fort Worth, Texas signed with the team in May following a stint with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent.

Dandridge signed with the team last week after being a free agent since January. The five-foot-eleven, 180-pound native of Lee’s Summit, Mo. has played 40 career CFL regular-season games with the Ottawa Redblacks, recording 90 tackles, 11 interceptions, four forced fumbles, and two touchdowns.

The Montreal Alouettes (5-4) will visit the B.C. Lions (4-5) at BC Place Stadium on Saturday, August 16 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Alouettes suffered a late collapse against the Edmonton Elks last week, while the Lions completed a comeback win over the red-hot Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 in Montreal and 730 CKNW in Vancouver.