Ottawa Redblacks release starter Martez Ivey

Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Ottawa Redblacks have released American offensive lineman Martez Ivey, the team announced on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old started the team’s first two regular-season games at right tackle. The Redblacks have allowed three sacks and averaged 4.6 yards per carry so far this season.

It appears Zack Pelehos, who started three games at the position in 2025, will start at right tackle in place of Ivey.

“Zack went in there last week, I thought he played well,” head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie told the media on Wednesday. “Zack never changed his approach when Ivey was playing, he came to work every day and handled things the right way.”

“We brought Martez in for a reason — tackle’s a very important position. We handled that in February with Martez, but we like our youth on the practice roster right now. We feel like we’ve got two good American tackles, so that allowed him to be expendable.”

The native of Apopka, Fla. spent the past four seasons with the Edmonton Elks, and made 18 regular-season starts at left tackle in 2025. He was named All-West Division in 2024.

Ivey started his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts in 2021, dressing for one game with the team. At the time, Ryan Dinwiddie was team’s head coach. The blocker was traded to Edmonton prior to the 2022 season.

The six-foot-three, 305-pounder was twice named second-team All-Southeastern Conference at the University of Florida. He went unselected in the 2019 NFL Draft but signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. Ivey also had stints with the Carolina Panthers and the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers.

The Ottawa Redblacks (0-2) will visit the Montreal Alouettes (2-1) at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday, June 28 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Redblacks lost 44-24 to the Toronto Argonauts last week, while the Alouettes lost to the Edmonton Elks in overtime.

The weather forecast calls for a high of 28 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1200 in Ottawa or TSN 690 (English) or 99.5 Montreal (French) in Montreal.