Rene Paredes ‘progressing’ towards return for Calgary Stampeders

Photo courtesy: James Paddle/CFL.ca

The Calgary Stampeders appear hopeful that Rene Paredes will be ready to rejoin the active roster in the relatively near future.

“He’s doing better,” said head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson on Tuesday. “He does seem to be progressing and that’s a good sign. Jude (McAtamney)’s kicking well, just going to keep thinking about it and let Rene get healthy, but certainly good to see him out there.”

The 41-year-old has a hip injury that’s prevented him from seeing the field so far this season. According to the team’s official report, he was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday.

Paredes has been with the Stampeders since 2011, earning six All-West Division selections, five All-CFL selections, and winning two Grey Cups.

The native of Venezuela, who was raised in Pierrefonds, Que., has made 87.5 percent of his career field goal attempts, which ranks second all-time in league history behind Sean Whyte. He also ranks No. 30 all-time in regular-season games played at 247.

McAtamney, the team’s first-round pick in the 2026 CFL Global Draft, has played well in place of Paredes.

The native of Ireland has made eight-of-nine field goal attempts and 22-of-23 convert attempts. He has the longest field goal of any kicker in the CFL so far this season (57 yards) and the second-longest average attempt league-wide (36.2).

“I think he’s a good player. He did kick in the NFL — it’s not like he doesn’t have some experience. What I’ve liked is he has helped us in our kickoffs because he gets so much height,” said Dickenson.

“Rene can bomb it down there, too, but it just seems like Jude has a lot of height on it and we’ve got a fast team. He’s been improving week-to-week, had a good battle in camp, so I feel like he’s doing the right things. He’s committed to being better, and taking advantage of any opportunity he gets.”

Dickenson also provided an update on Reggie Begelton, who is still recovering from a fractured leg he suffered early last season.

“He’s doing better — maybe not quite as close as Rene, but getting better,” said Dickenson. “Happy to see him out there. He’s a good leader, too, and he holds guys accountable. Once he does play, he will help us.”

Calgary was coy regarding Begelton’s status throughout training camp. 3DownNation reported that he quietly renegotiated his contract at the end of May with the understanding that a return was not imminent. In late June, Dickenson revealed the injury had been more severe than the team initially thought.

The three-time All-CFL selection has made 427 catches for 5,660 yards and 28 touchdowns over 88 career regular-season games with the Stampeders.

Calgary will take on the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday for the second half of a home-and-home. The Alouettes got the upper hand last week, securing a 37-30 win when rookie David Perales knocked down a pass from Vernon Adams Jr. on third-and-two with 15 seconds left in the game.

“We just didn’t make enough plays, and never could kinda really get that lead to the point where it felt like we could take control of the game. We were fighting hard, had great effort, a lot of heart,” said Dickenson.

“I thought we played with great intensity, just not quite enough detailed performance and a lack of communication in a loud, loud environment I think hurt us a bit, but credit to them. They played well.”

The Calgary Stampeders (2-3) will host the Montreal Alouettes (4-1) at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, July 18 with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met at Percival Molson Stadium this past week, where the Alouettes won 37-30.

The weather forecast in Calgary calls for a high of 27 degrees and 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 690 (English) or 99.5 Montreal (French) in Montreal or 770 CHQR in Calgary.