Fresh lemonade: Toronto Argonauts sign veteran CFL pass rusher Shawn Lemon

Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Toronto Argonauts have signed veteran defensive lineman Shawn Lemon, per sources.

Current double blue player personnel director Jim Barker traded for Lemon in 2016 when he the Argos general manager. The pass rusher set a single-season career-high with 14 sacks that season with Toronto.

The 37-year-old most recently played with Montreal Alouettes, spending three years with the team. His best campaign came in 2023 when he recorded 26 tackles, nine sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one touchdown to help lead the team to a 110th Grey Cup victory.

The six-foot-two, 248-pound defender has suited up in 135 regular-season CFL games with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Edmonton Elks, Ottawa Redblacks, Calgary Stampeders, Argonauts, B.C. Lions, and Als, recording 270 defensive tackles, 103 sacks, 30 forced fumbles, three interceptions, two special teams stops and one touchdown.

The Charleston, S.C. native has been named All-CFL once, All-Division twice and won three Grey Cups, one with Toronto in 2017. He earned the West Division’s nomination for Most Outstanding Defensive Player while with the Stampeders in 2022.

Lemon ranks 12th all-time on the three-down league’s career sack list.

The Argonauts (2-4) visit the B.C. Lions (1-4) at BC Place Stadium on Saturday, July 25 with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT. Toronto lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 7 after Canadian kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed a potential walk-off game-winning field goal, while the Leos failed in the team’s comeback bid against the Edmonton Elks.

The weather forecast in Vancouver calls for a high of 22 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1050 in Toronto and 730 CKNW (English) or Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 (Punjabi) in Vancouver.