Ottawa Redblacks release starters Amari Henderson, Demerio Houston

Photo courtesy: Ottawa Redblacks

The Ottawa Redblacks have released American defensive backs Amari Henderson and Demerio Houston, the team announced on Monday.

Henderson made six starts at field-side halfback this season, recording 20 defensive tackles.

The six-foot, 182-pound defender originally signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2022. He spent three seasons with the team before joining the Ottawa Redblacks in 2025.

Over 52 career regular-season CFL games, the 28-year-old has made 147 defensive tackles, one special teams tackle, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

Houston started all eight of the team’s regular-season games this year, including six at boundary cornerback and two at field-side cornerback. He made 23 defensive tackles and one special teams tackle.

The 29-year-old native of Shelby, N.C. has played 58 career regular-season CFL games as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Calgary Stampeders, and Redblacks. He has tallied 198 defensive tackles, four special teams tackles, 11 interceptions, one sack, one forced fumble, and one touchdown.

The five-foot-eleven, 170-pound defender won a Grey Cup with the Blue Bombers in 2021 and was named All-CFL in 2023.

The Ottawa Redblacks (0-8) will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-4) at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, August 14 with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The Redblacks suffered a 42-20 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, while the Blue Bombers were on bye.

The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for 23 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 1200 in Ottawa or 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.