If Michael Sam is a success with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes, the NFL might not get a shot at him until 2017.
Sam’s two-year deal is essentially two one-year contracts, with Montreal holding the option for 2016, Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp told PFT on Friday. The club has until the end of 2015 to exercise the second year of the deal.
Short of the Alouettes terminating the contract, Sam’s playing rights will belong to Montreal for the duration of the deal, Popp said. Also of note: the NFL’s CBA forbids clubs from signing “any player who in the same year has been under contract to a Canadian Football League club at the end of that CFL club’s season (regular season or postseason, whichever is applicable).”
The Alouettes have had interest in signing Sam, the former Rams and Cowboys defensive end, since last year. Negotiations “heated up really strong last week,” Popp said Friday.
Sam will work at both defensive end spots in Montreal, where he will get a chance to show he can get after the quarterback, especially on obvious passing downs.
“He can really turn and bend the corner,” Popp said, noting that Sam has “a great first step.”
The Alouettes already have an accomplished end in John Bowman, a 32-year-old Wingate (N.C.) University product who’s notched double-digit sacks in five of the last six seasons. And as Popp noted, Sam can also seek guidance from Alouettes defensive quality control coach Anwar Stewart, a recently retired productive pass rusher for Montreal.
As Popp sees it, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound Sam’s skill set suits the Canadian game well.
“He’s just a classic tweener that excels in the CFL as a rush end,” Popp said.
