The Calgary Stampeders are going to have Canadian options on their offensive line next season.
On Thursday morning, the team announced that they’d re-signed Justin Lawrence to a two-year deal that will keep him in Calgary through the 2021 season.
Lawrence, a University of Alberta product, dressed for all 18 regular season games for the Stampeders in 2019, his second year for the team.
He’s part of a young group of Canadian offensive linemen that includes Ryan Sceviour and David Brown who could provide pivotal ratio-breaking capabilities for the Stamps going forward.
Picked in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by the Stampeders, Lawrence came into his own in his second season and proved his versatility by starting six games at centre and one at left guard.
“Justin has shown great progress during his time with the Stampeders and I believe he has room to grow even more,” said Stamps president/GM John Hufnagel in a press release.
With Lawrence and Sceviour back, the Stamps should have some serious Canadian depth on the offensive line. Ideally, it will result in the team starting three Canadians every game.
Shane Bergman is coming off an all-star campaign and is under contract for next season, while Brad Erdos should be healthy again after a knee injury suffered in training camp forced him to miss the entire 2019 season.
The team had been hoping to start three Canadians on the o-line, with Sceviour at centre and Bergman and Erdos playing the guard positions, but the injury to Erdos forced them to play with three Americans starting in most games last season.
With Lawrence signed and having another year of development under his belt, the Stamps should have options in 2020.
Later in the day, the Stampeders also announced two other signings.
The team locked up Canadian linebacker Job Reinhart and American defensive lineman DeShawn Williams.
Reinhart attended training camp in 2019 after being drafted in the seventh round this year but returned to the University of Guelph for a final season.
Williams played with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2016 and is the son of former CFL running back Ronald Williams, who earned division all-star honours on three occasions.
Twitter: @DannyAustin_9
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