Redblacks announce the signing of veteran quarterback Jeremiah Masoli

Shawn Burke and the Ottawa Redblacks jumped-started CFL agency.

Ottawa signed veteran American quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to a two-year contract Monday evening. The move came after Masoli had been released Friday night by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, thus making him a free agent.

Masoli, 33, spent eight seasons with the Ticats, who re-signed quarterback Dane Evans to a two-year contract extension last month. The move to Ottawa reunites Masoli with Burke, who became the Redblacks GM in December following 15 seasons with Hamilton.

The Redblacks were expected to be active in CFL free agency, which officially opens at noon ET on Tuesday. They finished last in the East Division (3-11) and in several of the league's offensive categories last season.

One CFL executive not expecting to be a major player in CFL free agency is John Hufnagel. That's not a huge surprise given Calgary's president/GM has spent much of the off-season re-signing many of the Stampeders' pending free agents.

"I wish I had a few more dollars to spend but I'm comfortable with where we're at," Hufnagel told reporters Monday during a video conference. "I'm more interested in spending money on the players that I know a lot about who are good football players and I think we've done that.

In fact, Hufnagel said Calgary's biggest off-season splash was signing Canadian linebacker Cam Judge on Friday. That move came hours after the Stampeders acquired Judge's rights from Toronto for the rights to Canadian defensive back Royce Metchie, who also quickly signed with the Argonauts.

With the majority of CFL players signing one-year contracts, GMs annually face a staggering number of pending free agents at season's end. For many front-office executives like Hufnagel, a big