The Montreal Alouettes have signed veteran American returner DeVonte Dedmon.
The 30-year-old was released by the Ottawa Redblacks on Tuesday. He played eight regular-season games in 2025, returning 22 kickoffs for 513 yards, 20 punts for 232 yards, and two missed field goals for 32 yards.
The native of Williamsburg, Va., had his best season in 2021 when he was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. He led the league in punt return yards (737), kickoff return yards (1,223), punt return touchdowns (two), and kickoff return touchdowns (one) that season and was also Ottawa’s nominee for Most Outstanding Player.
The five-foot-ten, 185-pound speedster attended training camp with the Miami Dolphins in 2022 but returned to the Redblacks following his release down south.
In total, Dedmon has returned 128 kickoffs for 3,347 yards, 151 punts for 1,985 yards, 10 missed field goals for 290 yards, and scored six return touchdowns over 42 regular-season CFL games. He has also caught 25 passes for 226 yards, rushed 18 times for 88 yards, and scored twice on offence.
The Montreal Alouettes finished second in the East Division standings in 2025 with a 10-8 record and beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final before losing the 112th Grey Cup to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Davis Alexander went 7-0 as a starter during the regular season, though he missed 11 games due to a hamstring injury.
The Alouettes ranked eighth in net offence, first in net defence, and third with a turnover differential of plus-eight. The club’s leading rusher was Stevie Scott III with 418 yards, the leading receiver was Tyler Snead with 1,129 yards, and the leading tackler was Darnell Sankey with 103 tackles. Montreal finished sixth in attendance with average crowds of 21,132, which was a 0.8 percent decrease from the previous year.
