The BC Lions announced two major moves to their receiving room on Wednesday. Alexander Hollins was penciled in to extend with the club through 2025. The second move also involved a star receiver as the Lions announced they were releasing Dominique Rhymes.
WR Alexander Hollins – Extended
Alexander Hollins would have become a free agent on February 13 had a contract not been signed.
“I’m blessed for the opportunity to remain with this great organization that allowed me to prolong my football career,” Hollins stated. “We’ve been building this brick by brick for a couple of seasons and the work has already begun for 2024 and beyond.”
Hollins played a massive role for the Lions especially early in the season amid injuries to other receivers. Between Lucky Whitehead, Keon Hatcher, and Dominique Rhymes the Lions lost 6 man games to injury over just the first 4 games. Over those 4 games Hollins emerged as a star catching 22 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown.
Hollins played a major role for the Lions over the course of the season starting in every game and amassing 78 receptions for 1,173 yards and 9 touchdowns. He added 6 catches for 85 yards in the playoffs.
Hollins season earned his name to be listed as a West Division All-Star last season. He was also named by Pro Football Focus as a Second Team CFL All-Star.
Hollins spent the majority of 2022 on the Lions’ practice roster before starting in week 18 in 2022. He started in the Lions’ final 4 games of the regular season in 2022 recording 13 catches and a touchdown. Over the 2 playoff games in 2022, he caught 8 passes for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Illinois in 2019. He played in 5 games for the Vikings in 2019 recording 2 catches for 46 yards. He was claimed by the Cleveland Browns in 2020 where he spent time on their practice squad until he was waived in December of 2021.
WR Dominique Rhymes – Released
The BC Lions announced the release of star receiver Dominique Rhymes. Last season Rhymes played in 10 games catching 35 passes for 535 yards and 6 touchdowns. Over his 2 playoff games, he added 3 receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown.
“Man, what a ride these past 3 seasons in BC has been. One of the best cities out there. Thanks to all my coaches and teammates ima miss you guys a lot. Made a lot of bonds that will never be broken. Thanks to the fans who believed in me and always supported me.” Dominique Rhymes stated on Twitter.
“We thank Dom for all of his contributions to our team both on and off the field. In the salary cap era, these are the hard decisions we have to make.” Stated Lions’ head coach and Co-General Manager Rick Campbell.
Rhymes entered the league with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2017 and has spent the last 3 seasons with the BC Lions. He has appeared in 75 CFL regular season games over which he has made 250 receptions for 3,925 yards and 24 touchdowns. 2022 was his strongest season when he amassed 85 catches for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns with BC. Rhymes was a CFL All-Star in 2022.
These moves come on the heels of another blockbuster move in the form of receiver Keon Hatcher’s extension. Questions remain for the Lions as fan favorite Lucky Whitehead remains without a contract. The Lions on Tuesday signed 3 American receivers to their roster.
Jonathan Clink on Twitter
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