The former Kansas City Chief, and New York Jets guard who famously opted out in 2020 to help COVID 19 patients could be headed north of the U.S. border to continue his career. Currently a free agent he is currently still hoping to be picked up by an NFL team. 

Montreal Stays Aggressive

If push comes to shove Montreal is not a terrible fallback plan. One thing is for certain, the Alouettes could certainly use his skills on their offensive line this season as they have quickly fallen to a 1-4 record. Both quarterbacks have been under pressure fairly often.

The rights originally belonged to the Calgary Stampeders but Montreal sought to improve their offensive line and traded two conditional draft picks to acquire the NFL offensive lineman should he come to the CFL. Montreal is pulling out all the stops using an interesting gimmick to lure the doctor allowing him to put M.D. on his Jersey. 

Trade Details

If Duvernay-Tardiff decides that Canada is his best opportunity in 2022, the Stampeders will make out like bandits. They will receive Montreal’s second round pick, while they also have the option to swap first round picks with Montreal should their first round pick end up lower than Calgary’s. 

Currently the Stampeders are undefeated at 4-0, while Montreal has slipped to 1-4. There is a good chance that should Montreal successfully lure the offensive lineman, they will be forced to swap first round picks as well. 

Performance As of Late

On the surface it may appear that his job in Kansas City disappeared during his attempts to fight Covid 19 to a certain extent that statement is correct. However, his play had been slowly slipping leading up to this point. The offensive guard drafted in 2014 was never an elite player at the position in terms of NFL grades.

According to PFF.com Duvernay-Tardif’s grades his first year as a starter were solid. He scored a 67.3 overall grade following a season in which he played all 809 snaps at right guard. For the next two seasons he watched his grades rise. From 67.3 to 68.7 in 2016, and again in 2017 to 71.6. Duvernay-Tardif has shown on several occasions that he is hovering around great in pass protection but left something to be desired in run blocking.

In 2018 he began what would end up being a slump that carried through the 2019 season as well. After scoring a career high in overall grade in 2017, things didn’t go as well since then. in 2018 he dropped to a 66.3 overall grade. The following year, 2019, things only got worse for the guard.

He would post his lowest grades of his career in the run game to this point. Despite scoring over 70% in the passing game again, he hit an embarrassing 48.5 run grade. This resulted in an overall grade of 57.2. After the 2019 season is when he decided to opt out. Taking a season off in the middle of a statistical slump likely was not his best choice in terms of his football career, which just makes his choice to do so that much more admirable.

Traded For The First Time

Following the season away the Chiefs decided to move on. Trading the 6’5 321 guard who isn’t known as a run blocker to the Jets in exchange for a tight end named Daniel Brown. Brown was essentially a ticket to toss a dart at the board and hope it stuck, and nothing more to KC. The Jets however believed in Duvernay-Tardif enough to give him another chance to play significant snaps.

He would go on to start the first 7 games of the 2021 season, before being relegated to the bench following week 7. At that point the Jets had collected just one victory in 7 weeks. This was his overall worst season of his career so far. Scoring an overall of 53.2, with his run blocking actually taking the cake at 55.5. However the Jets had seen enough despite playing just 8 games he allowed 1 sack, and was penalized twice neither of which are terrible. The thing that seemed to seal his fate, was that his passing grade came back to Earth and hit a career low of 52.5.

Could Montreal Clean House Before 2023?

Through just 5 games the Alouettes have allowed 15 sacks and watched as their starting quarterback, and running back got injured. Making this move makes a lot of sense on both sides, it also could be a 100% meaningless side note in a so far forgettable season for Montreal fans. One thing is for certain it seems Danny Maciocia is feeling the pressure to win now. It’s seems increasingly more likely as losses pile up that the Alouettes could look to clean house following the 2022 season. 

Stay with CFL News Hub for the 2022 season.