First reported by Farhan Lalji of TSN on Twitter, there’s a strong possibility that the Alouettes quarterback, Vernon Adams Jr. may just be headed to the BC Lions.
Lalji went on to say on social media that it: “Could be done by Wed. I’ve heard a 1st round pick is the likely return. VA’s elbow is completely healthy & BC is close to his home in Tacoma…”
To say that the BC Lions in the CFL are in dire need of a quarterback right now would be putting it way too mildly. Nathan Rourke is out with a foot injury—is currently recovering from surgery right now in fact—and that might be for the entirety of the season from this point on sadly.
His replacement that started the last game they had against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Michael O’Connor, suffered a groin injury early in that game and may be out for a significant period of time as well.
O’Connor’s replacement, Antonio Pipkin, entered the game and through no fault of his own, entered the game a tad frazzled. He did the absolute best he could have done at that point, but he was still apologetic at press a press conference following the game, he taking responsibility and looking to the future. Here’s some of what he had to say:
“Honestly…just a little hurt after…I got here after camp…after getting through that tough grind…this locker room truly welcome me with open arms…true brotherhood…ultimately there weren’t enough plays out there to be made for us to win that game…I just need to do my job in the third and the rest take care of itself…no excuses…I’m not a first year player in this league by no means…that was my first meaningful reps…we can build off of some of that…”
via Antonio Pipkin / Transcribed by CFL News Hub – D. Marinelli
But as it looks right now, it seems as though the BC Lions are possibly thinking of a new mainstay for that QB position. Rick Campbell, head coach for the Lions credited Pipkin for doing his absolute best, but this possible move seems to be his next course of action, if it comes to fruition that is.
Enter Vernon Adams Jr.
The Pasadena California native has had quite the CFL career. He has been with the Alouettes (2016-2017), The Riders (2017), The Ti-Cats (2018) and finally returned to the Montreal Alouettes that same year.
It has been in this more recent run with the Als, that he garnered for himself the most amount of attention and accolades (CFL East All-Star, CFL rushing touchdowns co-leader), and now with this possibility of he possibly being acquired by the Lions, many believe that this can possibly turn the last bit of bad luck the team has suffered most recently around. He’s got great stats and the aforementioned Farhan Lalji, who broke the story, believes that it most certainly puts the Lions back into the Grey Cup conversation.
*For all of your 2022 CFL Season News: CFL News Hub
***Breaking News*** – Mere moments after the original draft of this article went live, it was officially announced that the BC Lions did in fact acquire Vernon Adams Jr. “Getting a player of Vernon’s calibre provides a big boost to our offence as we continue pushing for a return to the playoffs,” stated Neil McEvoy, who is the BC Lions co-general manager/director of football operations. Vernon is happy with the move, according to cfl.ca.
