MONTREAL — National offensive lineman Pier Olivier Lestage has signed a deal with the Montreal Alouettes. He joins the team after spending more than a year in the NFL on the Seattle Seahawks’ practice roster. He played three exhibition games with them in 2021.
Lestage (six-foot-three, 310 pounds) was selected in the second round by the Alouettes in the 2021 CFL Draft (10th overall). The former Université de Montréal Carabin signed with the Seahawks following the NFL Draft in May 2021.
The 24-year-old played three seasons with the Carabins. In 2019 he was named a RSEQ first team All-Star and second team All-Canadian. In 2021, the Saint-Eustache, QC native participated in the Tropical Bowl in Florida and the Gridiron College Showcase in Texas.
“We are very pleased with this addition. There is no doubt that Pier-Olivier will solidify our offensive line,” said Alouettes’ general manager Danny Maciocia. “We believed that his selection was a calculated risk because of the NFL, but we now realize that this choice could pay off for us.”
Maciocia knows Lestage well from his time coaching him with the Carabins.
The Alouettes also announced that they have added American defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson and National linebacker Eric Mezzalira to the practice roster.
Johnson (six-foot-two, 290 pounds) burst onto the scene his first year with the University of Colorado Buffaloes in 2018 when he led the team with 8.5 sacks and received an All-Pac-12 first-team nod by the AP. He finished his college career with 17 sacks, 122 tackles and 31 tackles for a loss in four seasons. He was invited to the Atlanta Falcons training camp in 2022.
Mezzalira (six-foot, 225 pounds) registered 11 special teams tackles in 22 games over two seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, who had drafted him in the second round (17th overall) in the 2018 CFL Draft. He helped the team raise the Grey Cup in his rookie season. The Hamilton, Ont. native spent the 2021 season on the Toronto Argonauts’ practice roster before attending the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ training camp in the spring of 2022.
