Bombers sever ties with Randall

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This article was published 21/09/2009 (5854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have severed ties with quarterback Bryan Randall.

The club acquired QB Ricky Santos from the Montreal Alouettes on Monday in exchange for defensive ends Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne and made room for the new pivot by dumping Randall, who has been here for the past year and a half.

Randall was seen as a quarterback-of-the-future prospect upon his arrival last season after a spectacular career at Virginia Tech and bouncing around the NFL. But his performance in the Banjo Bowl loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders  – he was two of nine for 26 yards and two interceptions – all but sealed his fate here.

Winnipeg has three quarterbacks on its roster: veteran Michael Bishop, Santos and the recently-signed Casey Bramlet.

  "We very happy to acquire a quarterback with the skill set Ricky possesses. We feel he has the capability to be a contributor in this league and for the Blue Bombers," said Bombers’ Director of Player Personnel John Murphy.

Essentially a fourth-stringer in Montreal, Santos was a star at the University of New Hampshire after starting for the Wildcats for four years and going 37-14. A three-time Division 1-AA All-American, Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006 as the top offensive player in I-AA. During his stay at UNH Santos, 25, threw for 13,212 yards and 123 touchdowns and had his No. 2 jersey retired by the school.

He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2008 before joining the Alouettes last year but has primarily been on the practice roster, buried behind Anthony Calvillo, Adrian McPherson and Chris Leak.

"Ricky is a player we really believed in and he was a great teamate, but this trade creates opportunities for both parties," said Alouettes’ Vice President and General Manager Jim Popp. "It gives Ricky an opportunity to get on the field quicker and we gain two valuable non-import players who will give us flexibility to make potential ratio changes down the stretch. This trade is the result of numerous injuries to our non-import players."

Shipping Johnson and Mayne came a day after the Bombers traded for defensive end Odell Willis from the Stampeders and with the impressive showing of newcomer Phillip Hunt, ex of the University of Houston, upon his arrival last week. Willis was part of the deal that sent receivers Romby Bryant and Arjei Franklin to Calgary in exchange for receivers Titus Ryan and Jabari Arthur while the two teams exchanged 2010 draft picks.

Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca