Toronto Argonauts Add Quarterback Insurance with Familiar Face
The Toronto Argonauts have announced the signing of quarterback Nick Arbuckle just six days before the team's first preseason game against the Montreal Alouettes. To make room for Arbuckle's return to the Six, Toronto has released quarterback Hunter Raquet and wide receiver Savon Scarver.
The addition of Arbuckle gives the Boatmen added veteran insurance with the suspended Chad Kelley out until late August, and behind presumed opening day starter Cameron Dukes and the inexperienced Bryan Scott. The veteran pivot's history with head coach and play-caller Ryan Dinwiddie, under whom Arbuckle had his best success in the CFL, gives Toronto a security blanket if Dukes and Scott cannot progress or perform at a top level.
Arbuckle, 30, returns to Toronto after playing for the Argonauts in 2021, when he appeared in seven games (four starts), throwing for 1,158 yards and five touchdowns before a trade sent him to the Edmonton Elks late that season. The 6-1, 213-pound signal-caller started two games for the Ottawa Redblacks last season after being traded from Edmonton midseason in 2022. The California native dressed for five games (three starts) with Edmonton in 2022 and 12 games with five starts with Ottawa.
The Georgia State product began his CFL career with the Calgary Stampeders in 2018 under the learning tree of Dinwiddie. He eventually got seven starts in 2019, where he threw for more than 2,000 yards and 11 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 73%. Arbuckle's starring turn off the bench led to increased interest from CFL teams before he landed with his former coach in Toronto.
Life works in mysterious ways. In October 2021, the Argonauts traded Arbuckle to the Elks for a conditional 2022 2nd-round draft pick and the negotiation rights to former Ole Miss and NFL QB Kelly. The trade cemented then-starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson and opened the door for Kelly to play Grey Cup hero and take the CFL by storm.
Nearly three years later, the suspension of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 2023 has brought Arbuckle back to Toronto. Once thought of as potentially the Argos franchise quarterback, Arbuckle gets a second chance at redemption while the man who assumed that mantle in his absence is away.
We have signed QB Nick Arbuckle. pic.twitter.com/gRGgsnqY7i
— Toronto Argonauts (@TorontoArgos) May 19, 2024
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