Toronto Argonauts Sign Top Offensive Linemen Darius Ciraco to Multi-Year Contract
The Toronto Argonauts have re-signed pending free agent offensive lineman Darius Ciraco to a three-year contract. The All-Star interior linemen will remain an Argo through the 2026 season.
Ciraco is a key re-signing by Toronto ahead of free agency. The legal tampering period commences Sunday, nine days before the start of free agency on Feb. 13.
Toronto recently parted ways with offensive lineman Dariusz Bladek, who signed on with the East rival Ottawa Redblacks. The extension of Ciraco keeps the Boatmen's Canadian core upfront intact, with league standouts Ryan Hunter and Peter Nicastro in the trenches alongside the All-Star Centre.
The Argonauts also recently re-signed another pending free agent and Canadian in linebacker Brian Harelimana.
It's been a busy few weeks for the Boatmen, who are making moves in anticipation of free agency. Toronto now has whittled down its list of pending free agents to 20.
More than a dozen of the 2023 Argos set to hit the open market were in starting and starring roles for last year's record-tying 16-win team.
UPDATED TORONTO ARGONAUTS PENDING 2024 FREE AGENT LIST (*-Canadian),
- Brandon Barlow | DL | Boston College
- Boris Bede | K | Laval
- Dejon Brissett* | WR | Virginia
- Jack Cassar* | LB | Carleton
- Damonte Coxie | WR | Memphis
- Robertson Daniel | DB | BYU
- Andrew Harris* | RB | Nanaimo Raiders Jr.
- Dewayne Hendrix | DL | Pittsburgh
- Trevor Hoyte* | LB | Carleton
- Javon Leake | RB | Maryland
- Benoît Marion* | DL | Montréal
- Wynton McManis | LB | Memphis
- Henoc Muamba* | LB | St. Francis Xavier
- Shawn Oakman | DL | Baylor
- A.J. Oullette | RB | Ohio
- Jamal Peters | DB | Mississippi State
- Cameron Phillips | WR | Virginia Tech
- Adarius Pickett | LB | UCLA
- Robert Priester | LB | Wyoming
- Shane Richards* | OL | Oklahoma State
* Canadian
Ciraco, 27, played 17 games for the Argos in 2023 after signing as a free agent in February and was named a CFL All-Star for the first time in his career after anchoring the middle of an offensive line that allowed a league-low 19 sacks.
The sixth overall pick of the 2018 CFL Draft started his career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, playing 46 games over three seasons as well as starts in back-to-back Grey Cups. Ciraco was the Hamilton nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie in 2018. The Calgary alum spent 2022 with Ottawa, where he suited up in 16 games. Ciraco has played 79 career regular season games, six playoff games and two Grey Cups.
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Mike Mitchell is a pro football writer/insider with decades of experience covering and following multiple leagues. He covers the New York Jets for TheJetPress.com at FanSided. He has also written for XFL Board and at Hub Publishing covering the CFL, XFL and USFL.