Montrealer Mathieu Betts among Canadians cut by NFL teams

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Montrealer Mathieu Betts is looking for a new football home.

The CFL’s top defensive player last season was released Tuesday by the Detroit Lions. Betts signed a one-year deal with the NFL club shortly after his contract with the B.C. Lions expired in February.

The six-foot-three, 250-pounder had a CFL-high 18 sacks last season — the most ever by a Canadian player. He also registered a career-high 44 tackles (three for loss), four forced fumbles and a blocked punt.

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Betts, 29, was making his second attempt to crack an NFL roster. He signed with the Chicago Bears in 2019 as an undrafted free agent after being selected with the third overall pick in that year’s CFL draft by the Edmonton Elks.

Betts returned to Canada after being released by Chicago. His decision to sign with Detroit was a calculated gamble as the Lions reached the NFC championship game last season before losing 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers.

The were other Canadian casualties Tuesday as NFL teams trimmed their rosters down to the 53-man limit.

Veteran defensive back Tevaughn Campbell was among the Jacksonville Jaguars’ final cuts. The 31-year-old Toronto native was signed by Jacksonville off the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad in October 2022.

Campbell re-signed with the Jaguars in March 2023 but was released a few months later before being added to the practice squad. Campbell then signed a reserve/future deal with the NFL club last January.

Campbell began his pro career with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders in 2015. He also spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2016-17) and Montreal Alouettes (2017-18) as well as Canada’s national rugby sevens squad.

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Campbell also previously spent time with the New York Jets and Los Angeles Chargers.

The six-foot 200-pound Campbell has appeared in 37 career NFL regular-season games (starting 11, all with the Chargers). He has accumulated 65 tackles (50 solo) with an interception (returned for a touchdown), three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Also Tuesday, the Miami Dolphins released Ottawa native Neville Gallimore. The six-foot-two, 305-pound defensive lineman was in his first season in Florida after signing a US$1.79-million, one-year contract with the team as a free agent.

Gallimore was a 2020 third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys following his college career at Oklahoma. He appeared in 52 regular-season games (14 starts) with the club over four seasons, recording 90 tackles (11 for loss) and four sacks.

Luiji Vilain, also from Ottawa, was let go by Carolina. The six-foot-four, 252-pound edge rusher joined the Panthers last October after being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.

Vilain dressed for one game with Carolina but didn’t register any statistics. He originally signed with Minnesota as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and appeared in three games with the Vikings, registering four tackles.

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Dakoda Shepley, an offensive lineman from Windsor, Ont., was among Dallas’s final cuts. The six-foot-five, 300-pound Canadian joined the Cowboys practice roster last October after being released by the Indianapolis Colts, then signed a reserve-future contract with Dallas on Jan. 16.

The Chicago Bears waived Canadian rookie Theo Benedet. The towering six-foot-seven, 295-pound tackle signed with the NFL club as an undrafted free agent in April after being a four-year starter at the University of British Columbia. Last season, Benedet won the J.P. Metras Trophy as Canadian university football’s top down lineman for a second straight year.

Rookie offensive guard Kyle Hergel, a Toronto native, was waived by the New Orleans Saints. Hergel, who played his final collegiate season at Boston College, signed with the club as a free agent after being bypassed in the ’24 NFL draft.

Saskatchewan selected the six-foot-three, 302-pound Hergel with the third overall pick in the ’24 CFL draft. But the Roughriders are going to have to continue waiting for him as Hergel will reportedly join the Saints’ practice roster if he clears waivers.

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