Montreal Alouettes couldn’t wait for QB Alexander to be 100%

Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander (10) walks off the field after being defeated by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 112th CFL Grey Cup, in Winnipeg on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

The Alouettes couldn’t wait for quarterback Davis Alexander to recover 100 per cent from his left hamstring injury before reinserting him into the lineup if they hoped to make the playoffs.

That’s what Montreal general manager Danny Maciocia revealed on Wednesday during the Alouettes’ end-of-season review.

Along with head coach Jason Maas, Maciocia gave a generally positive assessment of the Alouettes’ season, but admitted that the team could not afford to give its star quarterback all the time he needed to fully recover from the injury that plagued him until the Grey Cup final.

Nevertheless, he emphasized his team’s perseverance, while giving all the credit for the Alouettes’ success over the past three years to Maas, whose leadership is “the sole reason” the team found itself competing in a second Grey Cup in three years.

On the field, Maciocia’s priorities will include finding a No. 2 quarterback capable of winning and trying to bring back as many players as possible from the club’s core.

In the case of a backup quarterback, Maciocia stressed that the Alouettes need to find a way to win games and have a productive offence without Alexander, something they were only able to do three times in 11 games this season.

McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Caleb Evans and James Morgan have all been used as starters, with mixed results.

Of the three, only Morgan has a contract for next year. Among the free agents he identified as priorities, he mentioned receiver Tyson Philpot. The 25-year-old Canadian will become a free agent in February if he does not sign a new deal with the club before then.

On Tuesday, Philpot made it clear that he wants to be among the highest-paid receivers in the CFL. When asked if Philpot deserves to be paid like a top-10 or top-20 player in the league, Johnston and Maciocia responded that they could come to an agreement if he wants to be in the top 20.

What’s the price for a worthy No. 2 quarterback and a raise for Tyson Philpot?

Maciocia suggested that because of the salary cap, he will have to make choices, wondering if those choices could cost a Pier-Oliver Lestage or a Marc-Antoine Dequoy, both of whom could become free agents, for example.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 19, 2025.