Guide to the 2025 Calgary Stampeders: New season brings massive changes for CFL squad
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A new year. A new attitude. And for the most part, a new team.
The Calgary Stampeders are hoping it all adds up to a new era — one of winning to restore the pride of the flagship franchise and to erase the follies of the last few Canadian Football League campaigns.
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“Yeah … we’re different,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson, whose blueprint during the off-season was marked by a major upheaval of the roster and coaching staff.
“We decided to go in a different direction,” continued Dickenson. “We have to grow, but we don’t have a lot of time to grow, meaning let’s start off and get working and show up and play well.
“But … yeah … it definitely has changed here.”
They’ll find out just how much soon enough.
Come Saturday, the Stampeders take the field for the 2025 CFL season, with a much different feel and look, kicking off the 18-game regular schedule with a home contest against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium (5 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge, TSN).
“We’ll get Hamilton in here, and we’ll see what we can do,” added Dickenson. “There is a good attitude, and the guys feel like they want an opportunity to go compete.”
The team
How much change has been brought on by the Stamps?
The turnover has been tremendous — with 34 of the 70 rostered players in Year 1 with the Stampeders — proving Dickenson, president Jay McNeil and special adviser John Hufnagel were serious about their off-season plan to aggressively alter the roster.
It was their mission to shake up all aspects of the franchise, and they’ve certainly succeeded with the on-field personnel.
“We went into the off-season saying things that we’ve been doing we’ve got to improve on,” Dickenson said. “We’ve got to improve all areas of our team.”
They think they’ve done that — and the pre-season returns looked good in that vein.
On defence, the number of new players is eye-popping.
“On defence, we might have 12 different starters,” declared Dickenson. “Offensively, there’s a little bit more continuity.”
The offence
That said, the spotlight change coming into 2025 is at the quarterback position.
Gone is Jake Maier, who endured plenty of criticism in his two-plus years as an anemic starter.
In as the undisputed leader, given his charisma, is Vernon Adams Jr. The 10th-year CFL QB is bold and brash and can run the football as well as throw it.
Even his nickname — ‘Big-Play V.A.’ — lends to the change wanted at that position.
“We want our fans also to feel like it’s maybe a different look and a different feel and a different vibe,” Dickenson said. “And we thought Vernon would help us there.
“Flash is good. It’s about winning, though.”
The team also went out and got a few new shiny weapons for Adams, including receivers Dominique Rhymes and Tevin Jones — both CFL stars in their career — and young Damien Alford — picked first overall in the 2025 CFL Draft.
“I’m very excited,” Adams said. “I like us. I like what we did in free agency. We got some size and some speed. And we’ve got some depth. I’m excited about this year, about everybody we picked up.
“We’re going to build our own identity here, and we’re going to start to turn this ship around.”
The defence
It became quite the project on the other side of the ball for the Stamps.
So much so that the defence is foreign to fans, with just a handful of returning players on the 2025 roster.
The changes are everywhere, with linemen Mike Rose and James Vaughters, linebackers Cam Judge and Micah Awe and defensive backs Demerio Houston, Branden Dozier, Tre Roberson and Kobe Williams all no longer with the Red and White — and those are just the high-profile names.
However, top pass-rusher Folarin Orimolade returns to the Stamps, with whom he was with from 2018-22, bringing plenty of promise of increased pressure up front. ‘Flo’ is the prized return from the trade sending effective linebacker Judge to the Toronto Argonauts.
To boot, it’s now longtime NFL coach Bob Slowik running the show as defensive coordinator, replacing Brent Monson, who took the brunt of the coaching blame — along with longtime special-teams boss Mark Kilam — for the Stampeders’ failures the last few seasons. Both Monson and the popular Kilam were fired by the franchise immediately after last season closed without a playoff game for the club for the first time in 20 years.
The Stamps are hoping 71-year-old Slowik brings what the defence needs to make a turnaround.
“I can’t say that it always works, but I do think sometimes a fresh voice or fresh voices — in this case with the staff that we have — maybe will make a difference,” Slowik said. “You also need some new blood as far as the roster goes. That can’t remain the same, either. So we’ll see how things go.
“I know we’re going to start from the ground up. That’s what I can tell you. We’re starting with fundamentals and staying with fundamentals and not trying to get too far ahead of the game.”
The cuts
The team was finalized Sunday ahead of the league’s cutdown deadline.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the axe of receiver Cam Echols, who proved dynamic in limited action for the Stampeders in his rookie season of 2024.
Fellow speedy pass-catcher Ishmael Hyman was also cut ahead of the deadline.
“We wanted to get different types of (receivers), meaning we want some size, some speed, some quickness and some backups,” Dickenson said. “The guys that we brought in did a good job — showed that they were starters.
“We drafted Damien Alford number one. He’s ready to go now. So we got a little bit more depth than we’ve had. And sometimes, if you know guys and if injuries happen and you want to bring vets back, I think you can do that. And with the young guys. I think it’s sometimes important to take a little bit longer look and try to develop those guys.”
The release of QB Logan Bonner means it’s an entirely new quarterback room for the Stampeders this season.
“Just made the decision,” said Dickenson, on keeping rookie Josh Love over incumbent Bonner, who was with the Stamps the last two seasons. “I have to admit, though, that I thought our quarterback room was solid and playing well and did some good things and made the decision tough.”
Here are the final cuts …
• American quarterback Logan Bonner
• American running back Tiyon Evans Jr.
• American receiver Josh Ali
• American receiver Cam Echols
• American receiver Joseph Ngata
• American receiver Terrell Vaughn
• National defensive back Daniel Amoako
• American offensive lineman William Barnes
• American offensive lineman T.J. Session
• National long snapper Jason MacGougan
• National defensive lineman Kail Dava
• American defensive lineman Dashaun Mallory
• American defensive lineman Alex Nobles
• American linebacker Trey Kiser
• American defensive back Darren Evans
• American defensive back Cyrus Fagan
• American defensive back Jeremy Lucien
• American defensive back Deshawn Pace
• National defensive back Dolani Robinson
• American defensive back Shon Stephens
Here are those players added to the practice roster …
• American receiver Daylen Baldwin
• American receiver Kaylon Horton
• National receiver Vyshonne Janusas
• Global receiver Tommy Wilson
• American offensive lineman Preston Nichols
• Global punter Mark Vassett
• Global kicker Jordan Noyes
• American defensive lineman Shaun Peterson Jr.
• National linebacker Nicky Farinaccio
• American linebacker Kelechi Anyalebechi
• American defensive back Marloshawn Franklin Jr.
• American defensive back Anthony Johnson Jr.
Here are those players placed on the retired list and returning to university …
• National offensive lineman Matt Stokman
• National defensive lineman Max von Muehldorfer
• National defensive back Ashton Miller-Melancon
The schedule
Regular season
• v. Hamilton, Saturday, June 7, 5 p.m.
• at Toronto, Saturday, June 14, 2 p.m.
• v. Ottawa, Saturday, June 21, 2 p.m.
• Bye week
• v. Winnipeg, Thursday, July 3, 7 p.m.
• at Saskatchewan, Friday, July 11, 7 p.m.
• at Winnipeg, Friday, July 18, 6:30 p.m.
• v. Montreal, Thursday, July 24, 7 p.m.
• at Ottawa, Thursday, July 31, 5:30 p.m.
• v. Winnipeg, Saturday, Aug. 9, 5 p.m.
• Bye week
• v. Saskatchewan, Saturday, Aug. 23, 5 p.m.
• v. Edmonton, Monday, Sept. 1, 4 p.m.
• at Edmonton, Saturday, Sept. 6, 5 p.m.
• Bye week
• v. BC, Friday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m.
• at Montreal, Friday, Sept. 26, 5 p.m.
• at BC, Saturday, Oct. 4, 5 p.m.
• at Hamilton, Saturday, Oct. 11, 1 p.m.
• v. Toronto, Saturday, Oct. 18, 5 p.m.
• at Edmonton, Friday, Oct. 24, 5:30 p.m.
Post-season
• Division Semi-Finals, Saturday, Nov. 1, 4:30 p.m.
• Division Finals, Saturday, Nov. 8, 4:30 p.m.
• Grey Cup in Winnipeg, Sunday, Nov. 16, 4 p.m.
(All times Mountain)
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