Good question ?
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I’m suddenly much more curious about what this comment on 10 Fraser Masins means
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Well according to the 3DN article that reported his signing in Hamilton:
The 24-year-old Australian was selected first overall in the 2025 CFL Global Draft by the Calgary Stampeders, appearing in five regular-season games and recording 27 punts for a 46.0-yard average. He was eventually benched in favour of fellow Global rookie Mark Vassett and finished the season on the practice roster, which made him a free agent at the end of the year.
I’m not sure why he was eventually benched. Might have had a bad game? 
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Isn’t 46.0 yard average good
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I think the context of Noah’s comment seems to suggest that Mason is replacement-level which certainly makes sense with what it says in the article as he was replaced and the guy who replaced him went on to finish third in the league in punting average at 50.0.
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That’s what I thought!
Perhaps @BetweenTheGoalposts can shed some light on this as he is the Special Teams expert on the Forum.
As for Masin doing Kickoffs, according to his stats page, he did not perform those duties in Calgary since that is Rene Paredes’s job.
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Can be but you also have to factor in hang time and the ability for the specials to get down the field. Does he out kick the coverage, is his placement effective in terms of setting up coverage on kicks? Just some things to think about.
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Oh ok thanks
These were offers during tampering window but now official by team
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced today the signing of National defensive lineman Kene Onyeka and American offensive lineman Eric Lofton.
Onyeka, 29, spent the 2025 season with the Ottawa Redblacks, recording one defensive tackle and 11 special teams tackles in 15 games. The 6-3, 244-pound native of Lagos, Nigeria brings seven seasons of CFL experience with Ottawa (2019-2025), appearing in 81 regular season games and totaling 55 defensive tackles, 55 special teams’ tackles, 11 sacks and two forced fumbles. Onyeka was originally selected by the Redblacks in the fourth round (29th overall) of the 2018 CFL Draft.
Onyeka played at Carleton University, earning two First-Team All-Canadian selections (2017, 2018).
Lofton, 32, brings eight seasons of CFL experience (2017-2024), appearing in 40 regular season games. The 6-foot-4, 308-pound native of Lumberton, New Jersey has spent time with the Ottawa Redblacks (2017-2018), BC Lions (2019), Edmonton Elks (2019-2020), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2022, 2024-present), and the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2023).
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The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have signed veteran American returner Mario Alford.
Alford played in 11 regular-season games with the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season. He registered 44 punt returns for 476 yards and 31 kick-off returns for 876 yards with one touchdown. In the 112th Grey Cup win, No. 2 recorded three kick-off returns for 92 yards and three punt returns for 29 yards.
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Wow, kind of funny that they went out and signed Masin a couple of days after my comment 
I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been very wrong on special teams evaluations before. I genuinely hope Masin proves me wrong, balls out in Hamilton over the next two years, and turns into a household name.
That said… this signing doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for me.
A lot of fans were happy with the Bob Dyce hire, but I’ve quietly been worried that his special teams evaluations have slipped over the last few seasons;
- Richie Leone is a CFL legend, but I had him ranked #5 in ‘23 and ‘24, and #7 in ‘25.
- Peter Adjey has been my lowest-graded long snapper two years running with very little competition brought in.
- Lewis Ward has struggled the last couple seasons as well (though I still trust him more than the other two).
At first I chalked it up to Dyce simply having too much on his plate as a head coach and letting his original phase of the game slide.
Now I’m starting to wonder if it’s something more concerning. Maybe he’s just not the same evaluator he used to be.
—
After Calgary’s 2025 season, they made some questionable staff moves, including firing special teams coach Mark Kilam. Their star punter Cody Grace followed Kilam to Edmonton, leaving the Stamps scrambling for a replacement.
So, the Dickenson Bros. selected 2 punters in the Global Draft: Fraser Masin and Mark Vassett.
During ‘25 preseason, I thought Vassett clearly won the job. The team disagreed and named Masin the Week 1 starter. Here are their preseason stats for you to compare yourself;
| Statistic | Vassett | Masin |
|---|---|---|
| Punts | 5 | 4 |
| Avg. | 42.8 | 43.5 |
| Net Avg. | 39.6 | 23 |
| Punts inside 20YL | 2 (40%) | 0 |
| Punts over 50Y | 0 | 0 |
Masin came out of the gate swinging for the fences and had a great performance in Week 1, averaging 57 yards on 4 punts, with his best punt being a 67-yarder that went out of bounds at the 2-yard line. If that version of Masin shows up in Hamilton, you’re in great shape.
Masin did well in week 2, averaging 45.6 yards over 5 punts with a net avg of 44.4 yards. He also had 2/5 punts remain inside the 20-yard line (40%). His third game is where his performance faltered. He only averaged 41.6 yards per punt and had 2 punts sail out of bounds for penalties. Add on a rouge, and his net average fell all the way to just 27.6 net yards per punt, which is abysmal.
Calgary went into their bye, then came back with Vassett as the starter in Week 4. My guess is they always planned to rotate both guys, because Masin got the job back in Week 9.
Across Weeks 9–10;
- Punted 13 times
- 44 avg.
- Just 34.4 net avg.
- 23% inside the 20
- 5 Punts under 40 yards
- Another out-of-bounds penalty
He really seemed to struggle to contain strong returners like Pimpleton and Vaval.
After that, Vassett took over for good. Masin was eventually relegated to the practice roster and didn’t dress again.
I’ll build another table with their season-long stats, and include a CFL-wide average and Constantinou’s stats as I think that tells the story even more clearly;
| Statistics | Masin | Vassett | Constantinou | CFL-Wide Avg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punts | 27 | 71 | 90 | - | |
| Avg. | 46.0 | 50 | 48.3 | 48.4 | |
| Net Avg. | 37.0 | 41.8 (CFL Record) | 38.2 | 37.6 | |
| In. 20Y % | 22% | 32% | 34% | 27% | |
| In. 10Y % | 11% | 11% | 12% | 9% | |
| 50+ % | 33% | 56% | 43% | 45% | |
| <30 % | 3.7% | 1.4% | 3% | 2.1% | |
| Rouges | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | |
| Penalties (No Yards/OoB | 4 (14.8%) | 4 (5.6%) | 7 (7.7%) | 5.7% |
Masin basically graded out below average across most impact categories, especially big punts and penalty rate.
To be clear, I’m not trying to bash the guy. He just looks replacement-level. To me, he fits more into that Jesse Mirco / Joe Couch / late-career Richie Leone tier. Serviceable in a pinch but not someone who moves the needle.
When you compare him to guys like Vassett, Jake Julien, Joseph Zema, John Haggerty, and Jamieson Sheahan, it’s hard to get excited about the signing.
That’s just how I read the numbers, though. He’s had a very small sample size, and I’ve been very wrong before;
All 3 of these guys are on an NFL roster now 
So maybe Masin proves me wrong too. But he has some pretty huge shoes to fill.
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I was expecting a more detailed response.
Thank you for the insight BetweenTheGoalposts. 
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The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced today the signing of American offensive lineman Trevor Reid to a two-year contract.
Reid, 25, played with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2023-2024), appearing in 18 games at left tackle during the 2024 season. The 6-5, 312-pound native of Griffin, Georgia helped Saskatchewan finish second in the West Division with a 9-8-1 record as part of an offensive line that allowed 35 sacks, ranking fourth-fewest in the CFL.
After going undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, Reid signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent. His professional experience also includes time with the Atlanta Falcons (2023) and the Minnesota Vikings (2025).
Collegiately, Reid played at Georgia Military (2018-2019), appearing in 21 games, before transferring to the University of Louisville (2020-2022), where he appeared in 33 games.
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Wow that’s a big signing.
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This o-line might be better than last year
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Two years for Reid is big, if they can keep this line together we could be set for some time.
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Not bad not bad, we need someone who can get us good starting field position.nHope he does the job. He is experienced so thats a plus
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