The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced Friday the football club has signed a trio of national players including re-signing linebackers Nic Cross, who signed a two-year deal, and Enoch Penney-Laryea. The club also added versatile fullback James Tuck.
Cross, 24, played 17 games for the Tiger-Cats in 2023, registering 14 special team tackles and one forced fumble. The 5’10, 210-pound native of Regina, Saskatchewan has suited up in 34 games over his three seasons in the CFL with the Tiger-Cats (2021-23), registering 40 total tackles with 38 special team tackles, two defensive tackles and one forced fumble. The former University of British Columbia linebacker was originally selected by Hamilton in the first round, 9th overall in the 2021 CFL Draft.
Penney-Laryea, 26, played two games for the Tiger-Cats in 2023, registering two special team tackles. The 6’1, 230-pound native of Tuckahoe, New York has suited up in 17 games over two seasons in the CFL with the Toronto Argonauts (2022) and Ticats (2023), registering four special team tackles. The former McMaster University linebacker was originally selected by Toronto in the third round, 26th overall in the 2022 CFL Draft.
Tuck, 33, played 18 regular season games and three playoff games for the Montreal Alouettes in 2023, registering nine receptions for 52 yards. The 6’0, 230-pound native of Aurora, Ontario has suited up in 95 regular season games and 10 playoff games over his nine seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Alouettes (2014-16, ’23), Winnipeg Blue bombers (2016), Toronto Argonauts (2017), Edmonton (2017-21) and Saskatchewan Roughriders (2022), totalling 16 receptions for 135 yards while also factoring in on special teams with 52 special teams tackles.
The former York Lion was originally selected by the Alouettes in the fourth round, 31st overall, in the 2014 CFL Draft. The multifaceted fullback began his career on the defensive side of the ball, seeing time at defensive end and linebacker before moving to fullback full-time in 2015.
