OTTAWA — Following a year where he finished tied for the CFL lead in sacks, and earned All-CFL honours for the second time in his career, Lorenzo Mauldin IV is staying home.
The Ottawa REDBLACKS have reached a one-year contract extension with the star American defensive lineman, the team announced on Friday.
Mauldin was slated to become a free agent on February 11 and was ranked No. 16 on CFL.ca’s top 30 pending free agents list.
“Lorenzo has solidified himself as one of the CFL’s most disruptive pass rushers since he joined us in 2022,” said REDBLACKS head coach Bob Dyce. “He is a dominant presence on our defensive line, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome him back for the 2025 season.”
“I’m proud to be with RNation for another year. I can’t wait to create more memories together, and continue building on our success last season,” said Mauldin. “We were close last year, and close is never what we aim for. We want to shoot for reaching our goal, and that’s the 2025 Grey Cup. Go REDBLACKS. Let’s go.”
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LOZO MAULDIN FORCES A FUMBLE #GCPlayoffs on CTV, TSN, & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/2GbrS7ZKKf— CFL (@CFL) November 2, 2024
2024 was Mauldin’s third season in the nation’s capital, after spending three years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The 32-year-old finished tied with teammate Michael Wakefield with a league-leading eight sacks, also recording a career-high 52 tackles, and matching his best mark of two forced fumbles. The prolific season earned Mauldin All-CFL honours for the second time in his career, and he has now received the nod twice in the last three seasons.
A native of Sacramento, California, Mauldin was a third-round pick out of Louisville by the New York Jets in 2015. He would go on to suit up in 26 NFL games over the span of three seasons, racking up 33 total tackles, along with six and a half sacks. He joined the Ticats in 2019, where he’d appear in 17 games over two seasons, notching 13 total tackles and four sacks.
Mauldin wasted little time when he arrived in Ottawa for the 2022 campaign, setting a franchise record with 16 sacks, and earning his first All-CFL nod. He also became the first player in REDBLACKS history to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award, and first by an Ottawa player since current REDBLACKS defensive line coach Greg Marshall took it home in 1983.
The 2023 campaign saw Mauldin re-up with Ottawa, recording 30 tackles and five sacks in 17 games, before signing an extension ahead of the 2024 season.