On Tuesday, the Toronto Argonauts traded QB Nick Arbuckle to the Edmonton Elks for a conditional 2022 second-round pick, and negotiations list rights to QB Chad Kelly.
Nick Arbuckle is a 28-year-old from Enfield, Camarillo, California. He played college football at Georgia State. Arbuckle played 25 games in two seasons, with the Panthers completing 566 passes for 7,651 yards, 51 touchdowns, 29 interceptions, and eight rushing touchdowns.
In 2015, Arbuckle set a new Sun-Belt record with 4,368 yards passing and 4,273 yards of total offense, passing Troy’s Levi Brown. He also set a new record at GSU with 307 competitions and 28 touchdown passes. He was named All-Sun Belt First Team.
After college, Arbuckle went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft and signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers but was later released. Then, he signed with the Calgary Stampeders and became a backup to Bo Levi Mitchell.
Arbuckle got playing time in his second season in 2018, completing 17/25 passes for 144-yards, one touchdown, 35 carries for 73-yards, and five touchdowns as the Stampeders won the Grey Cup.
After Bo Levi Mitchell injured his shoulder in Week 3 of the 2019 season, Arbuckle was the new starting quarterback. He played in 18 games with 174 completions for 2,103 yards, eleven touchdowns, five interceptions, 27 carries for 76-yards, and four touchdowns. In 2020, Arbuckle was traded to the Redblacks but was released in January 2021.
In February, he signed with the Argonauts. He played in seven games with 96 competitions for 1,158 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions.
Chad Kelly is a 27-year-old from Buffalo, New York, and is the nephew of former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. Chad Kelly played college football at Clemson, East Mississippi Community College, and Ole Miss.
At Clemson, Kelly played in five games with ten competitions for 58-yards and one touchdown. After Clemson, he transferred to East Mississippi Community College for one year and played twelve games with 303 passes for 3,906 yards, 47 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. After EMCC, he transferred to Ole Miss for his last two years.
He completed 503 passes for 786-yards, 50 touchdowns, 31 interceptions, 187-yards rushing, and fifteen touchdowns. In 2016, he led Ole Miss to a 48-20 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl and was named MVP.
After college, he was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and played one game for them. Unfortunately for Kelly, he was released by the team following his arrest on suspicion of first-degree criminal trespassing of a residence after leaving a Halloween party. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespassing for the incident.
That same year, he signed with the Indianapolis Colts and was suspended for the first two games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. After that, he spent most of his time on the practice squad and was released by the team in September 2020.
In addition to the trade, the Argonauts signed WR Brian Jones. Jones is a 27-year-old from Enfield, Nova Scotia, and played college football at Acadia University. He played in 20 games in three seasons with the Axemen and had 113 catches for 1,394 yards and eight touchdowns.
After college, he was drafted by the Argonauts in the first round of the 2016 CFL Draft. He played in twelve games with twelve catches for 128-yards and one touchdown. He played twelve more games in two seasons with the Argo’s before being traded to Saskatchewan during the 2018 season. Again, he played in ten games with two catches for twenty yards.
In 2019, he signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and played nine games, primarily on special teams. The Tiger-Cats released him in June 2021.
One more news regarding the Argonauts and Elks is their regular-season game from August 26th which was postponed due to COVID has been rescheduled for Tuesday, November 16th, at 7:30 pm on ESPN+.
