The Edmonton Elks made a couple of moves on Wednesday. First, they signed former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coats Jr. to a one-year contract. Then, they traded offensive lineman Jesse Gibbon from the Montreal Alouettes for a 2024 second round draft pick.
Sammie Coats Jr., a 29-year-old from Leroy, Alabama, was with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for a couple of seasons but did not play a game. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Coats in the third round (87th pick) in the 2015 NFL Draft.
In addition to the Steelers, Coats was with the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans with 29 catches for 528 yards, two touchdowns, four carries for 14 yards, and six kick returns for 150 yards in 44 games, of which six were starts.
In 2020, Coats played for the Houston Roughnecks (XFL) with six catches for 61 yards in five games.
Collegiately, Coats played three seasons at Auburn (2012-14) with 82 catches for 1,757 yards, and 13 touchdowns in 37 games for the Tigers. He was named Second-team All-SEC in 2014 after making 34 catches for 741 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games.
Jesse Gibbon, a 26-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario, played seven games for the Edmonton Elks in 2022. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats drafted Gibbon in the first round (2nd pick) in the 2019 CFL Draft. He played 42 games in three seasons in Hamilton that included two trips to the Grey Cup.
In addition, he attended rookie minicamp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. On September 2nd, 2022, Gibbon was traded to Edmonton. Collegiately, Gibbon played 32 games in four seasons at Waterloo (2015-18) at left tackle for the Warriors.
