Riders land Hughes, Lions get Willis in 6-team, 4-trade CFL shake-up

Two of the Canadian Football League's biggest defensive stars were each dealt twice in a matter of hours during a wild Friday that saw six teams complete four separate blockbuster trades.

The madness began when the Calgary Stampeders dealt All-Star international defensive end Charleston Hughes to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats along with a 2018 fourth-round draft pick (34th overall) for the Cats' fourth-round picks in 2018 and '19. But within hours the Tabbies flipped Hughes to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.

In a separate blockbuster, the Edmonton Eskimos traded international defensive end Odell Willis to the Ottawa RedBlacks for international defensive lineman Jake Ceresna. Ottawa immediately flipped Willis to the BC Lions in exchange for the Lions' fourth-round pick in 2018 and the rights to an unnamed player on their negotiation list.

The 34-year-old Hughes had spent his entire CFL career in Calgary, where he was a two-time Grey Cup champion and four-time All-Star. His 99 sacks are tied with Will Johnson for the most in Stampeders history.

In 2017, the Northwood product led the league with 11 sacks.

Adams only appeared in three games for the Riders last season as their third-stringer, completing one of his three passing attempts for 8 yards. The 25-year-old is now one of four quarterbacks on Hamilton's roster, and he'll likely compete with Jeremiah Masoli, Everett Golson, and Dane Evans for playing time.

Hamilton had previously dealt quarterback Zach Collaros to Saskatchewan earlier this offseason.

Willis, a nine-year CFL veteran, recorded eight sacks and 22 tackles in 16 regular-season games for Edmonton last year. In BC, he'll line up along with former MOP and 2017 tackle leader Solomon Elimimian to form a potentially lethal duo on the Lions' defense. Together, Willis and Elimimian have combined to record 115 sacks and 937 defensive stops during their stellar careers.

Cerenza joined the RedBlacks out of Cortland State last season. The Connecticut native tallied a pair of sacks in 14 regular-season games as a rookie.