Drew Desjarlais

Drew Desjarlais (born April 24, 1997) is a Canadian professional football guard for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Windsor. He has also been a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL, as well as the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).

University career Desjarlais played CIS football for the Windsor Lancers from 2015 to 2018.

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers Desjarlais was drafted fourth overall in the first round of the 2019 CFL draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and signed with the team on May 11, 2019, despite receiving interest from the NFL. He made the team's active roster following training camp and played in his first professional game on June 15, 2019, against the BC Lions. He dressed as a backup for the first eight games of the season before making his first start on August 15, 2019, also against the Lions.

After the 2020 CFL season was cancelled, Desjarlais did not play in 2020. He played in all 14 regular season games in a shortened 2021 season. In the post-season, he started both games as the Blue Bombers repeated as Grey Cup champions over the Tiger-Cats in the 108th Grey Cup game.

New England Patriots On January 27, 2022, Desjarlais signed a reserve/future contract with the New England Patriots. He was waived on August 30, 2022.

New Orleans Saints On September 1, 2022, Desjarlais was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad. He was released off the practice squad on September 20, 2022. He was re-signed on November 9.

Ottawa Redblacks On January 30, 2023, it was announced that Desjarlais had signed with the Ottawa Redblacks to a two-year contract. The deal was reported for an average annual value of $255,000, which made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league.