
The British Columbia Lions traded linebacker Ryder Varga of Regina, Saskatchewan to the Toronto Argonauts for offensive tackle Dejon Allen according to the Canadian Press on Monday. Also going to Toronto is a second round pick in the 2026 Canadian Football League Draft.
Varga has played the last two seasons with the Lions. He was initially the Lions’s third round pick, 29th overall, in the 2022 CFL Draft out of the University of Regina. In the last two seasons, Varga has had 82 defensive tackles, 18 special team tackles, and two sacks. Interestingly, Varga’s two sacks both came against the Ottawa Redblacks. The first came on September 16, 2023 in a 41-37 Lions win and the second came on August 31, 2024 in a 38-12 Lions win. Both games between the Redblacks and Lions were memorable. In 2023, the Lions trailed the Redblacks by 10 points with less than two minutes left. In 2024, the Lions beat the Redblacks in Victoria, British Columbia.
Allen has played the last four seasons with the Argonauts. In that time, he has played in 35 games. Allen was on the Argonauts’s teams that won the 2022 and 2004 Grey Cup titles. He also was honoured by the CFL in 2023. That year he won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award.