MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes announced on Tuesday that the club has signed a new deal with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., which goes through the 2022 season.

Adams Jr. (5’11”, 200 lbs.) just completed his fourth season in the CFL and has established himself as the team’s starting quarterback. He was a spark plug for the Alouettes’ offence, which helped the team finish with a 10-8 record, good for first place in the East Division and a first playoff appearance since 2014.

“We are extremely happy to have retained Vernon’s services for the next three season,” said Alouettes General Manager Danny Maciocia. “On top of being one of the CFL’s most exciting players, Vernon has shown great progression and stretched many plays and drives thanks to his decision making abilities. His desire to win quickly made him an important leader on our team.”

The 26-year-old finished second in the CFL with 24 touchdown passes and dominated the league with 13 touchdowns (12 rushing and one receiving). The Passadena, CA native completed 283 of his 431 passes for 3,942 yards in only 16 games. The American was the CFL’s biggest threat on deep plays, as he completed 45 passes of more than 20 yards for a total of 1,406 yards. He also kept opposing defences on their heals as he rushed for 394 yards, maintaining an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He had a passer rating of 100.9 for the season.

“The Alouettes showed they have faith in me with this new contract, and I am excited to continue the work we started last season,” declared Adams Jr. who was voted an East Division All-Star in 2019. “I love this city, I love the fans. We built a special relationship last year, and the best is yet to come.”

Acquired by the Alouettes in 2016, Adams Jr. has a 13-6 record as a starter in the CFL. Following stops with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats , the quarterback returned to Montreal in 2018, working hard to be become the starting pivot.

“This is excellent news for the Alouettes,” affirmed Head Coach Khari Jones. “Vernon worked hard all season long and gained his teammates’ respect. You could tell that the players believed in him when he was behind the line of scrimmage. They gave it their all for him because he left everything out on the field. That’s exactly what you want from a starting quarterback.”

On September 21, 2019, Adams Jr. orchestrated the Alouettes greatest comeback in team history, as the team came back from a 24-point deficit against the eventual Grey Cup Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers, en route towards a 38-37 win in what was an electric evening at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.