Fred Stamps is off to Montreal: will we see him return to dominance, or is his 2014 more reflective of what he's capable of now?

It's been quite the week for CFL trades of well-known receivers from Alberta teams, with Calgary sending Maurice Price to Ottawa Thursday and now Edmonton shipping Fred Stamps to Montreal. The latter move went down Friday, with the Eskimos dealing Stamps to the Alouettes in exchange for fellow receiver Kenny Stafford. There are plenty of similarities here to the Price trade, with Edmonton freeing up some space at a crowded position and gaining some cap space as well while bringing in a prospect, and Montreal looking for a more proven option than what they had. However, this deal may be even more interesting considering just how good Stamps has been at times; some of his former teammates have already weighed in on Twitter on just how much they'll miss him. The key question in evaluating this deal may be which Stamps we'll see in Montreal: the guy who posted five straight 1,000-yard plus seasons from 2009-2013, or the guy who only notched 545 receiving yards in 2014.

Until this past season, Stamps had been one of the CFL's best and most consistent receivers. The New Orleans native and Louisiana-Lafayette product joined the Eskimos in 2007 after some brief NFL stints, posting 28 catches for 289 yards that year, then stepped up his production in 2008 to 50 catches for 751 yards. He really broke through in 2009, making 85 receptions for a league-high 1,402 yards, both of which have been career highs for him so far. That season also marked the first of Stamps' five consecutive divisional all-star selections and the first of his four league all-star selections. He's been very good since then too, though, notching seasons with 1,233, 1,153, 1,310 and 1,259 receiving yards, the latter two coming after the Eskimos traded away star quarterback Ricky Ray. Stamps also served as a valuable mentor to some of Edmonton's younger receivers. One, Shamawd Chambers, posted on Twitter about how disappointed he was to see Stamps go:

There's no dispute that Stamps' production took a nosedive in 2014, though. He finished the regular season with just 33 catches for 545 yards and two touchdowns. He started both of Edmonton's playoff games, but didn't record a catch in the West semifinal against Saskatchewan, and had just two receptions for 27 yards in their West Final loss to Calgary. The key question is if Stamps' diminished stats in 2014 came from his own age (he's 33, and seemingly not as fast as he once was), or from the Eskimos targeting him less in favour of other players like Adarius Bowman. If the former, this might not be a great get for Montreal, but if the latter, Stamps could still have some productive seasons in him.

Plenty of receivers have done well in this league at 33 and older, so Stamps might not be a lost cause yet. If he does pan out with the Alouettes, this might look like a saavy move for them. It's probably worth a shot at the very least, as the team's about to lose one top receiver (Duron Carter) to the NFL, and could lose another one (S.J. Green) to free agency. In return, they've given up Stafford, who only has 26 career CFL catches over two seasons. Stafford (who's Carter's cousin, interestingly enough) does have potential, though, and he's just 24. Edmonton clears some cap space and opens up room for their other receivers with this trade, and they get a guy who might develop into something. How this one works out in the end is largely going to depend on what Stamps does in Montreal, though. If he performs at a 2014 level, the Eskimos likely made the right call by jettisoning him. If he returns to his old form, though, this could come back to haunt them.