Eskimos to sign former Argos RB Cory Boyd

It didn’t take long for Toronto Argonauts castoff Cory Boyd to find a new home in the Canadian Football League.

The tailback reached a verbal agreement with the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday, just hours after the Argos announced they had released Boyd, who leads the CFL in rushing this season with 447 yards on 82 carries.

“Cory will be flying into Edmonton Monday morning, where he will take a physical and sign a new contract with our club,” Eskimos general manager Eric Tillman said in a statement released by the team.

“We feel that Hugh Charles, Calvin McCarty and Cory Boyd will give us one of the best backfield combinations in our league.” Charles is fifth in CFL rushing this season with 400 yards.

At 4-2, Edmonton is first in the West Division but has struggled in the running game as a team.

The Eskimos are last in the eight-team league in average yards gained per rush at 4.4 and rank seventh in most yards net rushing (524) and average yards rushing per game (87.3).

Boyd rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his two full seasons with Toronto, and also caught 83 passes for 551 yards and four touchdowns.

After rushing for 168 yards and a TD in a 36-27 loss to Hamilton on July 14, Boyd had run for 130 yards combined over his last three contests, including just 23 yards on eight carries in Toronto's 18-9 home loss to B.C. on Aug. 6.

"Numbers are going to mislead you from time to time," Argos first-year head coach Scott Milanovich said. "Cory certainly did a lot of good things this year and you can argue the fact he is leading the league in rushing but there's more to playing tailback than the numbers.”

"You can read between the lines. The bottom line is we felt like we needed to get more production there and whether than happens or not remains to be seen but we're moving ahead. Chad is going to have a great opportunity to do that and we'll see what he can do with his opportunity."