Alouettes add Walls to vaunted defence

The Montreal Alouettes obtained defensive end Gavin Walls from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for defensive lineman Stan van Sichem on Friday.

The six-foot-two-inch, 235-pound Walls joins a Montreal defence that was the Canadian Football League's best last year and helped the Alouettes capture the Grey Cup title.

"We are excited about adding Gavin to our mix of pass rushers," Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said in a statement. "We feel he can give us a rotation of relentless pressure."

Walls is entering his sixth CFL season and spent the last five years with Winnipeg. He was the league's top rookie in 2005 after finishing second overall in quarterback sacks with 12.

Walls, 30, appeared in 13 games last year, recording 24 tackles, five sacks and a fumble recovery. He has registered 47 career sacks and was a CFL all-star in 2005.

Montreal selected the six-foot-two-inch, 229-pound Van Sichem in the fourth round of the '09 CFL Canadian college draft out of the University of Regina.

Van Sichem began the season on the Alouettes' practice roster before missing the second half of the year with a knee injury.

"Stan is a very fast and relentless football player and we look forward to him competing for a spot on our roster," said Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice.

In other Blue Bombers news, Winnipeg lifted the interim president tag from Jim Bell, who becomes the team's 38th president.

He will oversee and operate all of the Blue Bombers' business operations while vice-president and general manager Joe Mack will handle football operations.

"I am born and bred in this city and province and understand the passion of our fans," Bell, who oversaw the 2006 Grey Cup in Winnipeg, said in a statement. "I am certainly excited and humbled to lead this organization."

Bell joined the Bombers in 2002 as director of finance and four years later was promoted to vice-president of finance and administration.