[TheRob]

Lions to trade WR Frank Cutolo

TSN.ca Staff
6/14/2005 2:05:57 PM

Frank Cutolo's days with the B.C. Lions are at an end.

The team told the veteran wide receiver that they are working to trade him, and had a deal on the table with an East Division team that fell through in the last minute on Monday.

Last week, Sherrod Gideon became one of the first cuts at Lions' training camp, leaving Cutolo as the favourite to fill the starter's role.

Cutolo was named CFL Most Outstanding Rookie after a successful 2003 season. He finished second in the league in combined yards with 2,339 and tied for second in punt return yards with 553, playing in all 18 regular season games.

Last season, Cutolo totaled 47 catches for 786 yards and nine touchdowns.

Prior to his time with the Lions, Cutolo had stints with both the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe.

In other Lions' news, the team made 10 cuts, the most notable being defensive end Mawuko Tugbenyoh. Tugbenyoh had six sacks for the Lions last season, second on the team behind Brent Johnson (10). Tugbenyoh had spent time with both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears before joining the Lions.

Also gone are longsnapper Bill Chamberlain, cornerbacks Sam Cunningham and Jerome Acy, wide receivers Pierre Brown, Herb Haygood, Scott Lunde and Stephen Stokes, defensive tackle Nigel Tharpe and defensive back Scott Plummer.

Meanwhile, linebacker Kelly Lochbaum may require surgery after suffering a separated shoulder in Sunday's exhibition game against Saskatchewan, while the team managed to make another trade, sending defensive back Da'shann Austin to Ottawa for future considerations.

Too bad. I always thought Cutolo was a good player.

On another note, I thought their unies looked great the other night. Really sharp. The white helmets look sharp.