The 113th Grey Cup does not belong to Seattle, but it certainly has a Seattle feel to it. Sunday’s final in Calgary between the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes has pulled together three former Seattle Seahawks, and that is not the sort of detail you just shrug off in a league where roster paths are usually fragmented and forgettable. This one has a little extra bite to it.
Joel Dublanko, Samson Sutherland and Pier-Olivier Lestage are all part of Grey Cup 2026, each arriving there by a different route and each carrying a different kind of football baggage. That is the appeal here. This is not some vague “former NFL player in the CFL” headline. It is a clean little reminder that the Seahawks’ orbit has reached all the way to the CFL’s biggest game.
Joel Dublanko is the name that jumps out first
Dublanko is the most direct link between Seattle and the 113th Grey Cup, and the most significant. After being on Seattle’s preseason roster in 2022, he joined the CFL in 2024 as the top Canadian draft pick and has since become part of Edmonton’s push toward a title. He also recorded sacks, fumble recoveries and an interception in 2026, which is the sort of production that makes a former practice-squad name far more than a trivia answer.
For Edmonton, the timing matters. The Elks are chasing their first Grey Cup title since 2015, which makes every contributor feel bigger than they might in a more comfortable season. Dublanko is not there as a decorative storyline. He is there because he has earned a real role on a team trying to close a long championship gap.
Two more Seahawks threads run through Calgary
Pier-Olivier Lestage’s path is different, but just as revealing. He entered the picture in 2021 as a UDFA out of the University of Montreal, then spent a year on Seattle’s practice squad before being released in 2022. He went on to win a Grey Cup in 2023, which is a pretty sharp reminder that not every NFL detour is a dead end. Some players simply need a different stage.
Samson Sutherland is the quieter connection, but it still belongs in the frame. He signed with Seattle in 2023 and now finds himself tied to the 113th Grey Cup as part of the broader Edmonton-Montreal showdown. Not every roster link has to be dramatic to matter; sometimes the value is in the pattern itself. Seattle has a way of showing up in places you might not immediately expect.
And then there is Jamaine Howsare, whose Seattle connection dates back to 2016, when he spent two weeks on the practice squad during the regular season. That may not sound like much, but it is part of the same football map. A short stay in Seattle can still be a marker on a longer career route, especially when that route eventually leads to the Grey Cup conversation.
A Grey Cup with a little extra familiar texture
The broader context adds more weight. Montreal entered the game after losing the previous Grey Cup to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, while Edmonton arrived with a very obvious mission: finally end the wait that has stretched back to 2015. So the stakes were already real before the Seahawks connection was even mentioned.
That is what makes this final interesting. The 113th Grey Cup is not just a championship game in Calgary. It is also a meeting point for players whose careers brushed past Seattle and Washington state before landing in the CFL spotlight. For one weekend, the old practice-squad paper trail, the preseason auditions and the quiet roster moves all feed into a very visible stage. That is football’s version of a late twist: the names you almost forgot are the ones standing under the brightest lights.
