Adarius Pickett

Adarius Pickett

Pickett with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2024
No. 6 – Ottawa Redblacks
Position:	Defensive back
Personal information
Born:	(1996-09-05) September 5, 1996 (age 28) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school:	El Cerrito (El Cerrito, California)
College:	UCLA
Undrafted:	2019
Career history
Chicago Bears (2019)* Los Angeles Chargers (2019)* New England Patriots (2019–2020)* Montreal Alouettes (2021–2022) Toronto Argonauts (2023) Ottawa Redblacks (2024–present)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:	Active
CFL status:	American
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star (2023) 2× CFL East All-Star (2023, 2024)
Career CFL statistics
Total tackles: 295 Sacks: 12.0 Interceptions: 3 Stats at CFL.ca
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Adarius Pickett (born September 5, 1996) is an American professional football defensive back for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at UCLA.

Early life

His father Antoine Pickett, played minor league baseball for the Kansas City and Oakland systems. Graduated from El Cerrito High School in 2013 were played running back and cornerback, rushing for 1,800 yards and 31 touchdowns, while posting 70 tackles and nine interceptions, including three returned for touchdowns.^[1] At El Cerrito Pickett was named Bay Area News Group East Bay Football Player of the Year during highschool he played on both sides of the ball and on the special teams and got the nickname “Pick-Six” after making many big plays.^[2]

College career

Pickett played in 50 games over four seasons at UCLA, finishing his career with 274 tackles, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, seven interceptions and 20 passes defensed. Pickett led all defensive backs in the nation with 123 tackles as a senior, earning second-team All-Pac-12 for his efforts.^[3]

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Pickett signed with Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent following the 2019 NFL draft but was released on May 5.^[4]

Los Angeles Chargers

On May 16, 2019, Pickett signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.^[5] He was waived on August 31, 2019 and re-signed to the practice squad on September 17.^[6][7] He was released on October 1, 2019.^[8]

New England Patriots

On December 11, 2019, Pickett was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad.^[9] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 6, 2020.^[10] On July 26, 2020, Pickett was released before training camp opened.^[11]

Pickett with the Montreal Alouettes in 2022

Pickett had a tryout with the Tennessee Titans on August 23, 2020.^[12]

Montreal Alouettes

Pickett signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL on June 9, 2021.^[13] In his first season, he played in 14 regular season games where he had 23 defensive tackles, 12 special teams tackles, one sack, one interception, and one forced fumble. In 2022, Pickett played in 16 regular season games and recorded 73 defensive tackles, seven special teams tackles, four sacks, one interception, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.^[14]

Toronto Argonauts

On the first day of free agency, on February 14, 2023, it was announced that Pickett had signed with the Toronto Argonauts.^[15]

In February 2024, he was slated to become a free agent.

Ottawa Redblacks

On February 5, 2024, during the CFL's Free Agency communication window, it was reported that Pickett would be signing a contract with the Ottawa Redblacks once the free agent market opens on February 13.^[16] On February 6, he was officially released by the Argonauts.^[16] His one-year contract with the Redblacks was made official later that day.^[17]

References

1. "Adarius Pickett". patriots.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. Hammon, Stephanie (December 25, 2013). "East Bay Football Player of the Year: Adarius Pickett, El Cerrito". mercurynews.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
3. "Adarius Pickett". Patriots.com. Retrieved May 17, 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}
4. Mayer, Larry (May 2, 2019). "Roster moves: Bears sign 22 undrafted rookies". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
5. "Adarius Pickett Signs with Bolts". Chargers.com. May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
6. "Chargers Announce Roster Moves". Chargers.com. August 31, 2019. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
7. "Chargers Announce Pair of Signings". Chargers.com. September 17, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
8. "Chargers Promote TE Stephen Anderson to Active Roster". Chargers.com. October 1, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
9. "Patriots sign K Josh Gable, DL Eric Lee and DB Adarius Pickett to the practice squad". Patriots.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
10. "Patriots Sign Seven Players to Future Contracts". Patriots.com. January 6, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
11. Alper, Josh (July 26, 2020). "Patriots drop to 80 players ahead of training camp". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
12. @AlbertBreer (August 23, 2020). "And here's today's tryout/visit list. Ex-Ohio State QB Cardale Jones and ex-Lions RB Theo Riddick worked out for Vegas" (Tweet). Retrieved August 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
13. "Alouettes add six players to the nest". MontrealAlouettes.com. June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
14. "Transactions – Football player trades and signings". Canadian Football League. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
15. "Boatmen sign American DB Adarius Pickett". Canadian Football League. February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
16. "Report: Adarius Pickett heading to the nation's capital". CFL.ca. February 5, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
17. "REDBLACKS sign All-Star DB Adarius Pickett to one-year deal". Ottawa REDBLACKS. February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.

External links

• Ottawa Redblacks bio
• Media related to Adarius Pickett at Wikimedia Commons