Former Auburn wide receiver Sammie Coates has signed with the Edmonton Elks, the Canadian Football League team announced on Wednesday.

Coates’ most recent game came on March 1, 2020, when he caught two passes for 16 yards in the Houston Roughnecks’ 27-20 victory over the Dallas Renegades. But the XFL suspended its season shortly after that because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced they had signed Coates in December 2020, but he never played for the CFL team.

Edmonton opens its two-game preseason schedule on May 22 against the Calgary Stampeders and kicks off its 2023 regular-season schedule on June 11 against the Roughriders.

Coates won the Class 2A Back of the Year Award while playing on Leroy’s 2010 state championship team, and he also was an All-State baseball player for the Bears.

At Auburn, Coates caught 82 passes for 1,757 yards and 13 touchdowns in three seasons, including setting a Tigers’ Iron Bowl record with 206 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions in a 55-44 loss to Alabama in 2014.

A third-round choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2015 NFL Draft, Coates caught 19 passes for 421 yards and two touchdowns, with six receptions that gained at least 40 yards, in the first five games of his second season. At that point in the 2016 campaign, Coates led the NFL with an average of 22.2 yards per reception.

The fifth game of that season was the best of Coates’ career. He caught six passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-13 victory over the New York Jets. But he also broke his left index finger and ripped a gash in his left hand that required seven stitches. Later in the season, Coates broke the ring finger on his left hand and sustained a groin injury. The injuries limited Coates to two receptions for 14 yards for the rest of the 2016 season.

During the offseason between the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Coates had groin and knee surgeries. The knee surgery took place in July, and Coates didn’t hit the practice field in training camp until Aug. 16. The Steelers traded Coates to the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 2, 2017.

Coates caught six passes for 70 yards for Cleveland in 2017. He played in 11 games, getting on the field for 92 offensive snaps and 148 special-teams plays for the Browns while dealing with shoulder, ankle and knee injuries.

In 2018, Coates played in 12 games with the Houston Texans, getting on the field for 37 offensive snaps and 137 special-teams plays. He caught one pass for 12 yards.

In 2019, Coates was on the roster of the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was released during the offseason program.

Coates had six receptions for 61 yards for the Roughnecks when the XFL’s season ended abruptly. Houston had the league’s only unbeaten record at 5-0.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.