The Saskatchewan Roughriders have their eyes on the NFL transaction wire, but they’re not burning up the phone lines contacting players in search of employment.
“You always have to be looking to try to improve your football team,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. “But at the same time, we’ve got a good locker room, so it has got to be the right person that we’d look to bring in and help us.”
Each NFL team has been trimming its roster to get down to the league-mandated 53-man limit, so the market is going to be flooded with players who don’t sign with other teams or land on practice squads.
Some players may be on the negotiation lists of CFL teams and those squads may be interested in adding those players to their rosters. The rights of other players may not currently belong to CFL teams, so those athletes could be reaching out to Canadian teams in hopes of finding jobs.
Three players with ties to the Roughriders were released by their respective NFL teams over the past two days.
Linebacker Jeff Knox Jr., who spent parts of three seasons (2015-17) with the Roughriders before being released this past off-season, was let go by the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans had signed Knox on Aug. 21, three days after he had been cut by the Washington Redskins. The Redskins had added him on Aug. 11, three months after he had been released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The New York Jets cut defensive back Kacy Rodgers II, who spent the previous two seasons with Saskatchewan. Rodgers signed with the Jets in February.
Jones said the Roughriders have yet to speak to Rodgers — and their level of interest is unclear.
“We’re so loaded at the DB position; that’s the one area,” Jones said. “We’ve got Marcell (Young) sitting over there at No. 9 (on the depth chart) for us, so it really makes it tough for us.”
The Jets also released offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley, whom Saskatchewan selected in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2018 CFL draft. The Roughriders drafted the UBC Thunderbirds product even though he had signed with New York before the lottery.
Reports suggest Shepley — who reportedly received a significant signing bonus from the Jets — could yet land on New York’s practice squad.
“Murph and JO have been talking to him all along through the NFL experience,” Jones said, referring to assistant vice-presidents of football operations John Murphy and Jeremy O’Day. “As of right now, we don’t have anything to report.”
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Statistically speaking, the Roughriders’ defence is one of the toughest to play against in the CFL.
According to quarterback Zach Collaros — who faces the defence daily in practice — the statistics don’t tell the whole story.
“Day 2s around here are never fun for the quarterback because you get to see what our defence is going to do for that week and you don’t have a lot of time to figure it out,” Collaros said.
“It has definitely helped the quarterbacks here moving forward week to week, just playing against that speed in practice. Obviously in the games, it’s really helpful to have a great defence like that.”
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be the next team to try to figure out the Roughriders’ defence. Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are to tangle in the Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
“It’s tough when you go into a game and you’re expecting one thing and the defence is doing something different …,” Collaros said. “I’ve played against Coach Jones’ defence for a long time and I know they’re difficult to figure out. They’re always a group of athletic guys and you’ve got to really be on your game to win.
“I’m just happy they’re on my side.”
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The Roughriders have activated Curt Maggitt off the practice roster to replace Mic’hael Brooks at defensive tackle for Sunday’s game.
Maggitt, a 26-year-old product of West Palm Beach, Fla., has had an interesting season with the Roughriders.
After starting the campaign on the practice roster, he was on the active roster for Saskatchewan’s game June 21 against the Ottawa Redblacks. He didn’t record any tackles in that contest.
Maggitt returned to the practice roster for Saskatchewan’s next three games, but then was suspended for two games. He has been on the practice roster for the past two games.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pounder can be used inside or outside in Saskatchewan’s defensive alignment.
“Coach (Bill) Parcells has been very close with Curt and kind of mentored him over the years,” said Jones, referring to the NFL coach to whom the Roughriders’ head coach often speaks. “(Maggitt) is a guy who we’ve kind of targeted, so we look forward to seeing what Curt brings.”
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Roughriders linebacker Matt Elam is all too familiar with rivalry games.
Heck, he basically created one when he was choosing a university to attend.
Elam eventually settled on the University of Florida Gators, whose biggest rivals — at least in his estimation — are the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Elam’s most-hated team, however, is the Florida State University Seminoles.
“I’m a Florida guy, but I almost went to Florida State,” recalled Elam, a product of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “I was committed to both schools. I committed to Florida, but then I decommitted and committed to Florida State. Then I ended up signing with Florida. It became a big rivalry for me.”
