The Calgary Stampeders defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 19-10 in league play in Regina, SK August 13, 2016. (CFL PHOTO - Matt Smith)
The Saskatchewan Roughriders may not be exceedingly busy after the CFL’s free-agent market opens Tuesday.
If they aren’t, it could in large part be due to the fact they’ve already had a busy off-season of signing players.
The Roughriders have landed an established CFL quarterback (Kevin Glenn), a big-play receiver (Duron Carter) and a running back with NFL experience (Daniel Thomas). Glenn and Carter were released by their previous CFL teams before being signed by the Roughriders.
Saskatchewan also has signed contract extensions with a number of players who had productive 2016 seasons with the team, including a pair of defensive ends (Willie Jefferson and Jonathan Newsome), two defensive backs (Justin Cox and Ed Gainey) and a kicker (Tyler Crapigna).
The list of Roughriders players who were to become free agents Tuesday recently was at 23, but two of those players (linebackers Otha Foster III and Jeff Knox Jr.) were released early so they could sign with NFL teams. Another potential free agent, quarterback Darian Durant, was traded to the Montreal Alouettes.
Eight other pending free agents were released before the deadline (tailbacks Curtis Steele and Matt Walter, defensive linemen Dylan Ainsworth and Jonathan Williams, linebacker Bryn Roy, receiver Shamawd Chambers, quarterback Mitchell Gale and defensive back Buddy Jackson).
Ainsworth and Jackson both have signed with the B.C. Lions, while Chambers already has found employment with the Edmonton Eskimos.
In addition to Jefferson, the Roughriders signed one other player who was to hit the market Tuesday (Regina-born defensive lineman Ivan Brown) to a contract extension. As a result, 10 players who dressed for the Roughriders in 2015 are to become free agents Tuesday.
That list comprises six Canadians (defensive backs Jeff Hecht, Andrew Lue and Matt Webster, long-snappers Randy Chevrier and Jorgen Hus, and defensive lineman Gregory Alexandre) and four Americans (receivers Phil Bates and Jeff Fuller, defensive lineman Corvey Irvin and offensive lineman Thaddeus Coleman).
The Roughriders jumped into the free-agent market with both feet in 2016, as head coach-general manager Chris Jones looked to rebuild the team in his first season at the helm. Jones signed nine players in the first two days of free agency last February.
But some of the players who joined the Roughriders from other teams didn’t last in Saskatchewan, with the likes of Chambers, Steele, Justin Capicciotti and Kendial Lawrence eventually moving on.
That could result in a more cautious approach this time around. So too could a desire not to overspend on the market, especially since the Roughriders are set at more positions than they were in 2016.
If the Roughriders do look at other teams’ free agents this off-season, there are a number of proven CFL players on the market.
The list of offensive linemen available includes Derek Dennis (who in 2016 was named the league’s most outstanding offensive lineman while playing for the Calgary Stampeders), Josh Bourke, Nolan MacMillan and Greg Van Roten.
Among the tailbacks who are slated to become free agents are Shakir Bell, Brandon Rutley and Brandon Whitaker.
Some of the biggest prizes of the 2017 free-agent class are receivers, a list that includes the likes of Andy Fantuz, Ernest Jackson and Chris Williams.
The crop of linebackers set to become free agents includes Khalil Bass, Keon Raymond and Winston Venable.
Among defensive linemen, the pending free agents include tackles Mic’hael Brooks, Euclid Cummings and Cleyon Laing.
Among the defensive backs set to hit the market are Emanuel Davis, Abdul Kanneh, John Ojo and Patrick Watkins.
CFL teams live and die by the depth of their Canadian talent — and there are several nationals at virtually every position who are set to test the market.
Free agency opens at 11 a.m., Saskatchewan time.
