Jeremy Zver’s wallet should benefit greatly from a decision he recently made.
On the advice of his agent, Zver opted not to accept a spot on the B.C. Lions’ practice roster — a move that made him a free agent. The former University of Regina Rams offensive lineman then signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and moved back to his hometown.
“I’m happy to be home,” Zver, 23, said Tuesday after practising for the first time with his new team at Mosaic Stadium. “I don’t have to find a spot (to rent) now in Vancouver. I can live at home and sleep in my own bed. It’s a nice feeling.”
The Lions selected Zver in the second round (16th overall) of the May 7 CFL draft. He attended their training camp and made the team, but he was placed on the Lions’ injured list.
B.C. wanted to take the 6-foot-5, 295-pound lineman off the injured list and put him on its practice roster, but Zver turned down the offer.
“I talked to my agent (Rob Fry) and he said the best opportunity was probably to decline the practice-roster spot and then see what other options were out there,” Zver said. “He tried to talk to other teams, but none of them really wanted to pick up my contract. Saskatchewan was ready to go and pick it up.”
A similar situation occurred in 2016, when offensive lineman Dillon Guy and defensive lineman Ese Mrabure turned down spots on B.C.’s practice roster and subsequently signed with the Roughriders.
Zver admitted that declining the Lions’ offer was a gamble, but it was one he was willing to take.
“I think it’s a gamble that will pay off hopefully in the future, so I’m going to try and push it for as long as I can,” he said.
Zver worked out with Roughriders centre Dan Clark through the winter, so he has some familiarity with at least one member of Saskatchewan’s O-line. The rookie becomes the 12th lineman on the Roughriders’ active roster, practice roster or one-game injured list.
Even so, he believes he has a better opportunity in Saskatchewan than he did in B.C.
“(I just have to) continue to work, continue to try to improve every day in one-on-ones, in the meeting room (and in the) weight room,” Zver said. “(I have to) just try and continually be better and even try and help push the starters to try and make them better.”
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The Roughriders also announced Tuesday that they had signed national offensive lineman Emmanuel Adusei and international defensive linemen Darius Allen and Ricky Sapp to the practice roster.
Adusei, a 6-foot-2, 357-pounder, was selected by Saskatchewan in the seventh round (57th overall) of the 2017 CFL draft out of Carleton University.
The 21-year-old product of London, Ont., attended training camp with the Roughriders before being moved to the suspended list at the June 17 roster deadline.
Allen is a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder out of Colorado State University-Pueblo. The 25-year-old product of Lexington, Ky., played 11 regular-season games with B.C. in 2016 before being released earlier this year.
Sapp, a 30-year-old from Columbia, S.C., played 17 regular-season games in the NFL from 2011 through 2014. A product of Clemson University, Sapp had NFL stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Houston Texans and Washington Redskins.
Saskatchewan also added territorial exemption Tom Schnitzler, a linebacker with the PFC’s Saskatoon Hilltops.
To make room on the roster for the new players, the Roughriders released national linebacker Mike Dubuisson and international defensive linemen D.J. Pettway and Davis Tull.
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Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones nixed any idea of a kicking change Tuesday, stressing that Tyler Crapigna is keeping his job.
“Tyler’s going to be our kicker unless something happens to him,” Jones said. “Tyler’s going to be our kicker. He just needs to get back on track.”
Crapigna has missed a field goal in each of Saskatchewan’s first two games. He pushed a 45-yard attempt on the final play of the game as the Roughriders fell 17-16 to the Montreal Alouettes on June 22, and he hit the left upright with a 33-yard try that would have given Saskatchewan a three-point lead in double overtime against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday.
Four plays after Crapigna hit the post, Justin Medlock kicked a 28-yard field goal that gave Winnipeg a 43-40 victory.
Jones said pulling a player who statistically has been good for much of his career would be “a little premature,” so Crapigna is expected to handle the kicking duties again Saturday when the Roughriders play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — no matter what some Saskatchewan fans think.
“Tyler’s probably harder on himself than any of the fans can be,” Jones said. “He expects to make every kick and, unfortunately for him, he has been a little off.”
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Most of the Roughriders’ American-born players were set to celebrate another national birthday Tuesday.
Three days after Canada marked its 150th birthday, the United States celebrated its 241st on Tuesday.
“We have our own little thing that we do for the Fourth of July,” said defensive back Jovon Johnson, a product of Erie, Penn. “Guys get together, we barbecue and try to mimic what we would do if we were back home.
“But at the end of the day, we’re here to do a job and our job is not going to change whether it’s the Fourth of July or if it’s Christmas. We’ve still got things that we need to do and take care of and that’s what we came here for.”
