Saskatchewan Roughriders thread

[doubleblue]

I thought it would be what they call in Hockey a "bridge deal" in the 250-300,000 range before the bigger money. But maybe looking at the contracts Mitchell, Reilly and Harris have signed this is a bridge deal.
Good for Cody. He's earned it. He doesn't take any plays off.

[argolio]

$450k seems a little too steep for Fajardo at this point.

Maybe a bit, but that position is way too important to play games with. When you have a productive starter, lock him up.

[ArgoRavi]

Maybe a bit, but that position is way too important to play games with. When you have a productive starter, lock him up.

Which is what the Argos need to do with MBT.

[argolio]

Which is what the Argos need to do with MBT.

Yeah, but do you give him Fajardo money, or less money with bonuses based on number of starts?

[jerrym]

$450k seems a little too steep for Fajardo at this point.

If they didn't sign him, someone else would, most likely Ottawa, which has had an increasing number of empty seats at games for tickets already sold. Desjardins and Campbell know they will not survive if they don't get a first string QB next year, so they would have paid whatever it takes.

[jerrym]

The Riders have extended DB Loucheiz Purifoy through 2021. In 2019 he had 40 DTs, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and three interceptions.

[jerrym]

Jason Maas, having signed a two year contract, is the Riders' new OC. The Riders have kept Jason Shivers as their DC.

Needing a home-field win to earn a Grey Cup berth, Saskatchewan failed to score a touchdown despite being at or inside Winnipeg’s five-yard line on three different fourth-quarter possessions.

Afterwards, many fans and pundits targeted offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo for criticism. Dickenson ultimately decided that a change of offensive co-ordinator was warranted, irrespective of whether Maas was available. ...

“I just felt like it was time for a change,” the 2019 West coach of the year said. “I appreciated everything he did. I thought he did a great job. I’ve known Mac for a long time. I just felt like a new voice, maybe a new direction, was going to be good for our team so I expressed to Coach Mac and the candidates I was talking to that we were going in a different direction regardless.

When Jason became available, I wanted to move fast, because I knew that he would be highly sought-after. I knew that if we didn’t act quickly, he might go to somebody else, and we really wanted him.”

Although Maas had other opportunities around the CFL, he was quickly sold on Saskatchewan. ...“I’m really excited to be a part of Rider Nation,” he said. “You hear about it, and I think everyone knows about it, but I think it’s one of those things that’s a bucket-list thing. If you’re a CFL guy, you want an opportunity to coach here one day.”

Maas signed a two-year contract with the Roughriders, who have also secured the services of defensive co-ordinator Jason Shivers through the 2021 CFL season

https://leaderpost.com/sports/footba...an-roughriders

[jerrym]

Canadian DB Elie Bouka, who spent most of 2018 with the Philadelphia Eagles before returning to the Riders in 2019, has signed an extension through 2021.

[jerrym]

American DL Chad Geter, who played six games this year and had 9 DTs after playing every game in 2018, has signed a two year extension with the Riders.

[jerrym]

Canadian LS Jorgen Hus has signed a one year extension with the Riders.

[jerrym]

The Riders retained an important part of their DL with the extension of American A. C. Leonard, who had 9 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 44 DTs in 2019, through 2021.

[jerrym]

Saskatchewan has re-signed LB Cameron Judge, who qualified as a national because of Canadian parentage and was the West's nominee for Most Oustanding Canadian following a breakout year in which he 61 DTs, 11 STs 5 sacks and 2 interceptions, and Canadian FB Albert Awachie.

[jerrym]

The Riders have signed former NFL WR Rashad Greene.

Greene joins the Riders after four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 27-year-old was drafted in the fifth round, 139th overall during the 2015 NFL draft and played in 25 games for the Jaguars collecting 30 receptions for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 41 punt returns for 448 yards with one touchdown on a 73-yard punt return.

https://3downnation.com/2020/02/07/r...rashad-greene/

[jerrym]

Otha Foster, who originally signed with the Argos in 2013 but was traded to Edmonton for Tony Washington, a negotiation list player and an exchange of draft picks, has signed with the Riders for one year, after last playing for BC.

[jerrym]

Not unsurprisingly, Justin Maas, who was Edmonton's HC when former Argo QB James Franklin played there, had a major role in signing the QB. I credit Franklin for being honest about his contribution to his problems in Toronto and hope things work out for him in Riderville.

The bond between Jason Maas and James Franklin led to the pair reuniting in Saskatchewan. ...

“He played a huge role. One thing I’ve learned over the last couple years is how important it is to really enjoy and get along with the coaches,” Franklin said on The Rod Pedersen Show. “Teammates as well, but especially the coaches — you’re essentially playing for them and you’re running their offence, you’re under their rule. Going there with coach Maas I love playing for him, I like how he coaches and I like how he dealt with me in Edmonton through good times and bad times.”

Over Franklin’s three seasons in the Alberta capital, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,449 yards and 12 touchdowns against one interception. Former Toronto general manager Jim Popp traded with the Esks in December 2017 viewing the six-foot-two, 225-pound pivot as the Argos potential quarterback of the future.

“The thing that I wish that I could’ve done better was how I handled everything. As far as I couldn’t control what anyone else did or said, logistically, to an extent, obviously I have no control,” Franklin said. “But as far as when I got on the field, I was too worried about what was the coach going to say if I’m running this right, what are my teammates going to think rather than just going out there and playing.”

The last two years in Toronto were the most miserable Franklin has ever been playing football. Former Argos head coach Marc Trestman was extremely hard on Franklin and the two were never able to find a strong working relationship. There was no marked difference when Corey Chamblin took over as bench boss and hired Jacques Chapdelaine as his offensive coordinator. ...

“After doing some self reflection the last two seasons, I didn’t really do a good job of keeping a good attitude and not letting them affect me. The mental game is a huge part of it,” Franklin said. “The players that are mentally strong, they’re the ones that typically have the most success because they can persevere through conflict with teammates, coaches, other teams, strategies — all that. I didn’t do a good job with that in Toronto and I think it showed pretty well, unfortunately.”

It’s on to Saskatchewan for the 28-year-old Franklin. Maas along with general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson wanted more experience at the game’s most important position. He provides the Riders with a quality signal caller behind Cody Fajardo.

“He actually text me before the official announcement. Going into it I know that I’m the backup, he’s the starter — he’s earned it,” Franklin said. ... “I’m coming there to support him, I told him that too: ‘I don’t want you to think I’m going to come in here and be like I’m about to takeover, I deserve to be the starter, none of that.’ I know that this is his team and I’m going to come in and help out and make sure I’m prepared for an opportunity.” ...

“I wasn’t looking for empty promises,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, technically the only opinion that matters is the general manager or the head coach, as far as career-wise and football.”

https://3downnation.com/2020/02/20/j...to-the-riders/

[jerrym]

DB Christian Campbell who was in TC with Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and on the New Orlean Saints PR has signed with the Riders.

[jerrym]

The Riders take OL Mattland Riley as their first pick, providing the team with depth and a likely future starter.

[jerrym]

The Riders added two Americans to their roster towards the end of April: DL Trenton Thompson, who signed with the Cleveland Browns and played for the AAF's Arizona Hotshots, and RB Jeremy Langford, a fourth round 2015 Chicago Bear pick who had 762 yards rushing with the Bears and Atlanta over three years.

[jerrym]

Below is a look at the Rider's draft picks.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ general manager and vice-president of football operations started by addressing his team’s offensive line depth. He also bolstered Saskatchewan’s overall depth while potentially adding to the Green and White’s special teams with some late-round selections. ...

A key was using the seventh-overall pick on Mattland Riley, an offensive lineman from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. O’Day was generally pleased with the offensive line’s play in 2019, but he also knows that maintaining a good O-line comes with increased salaries.
One way of working with that is selecting prospects like Riley, who can play guard/centre and eventually take over for higher-priced and aging veterans. The losses of Philip Blake and Dariusz Bladek in free agency to the Toronto Argonauts increased the necessity of selecting an offensive lineman, assuming that someone the Riders felt is a good fit was available. ...

The Melfort product was a first-team U Sports all-star in 2019 and a second-teamer in 2018. He’s considered smart, physical and athletic and has the mean streak that coaches covet in offensive linemen. Riley also comes from a Huskies program that is renowned for producing pro-ready offensive linemen.
“I talked to Mattland after the draft and I made it pretty clear that we didn’t draft him because he was from Saskatchewan,” O’Day said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt when you’re looking at it because the culture the players bring from Saskatchewan is important. (But) we’ve had decisions like this in the past and we took the best player on the board.” ...

Riley is expected to be with the Riders for CFL training camp — whenever that may be. The same can’t be said for defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, who was Saskatchewan’s eighth-round pick (71^st). The Dallas Cowboys selected Gallimore in the third round (82^nd overall).

Saskatchewan’s remaining picks were receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker of Guelph (fourth round), linebacker Junior Allen, also of Guelph (fourth round), defensive back Vincent Dethier of McGill (fifth round), running back Jonathan Femi-Cole from Western (sixth round) and offensive lineman Jesse Lawson of Carleton (seventh round). ...

“We talked about adding some special-teams depth and we did a good job of finding some guys who can help,” O’Day said. ...

“I’m sad about the possibility of training camp being bumped so far back,” Riley said. “I’m sure that anyone who plays football is (wondering) in the back of their head if there could be a season. I’m preparing that training camp is happening in a week. I’m just going to be excited whenever it goes.”

https://leaderpost.com/sports/footba...-b942ec909bde/

[jerrym]

The Riders have added two American DBs to their roster: Tony Lippett and A J Hendy.

Lippett (6’3 – 200) was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round, 156th overall, of the 2015 NFL Draft. After two years with the Dolphins, he went on to spend time with the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Bengals. Throughout his NFL career, Lippett played in 28 games, recording 81 tackles, 12 pass deflections and four interceptions. Collegiately, the 27-year-old spent four years at Michigan State playing in 52 games for the Spartans spending time at both defensive back and wide receiver. Over his career, the Michigan native caught 149 receptions for 2,247 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown while also recording 23 tackles, nine pass deflections and one fumble recovery.

Hendy (6’1 – 205) signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2016 making his NFL debut in Week 17. The Maryland native spent most of 2017 and 2018 on Los Angeles Chargers’ practice roster before being signed to the Houston Texans’ active roster in January of 2019. In 2020, Hendy played for the XFL’s New York Guardians, collecting 26 tackles, two tackles for loss and four pass deflections. Prior to turning pro, the 26-year-old spent four years at the University of Maryland playing in 32 games for the Terrapins. Throughout his four-year career, Hendy recorded 142 tackles, three tackles for loss, seven pass deflections, four forced fumbles and two interceptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns.

https://www.riderville.com/2020/05/0...-add-pair-dbs/