The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced Monday that they have re-signed linebacker Kye Stewart.Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post filesREGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders have already made a splash in the CFL free-agent pool with Friday's signing of Canadian offensive tackle Alex Gauthier.
Whether they will make more waves in the pursuit of other free agents remains to be determined. The league-imposed deadline for free agents is 11:01 p.m. Tuesday. The contracts of all unsigned CFL players expire at 11 p.m., thus the reason for the late deadline.
Brendan Taman, general manager of the Roughriders, said Monday that he has concentrated his efforts on re-signing Saskatchewan's possible free agents. He whittled a list of 12 down to six potential free agents as of Monday evening.
"The reality is we've signed everyone we're going to sign before the deadline hits,'' Taman said. "I will try to sign a couple (Tuesday), but those other guys are going to hit the market. The fact we were able to work the list down since the end of the season to that is pretty good. We feel we did well with that and adding Gauthier was a huge hit. We'll have to see if we add another guy or two.''
The unsigned Riders are linebackers Sean Lucas, Daniel Francis and Rey Williams, offensive tackles Joel Bell and Wayne Smith and defensive end Kitwana Jones. All of the unsigned players are imports except Smith. Gauthier was available to sign early because he was released by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Feb. 1, two weeks in advance of today's deadline.
While any of the six may elect to test free agency, that doesn't preclude them from re-signing with the Riders.
"I know that we will lose some, if not all of them,'' Taman said. "We've lessened the blows we could have taken by retaining as many guys as we did. If we had guys like (Lance) Frazier and (Gene) Makowsky still on the market, that would have been a little nerve-racking. I would still like to have Sean and Daniel back, but it is what is.''
A total of 40 players eligible to file for free agency. The list includes B.C. Lions backup quarterback Jarious Jackson, Montreal Alouettes running back Avon Cobourne, Calgary Stampeders offensive tackle Ben Archibald, Calgary defensive back Dwight Anderson, Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Jonathan Hefney and Toronto Argonauts defensive end Kevin Huntley. Each player could help any team, but Taman and other general managers have to weigh the cost of each signing.
"You go into free agency looking to fill a hole or two if you need to,'' Taman said. "This time last year, we did that with (returner) Dominique Dorsey. Unfortunately that didn't work out. Anytime you sign a guy as a free agent, it's going to be about money. There aren't a lot of guys who are going to go to another team for a lot less money. I don't get too excited about free agency. I do if we had a lot of guys exposed, but that's something I tried to not let happen over the last few months.''
The Riders made two moves regarding imports Monday. They re-signed linebacker Kye Stewart and released receiver/returner Ryan Grice-Mullen. Stewart is heading into his third season with the Riders. He has dressed for 17 games, recording 23 defensive tackles and 24 special-teams tackles. He was hampered by a knee injury in 2010 and dressed for only 10 games.
Stewart wasn't among the marquee signings, but he is expected to be a key contributor on special teams while continuing to learn the CFL game.
"He was playing well before he got hurt,'' Taman said. "He'll have a role to fill and he'll be interesting to watch.''
Grice-Mullen spent half of the 2010 season with the Riders after a failed tryout with the NFL's Miami Dolphins. He took over from Dorsey, the Riders' high-profile free-agent signing heading into the 2010 season. Dorsey struggled and was eventually placed on the nine-game injured list. Grice-Mullen was adequate, but muffed a critical punt late in the West Division final against the Calgary Stampeders. He was replaced as the returner in the Grey Cup game by Weston Dressler.
"There were a number of factors that went into (Grice-Mullen) being cut,'' Taman said. "He's a good guy and did well for us, but unfortunately everyone will remember him for the dropped punt. The kid is a better player than that.''
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