RIDERS TRADE FOR A TI-CAT RECEIVER

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have traded receiver Adam Nicolson to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for wide receiver Prechae Rodriguez (right). Rodriguez played two seasons with the Ti-Cats and was named the East Division’s Most Outstanding Rookie his first year.
Photograph by: Mike Cassese, Reuters files

REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders' basketball team may have received an injection of talent Wednesday.

The CFL squad acquired import wide receiver Prechae Rodriguez — a 6-foot-5, 208-pounder who was recruited out of high school by the Auburn University hoops team — from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for non-import receiver Adam Nicolson and a third-round pick in the 2011 Canadian college draft.

"We were looking to get an import receiver who would be a pretty significant upgrade on our team if one was out there," Roughriders general manager Brendan Taman said. "We started talking about Prechae and when we went back and Ken (Miller, Saskatchewan's head coach) saw the film of him, we decided to go after him.

"Adam was having trouble cracking the lineup here with guys like (Andy) Fantuz, (Chris) Getzlaf, (Rob) Bagg and (Jason) Clermont . . . Usually you don't want to trade a non-import for an import, but this is a chance for Adam to play."

Rodriguez — a 25-year-old product of Tampa, Fla., who couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday — spent two seasons in Hamilton.

He was voted the East Division's top rookie in 2008 (he lost in balloting for the CFL award to Saskatchewan's Weston Dressler) after catching 70 passes for 1,099 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 regular-season games.

During an injury-filled '09 season, Rodriguez caught 45 passes for 495 yards with three touchdowns over 12 games.

"We wanted a bigger target for Darian (Durant, the Roughriders' quarterback) to throw the ball up for," said Taman, who noted he started working on the deal "three or four weeks" ago with Hamilton GM Bob O'Billovich. "We're going to bring in other guys with other skill sets, but we wanted a bigger guy.

"(Rodriguez) covers a lot of a ground. He's a long-striding dude who can go up and get the ball."
The Roughriders' corps of import wide receivers last season included 5-foot-10 Gerran Walker (36 catches, 401 yards, two TDs), 6-foot-1 Johnny Quinn (13 receptions, 218 yards, one TD), 6-foot-3 Chris Jones (eight catches, 56 yards, no TDs) and 5-foot-10 Jason Armstead (three receptions, 28 yards, no majors).

Taman defended making a trade instead of trying to find a receiver from the NCAA ranks or the NFL waiver wire.

"When you have a proven guy in this league, that takes a lot of doubt out of the coaches' minds when it comes to quote-unquote younger guys," Taman said. "We will push Prechae with other guys who we're going to bring in, but when you can get a guy with experience and an upside, you make that deal.

"Then, when he has two years left on his contract and it fits nicely into your salary cap, that's a no-brainer."

Nicolson, 25, originally was drafted by the B.C. Lions in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2007 draft out of the University of Ottawa. He signed as a free agent with the Roughriders in September of 2008.

The 6-foot-4, 223-pound product of North Bay, Ont., had four receptions for 53 yards with one TD for Saskatchewan in 2008 but didn't catch a pass last season.