Riders’ O’Day addresses where team sits as free agency approaches

There could be some significant changes to the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ roster after CFL free agency starts Tuesday.

For starters, it doesn’t look like Ed Gainey — who spent the past five seasons with the Green and White — will be returning to the team. He’s slated to become a free agent next week.

Thanks for everything rider nation.

— Ed Gainey (@Multifacet_ED) February 2, 2022

Other big names like running back William Powell, punter Jon Ryan and receiver Duke Williams all have an uncertain future with the Riders as well.

General manager Jeremy O’Day understands there are a lot of decisions to make when it comes down to crafting what the team will look like in the upcoming season.

“We’ve notified some players if we weren’t going to offer them a contract,” O’Day said Wednesday. “We’ve done that with a few of the current players that we have around the team.

“The reality is every year the team’s going to be different, and it’s not always going to be the same and there’s going to be some changes and some adjustments to the team.

“I think we’re going to not go through the list of names of who we talked to and what we said to them and who we think will be back and who we don’t think will be back. The reality is we’re going to all know that in the next week to 10 days and then obviously be able to have a more open discussion about some of the decisions that were made or the thought process that went into them.”

The Roughriders went into the off-season with 50 potential free agents. So far, two players have been released and 20 have signed contract extensions, leaving 28 players who currently remain unsigned.

Regina is to be the host city for the 2022 Grey Cup game, but O’Day claims that isn’t changing the approach in how the team is built.

“If you put all your money in every year, I think you’re going all-in every year,” he said. “Obviously, we’re trying to make good decisions on who was on our team and who we can keep and who, unfortunately, we were not going to be able to keep and how we can replace some of those holes in free agency.

“There’s a lot of conversations that are happening. Honestly, we are on the phone all day. So we are just plugging through it and hopefully we get some of our guys back. And also hopefully we can get some new players to join the Riders.”

The Roughriders have had a lot of success over the last few years, making the West Division final in two straight seasons. Saskatchewan accomplished that feat in 2019, and did so again in 2021 when the CFL resumed play after COVID caused the cancellation of the 2020 campaign.

O’Day acknowledges it sometimes gets more difficult to keep some players around when the team is successful.

“When you’re on a team that’s close to winning, or you have a good team, what happens is players, they all want a raise,” he said. “It does get tricky, There are decisions that have to be made, unfortunately, based on salaries. And the tricky part is managing that and realizing that in some cases you’re going to have to make changes to the roster. And unfortunately, some of the guys that have been here for a while may not be back.

“Players, they want to get what they’re worth or what their value would be on the market. There are times when you wish you can just put the same team back together and add a piece or two. But the reality is, there are not a lot of guys that don’t expect a pay raise.”

Riders announce addition of American DB

Later Wednesday, the Roughriders announced they had signed defensive back Brian Cole II.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound product of Mississippi State University was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft. His NFL career includes stops with the Vikings, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers.

In 17 games over two seasons at Mississippi State, Cole had 78 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, 12 quarterback pressures, two interceptions, four passes defended, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.