Regina-born Roughrider receiver Mitch Picton retiring after nine seasons

After nine seasons and a Grey Cup win with the CFL team he grew up watching, Regina-born receiver Mitch Picton is hanging up his cleats.

During his CFL career, Picton became a beacon of reliability for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

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“The quote you always here is ‘the best ability is availability.’ I would counter that with ‘the best ability is reliability,’ because if you’re available but you’re not reliable, you’re not doing a whole lot of good,” Picton said. “Guys were faster than me, they ran better routes than me, all those sorts of things, but I knew if I could understand what defences were doing and how to manipulate a defence and I could understand our playbook inside and out.

“That’s how I got my first opportunity in the league. Shaq Evans broke his foot when we played in Montreal, and I was the sixth man that week. He was playing the boundary wide out, and our coach at the time looked at me and said, ‘You got to go.’ I went in there and had a solid game, finished, had a few catches and did my job.”

General manager Jeremy O’Day had the numbers to prove it.

“We had our analytics department do a little research on it. One of the things we have in our analytics department is receptions from a catchable ball. It means a pass that was thrown to him that we would classify as catchable. Since 2022, Mitch was the only receiver with 70+ targets who didn’t drop a pass,” O’Day said.

One of Picton’s best attributes was his ability to play any receiver spot and be able to go in at a moment’s notice if needed.

“You could put him at any position and you knew exactly what he was doing,” O’Day said.

“Quarterbacks could always count on him. We always said Mitch was a quarterback’s best friend because they always knew exactly where he was going to be: the right time, and the right place.”

Picton, 30, was selected by the Riders in the fifth round of the CFL’s 2017 draft. In the 64 regular-season games he played with the Riders, Pickton caught 96 passes for 1,081 yards and six touchdowns. During the 2025 season, which ended with Picton and the Roughriders hoisting the Grey Cup in Winnipeg after a 25-17 win over the Montreal Alouettes, he caught 20 passes for 226 yards in 14 regular-season games.

“I can’t emphasize how much fun I had. It was a dream come true to play for this team, play for this province, represent this team and this province in the best way I could. It’s something I took pride in every day. Not a day went by that I wasn’t thankful to come to work here,” Picton said.

“It truly has been a dream come true, and something I’ll never forget.”

Picton admitted he thought about retirement during the last season.

“There just comes a point where you feel like you can walk away from the game moderately intact, and that’s where I feel I am right now,” Picton said.

“Not many people get to walk away on their own terms. Do I feel like I could have squeezed another year or two out of it? Probably. Did I want to be broke down and being put back together and potential injuries and things like that? Not really.”

Off the field, Picton also served as a player ambassador for the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation, visiting schools across the province to speak with kids about literacy and mental health.

Picton was a standout player with the LeBoldus Golden Suns in Regina. He joined the University of Regina Rams after high school, getting his first taste of the CFL as a member of the Riders’ practice roster during his graduating year.

During his five seasons with the Rams, Picton participated in the first football game at the new Mosaic Stadium when his team defeated the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a test event on Oct. 1, 2026. He also played in the Riders’ first game at their current home, a preseason contest against Winnipeg on June 10, which saw Picton catch two passes for 21 yards.

Picton and his wife Kaylee live year-round in Regina.