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John Chick to Hamilton, Darian Durant to stay – Free Agency in Two Weeks

Jan 25, 2016 | 7:17 AM

Forgive me while I take a breath after the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Title Game. After suffering through the Riders 3-15 season, any team I cheer for that wins a game deserves a shout out.

But the Riders are making this off-season even more interesting than usual. A week or so after cutting John Chick and Weston Dressler and signing defensive end Shawn Lemon, the Riders got quarterback Darian Durant to dial back $50,000 off his salary and sign for a reduced amount for 2016. So he will be making anywhere from $400,000 to $450,000 which is probably less in US dollars depending on what day it is.

The rumor mill was heavy on some kind of change coming with Durant, especially in salary, because the Riders have been cutting players and stockpiling cash for Free Agency in the CFL which starts February 9th. The guy to keep an eye on is Ted Laurent, the Canadian defensive tackle currently with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who would be a force at defensive tackle and a ratio buster in the line-up.

If the Riders land Laurent, they could then find out which of their rookie Canadian defensive linemen can possibly back up and perhaps even one day move into position as a starter without the pressure of throwing them in and seeing if they swim. The Riders will be looking at going Canadian at safety, so if you have one Canadian at defensive line and perhaps another at linebacker, that means only four or five more Canadians in starting positions on offense.

The Riders signed Canadian defensive back Dan West and punter Josh Bartel, a non-import punter you may remember from two years ago. West spent three years with Winnipeg on special teams before coming to the Riders last year as a free-agent. He is mostly effective on special teams, but if he shows some initiative, he can probably get into defensive situations as an extra back or perhaps fill in if someone goes down with injury.

Bartel is an interesting and surprising pick-up. He was with the Riders for the 2014 season, then did not re-sign as the Riders went with Ray Early at punter. Early is an American and he got good hang time and mileage on his punts, but Bartel’s passport is friendlier and he may be able to do kick offs. If Bartel, who is Australian and learned Australian Rules football, has improved his hang time or his average or leg strength, then we will likely have seen the last of Ray Early. But that is a big if.

Spencer Moore re-signed with the Riders at the fullback position, although I thought he has the size to be a really good tight end. Moore, 6’4” 230 pounds has been with the Riders for four years, mostly on special teams but has seen some offensive action, picking up nine catches for 55 yards over 35 games. Moore’s problem has been injuries, but he has the size and perhaps the savvy to be an effective and big contributor on offense, both catching and blocking. I kind of doubt he is pulling in big money, but for Moore, it would be nice to see him live up to his potential.

The Riders are working on getting their salary cap under control and freeing up money for free agents, most likely starting Canadian free agents. The Riders have about seven Canadians left listed on their free agent list, among them is Chris Getzlaf, who rumor has it has re-signed, but at a lower amount than last year. As far as the rest goes, the experience of Chick and Dressler shows that there are really no safe bets on a rebuilding team, especially older players making about 10 per cent of the salary cap.

In a sense, you cannot blame Dressler and Chick for not re-negotiating their contracts which they signed in good faith. But then again, you look at Tom Brady of the New England Patriots who takes less than what you would think so the team has the ability to sign needed free agents.

The announcement should come out today that Chick has signed a two-year contract with Hamilton. If Hamilton loses Laurent, Chick will come in handy, but this will be likely Chick’s last contract and instead of the $260,000 he was scheduled to make with the Riders, he will be making somewhere between $150,000 to $170,000.

Dressler is said to be close to signing with Winnipeg, which will pain Saskatchewan to no end, but apparently there is interest from Hamilton, Toronto and Ottawa. Given a choice, Rider fans would want Dressler to go east because it would just be too painful to see him in Bomber colors. But even then, I guess it would have to do.

I have been asked if Dressler and Chick would come back to the Riders at a lower salary, and the answer is the Riders probably don’t want them. The salary was the excuse needed to lower the load on the salary cap, but Rider Coach Chris Jones likes big receivers, and that is not Dressler’s forte. Chick is still good, but he might be a rerun of Bobby Jurasin who was the all-time Rider sack leader before being cut, signed by Toronto and then faded away.

I would hope that both of them would sign one day contracts to retire as Riders, but the Riders have made the decision to move on.

So the Riders have held some free agent camps and those are continuing, but no news as to signings out of them yet. The usual procedure is to invite players to a mini camp, likely in Florida, and then decide whether or not to bring them to the main camp in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced international defensive back Curtis Brown, international defensive end Ryan Jones, international offensive lineman Joseph Treadwell, and international running back Devrin Young have all signed with the team.

Brown (6’0 – 185) is a veteran of 34 NFL regular season games played with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2011 to 2013 after originally being selected by the team in the 3rd round (95th overall) of the 2011 draft. Last season, the 27-year-old Texas native attended training camp with the New York Jets, playing one preseason game, after signing with the team in February.

Before going pro, Brown spent four seasons at the University of Texas where he played 52 career collegiate games picking up 120 defensive tackles, 35 special teams tackles, and two interceptions while also adding 14 punt returns for 199 yards.

Jones (6’4 – 245) joins the Green and White after spending three seasons at Montana Tech where he recorded 127 defensive tackles and 10.5 quarterback sacks. The Reno, Nevada native went to sign with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in May, 2013.     

Treadwell (6’5 – 325) joins the Riders after spending four seasons at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The Jacksonville, Florida native started all 48 career collegiate games played spending time at both left and right tackle.

Last season, the 23-year-old signed with the Houston Texans in May as an undrafted free agent. Treadwell spent time on the teams practice roster after attending training camp and playing in three preseason games.

Young (5’8 – 173) signs with the Green and White after spending four seasons at Tennessee. In 33 career collegiate games, Young totaled 67 kickoff returns for 1,543 yards and 32 punt returns for 312 yards. He also added 50 carries for 204 rushing yards, and 18 receptions for 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

So in other CFL news, former Riders head coach Danny Barrett is now a running back coach with the Miami Dolphins. This should be fun and congrats to Danny for finally making it to the NFL.

Rider fans looking for deals on Reebok stuff should check out the Rider outlet store in the Northgate Mall in Regina.

You can get game worn helmets, autographed footballs and game worn jerseys. They will ship, so if you are interested, go to the Riderville website or call – 306-566-4242. I live in Regina so this stuff is easy, but sometimes the Riders forget to be a provincial team so Rider fans all over should have a chance to own a piece of their team.