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