Riders, DB Gainey part ways ahead of free agency

Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Ed Gainey reacts to congratulations after recovering a fumble during second half CFL action against the B.C. Lions in Regina on Sunday, August 13, 2017. Gainey also had four interceptions on the night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor

Six days out from CFL free agency, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced they will not be offering veteran defensive back and fan favorite Ed Gainey a new contract.

“We did talk with the representation for Ed and Ed himself, to let him know we were not going to be offering him a contract to come back,” Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’Day said. “We’ve done that with multiple players that are on the team, the reality is that every year the team will be different.”

The 31-year-old North Carolina product played five seasons with the Riders, picking up 21 regular season interceptions.

Gainey recorded 37 tackles in 12 games this past season as well as 12 more in the 2021 playoffs, along with three picks.

O’Day spoke with the media Wednesday from a hotel in Las Vegas, where he had been scouting potential future players. He confirmed reports on Gainey, but did not divulge much information on other notable free agents like Duke Williams, William Powell or Jon Ryan.

“I don’t think we’ll get into how close we are or where we’re at in terms of negotiations with the players, I don’t know if that’s a good thing to do right in the middle of the negotiation period, O’Day said when asked about the status of Duke Williams. “We have discussions ongoing with multiple players, some on our team and some from other teams, again those are ongoing.”

O’Day added that after free agency he feels he’ll be able to speak more openly about specific players.

As of Tuesday, Feb. 2, the Riders had 29 players unsigned, including Gainey.

Other well known pending free agents include Micah Johnson, Larry Dean, Loucheiz Purifoy and Isaac Harker.

Free agency begins on Feb. 8, at which time players who have not re-signed with their team will be free to explore options with any team in the CFL.

O’Day said as with seasons past, the Riders will once again spend to the top end of the current salary cap and be “aggressive” in making sure they maximize that as much as possible.

With Regina hosting to 2022 Grey Cup, O’Day reiterated they go “all-in” every season and said this year will be no different.

FAJARDO CONTRACT RESTRUCTURE

Earlier in the week the Riders announced that quarterback Cody Fajardo had agreed to a restructured contract for the 2022 season.

“There was no deferral of payments, it was pretty simple,” O’Day said. “What it was, was that Cody’s contract had a roster bonus that was due in week one, I approached Cody and asked him if it was okay to get him some up-front money that he would have now, I also asked him to restructure the contract so the overall total would come down, which would help us in free agency.”

O’Day said with Fajardo being a team first guy, he was happy to oblige to the restructure. This is the second time he’s done so since joining the green and white in 2019.