The Saskatchewan Roughriders have released defensive end John Chick and receiver Weston Dressler.
“Anytime you have to release veteran players that have been very productive and have been longstanding, good citizens in the league and with the team, I mean, it’s never easy, regardless as to why,” Riders general manager and head coach Chris Jones said in a media teleconference Thursday.
“But, certainly, these (cuts) are very much tied to salary… We exhausted everything we could do. We talked to the agents and we couldn’t get them to come to where we could basically afford them. It’s pretty easy economics.”
Chick spent six seasons with the Riders after originally joining the team in 2007. After spending the next three years in the NFL, he returned to Saskatchewan for another three seasons. The two-time Grey Cup champion was named the CFL’s most outstanding defensive player in 2009, and ranks fourth among the Riders in all-time quarterback sacks with 53.
Dressler joined the Riders in 2008, and went on to win the CFL’s most outstanding rookie award. Through eight seasons, he surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark five times. Dressler sits third in Riders all-time receiving yards with 7,797 and fifth in all-time receiving touchdowns with 50. He won his first career Grey Cup in 2013.
“It was an abundance of leadership that we lost today,” Jones said. “But every time that I’ve been around places when the veterans left, there was somebody else ready to step up and become that next guy.”
TSN reported Thursday that Ottawa Redblacks defensive end Shawn Lemon has agreed to terms with the Riders, but no official announcement has been made.
