RIDERS RE-SIGN TAJ
REGINA (CP) – Taj Smith is staying put.
The lanky receiver re-signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Thursday. Smith was scheduled to become a free agent at noon ET on Feb. 15.
Smith, 30, is entering his third season with Saskatchewan. The six-foot-one, 198-pound receiver had a team-high 78 catches for 1,007 yards and seven TDs last year.
“Taj is a pretty big part of what we do, obviously,” general manager Brendan Taman told reporters. “He was very committed to being here and Jeremy (assistant GM Jeremy O’Day) did a lot of great work behind the scenes to get it done.
“One guy off the list and an important guy is a good thing.”
Smith had 11 catches for 186 yards in Saskatchewan’s two playoff wins before registering one reception for five yards in the Riders’ 45-23 Grey Cup win over Hamilton. Smith has recorded 125 career catches for 1,697 yards and nine touchdowns in 31 regular-season games with Saskatchewan.
Taman still faces a busy off-season as Saskatchewan still has 16 potential free agents, including slotback Weston Dressler, running back Kory Sheets, kicker Chris Milo and punter Ricky Schmitt, who Taman said worked out for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills on Thursday. Taman is hopeful he might re-sign one or two before the free-agent deadline.
“We’re pretty aggressive to get something done before the 15th,” Taman said. “But realistically one or two and that’s probably what it’s going to be.”
On Wednesday the Riders signed rookie free-agent kicker Brett Cameron, the son of Hall of Fame punter Bob Cameron who attended Winnipeg’s training camp last summer. The younger Cameron spent four seasons at the University of North Dakota (2009-12) before signing with the Bombers.
“He (Cameron) is a legit contender to come in and compete but Ricky will dictate a lot of that,” Taman said. “Ricky would like to come back and we’re working towards that and hopefully we can get that done before (Feb. 15) but we’ll see.
“We’ve had on-and-off communication with (Milo’s) agent, moreso from our end. He’s very driven to stay here if he can but business is business. I’m sure he’ll have an offer to mull over once the 15th hits so we’ll see where it goes.”
Sheets and Dressler were key contributors to Saskatchewan’s Grey Cup push in 2013 but both have garnered NFL interest since the end of the season. If they sign south of the border, the expectation is neither would be back with the Riders until September, at the earliest.
Sheets finished second in CFL rushing with 1,598 yards. He capped his season by running for a record 197 yards in leading the Riders to just their fourth league championship.
The five-foot-seven, 179-pound Dressler led the Riders with nine TD catches and was second in receptions (70) and yards (1,011). He registered his fourth straight 1,000-yard campaign and fifth in six seasons with Saskatchewan.
“Everybody here is a big Weston Dressler fan and I think he deserves a chance if he can get one,” Taman said. “I have no idea how it’s going to play out but he’s always welcome here no matter if it’s January, September, October, November.
“If that’s what he wants to do I really hope he can achieve that goal and we’ll adjust accordingly. We can’t really control any of that so we’ll sit back and see what happens.”
Love it. Taj has improved tremendously and I have no doubt that he'll have another big year in 2014. Plus he is a quality guy too. He's been all over the province with the team visiting kids and hanging out with the fans. Say what you want about those charges, he's a good person and a credit to the community.
Dubya
I agree with you Dubya.
Captain Jack Sparrow
Very good signing. Hopefully the charges will be dealt with shortly so he can get on with his life and career
Will these players who have criminal charges pending before the court of law be deported if convicted for breaking the laws of the land? If so, Is that taken into consideration by the gm/organization when signing such individuals to contract?
Law abiding citizens
No, the organization is run by a lot of idiots. Duh! C'mon man! Stop with the insulting questions!
CFL players can be released for chewing the wrong gum with no compensation. I think it was a brilliant move for the Riders to sign him today and tell Dressler that he is not irreplaceable.
I love it.
Now re-sign his wing-man Dwight Anderson and you'll have two guys who will do anything for this organization as a 'thank you' for a 2nd chance.
The people thinking this has anything to do with sending a message to Dressler are on glue.
Sorry Rod… Change of subject… ———–Rod, I was listening to the Sports Cage on Thu Jan 15th and your hockey guest was a young man from the Pats. The discussion turned to the fighting and how that particular player had a fantasy about getting into a fight with not one player, but two at a time. I found that interesting. Interesting that earlier in the same show you spent a half an hour discussing why don't more people go to the hockey games. Please don't paint me as a softie as I love a good fight in the ring, or… Read more »
Is Craig butler also a potential free agent?
O man I was the biggest Taj hater to start, but he really came to play this year. Really changed my tune. Great signing and keep up the the good work Taj.
I wasn't a huge Taj Smith fan until last year when he made some catches that I thought we're going to be intercepted. A great signing. BTW, Dressler is irreplaceable.
All this hoopla with no sign of Geroy stepping aside or being released outright to make more team cap room.
Why release Geroy outright if in fact Dressler is not coming back. Im sure Simon understands that his salary will not be the same this year now that we have a team full of players that know how to win a GC.
If geroy really wants to be here. He will sign a new and much more fair contract for the Riders.
That would be fair, but isn't Geroy all about the money? Why did he leave BC in the first place, first and foremost, the money ! reduced playing time also factored.