RIDERS ACQUIRE HUS IN TRADE WITH ESKIMOS

EDMONTON (CP) – The Edmonton Eskimos acquired Canadian receiver Cory Watson and a 2016 second-round pick from the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Monday for the rights to long-snapper Jorgen Hus and a 2016 third-round selection.

Saskatchewan acquired Watson from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Jan. 29. The former Concordia star spent five seasons in Manitoba, registering 178 receptions for 2,217 yards and six TDs in 67 career games.

Edmonton selected Saskatoon native Hus in the fourth round (31st overall) of the 2013 CFL Canadian Draft out of the University of Regina. He then signed with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, spending the 2013 and 2014 training camps with the team.

Hus also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City before being released by the Chiefs last week.

**Roughriders GM Brendan Taman explained the reasons for the trade Monday afternoon.  Here are some of his comments:

TAMAN:  “Things in our business change by the minute it seems and we acquired Cory to have him on our team obviously but as things progressed throughout the off-season, it didn’t look like we were going to start more than two Canadian receivers so his salary was fairly high.  If he wasn’t going to start for us, that wasn’t going to be a cap-friendly salary that I could take on.  It wasn’t planned that way but as it went on, like I say, I had to explore things and Ed Hervey came in and offered us a player that we’d wanted for quite some time.”

TAMAN:  “We wouldn’t have done this if Corey Chamblin and the coaches didn’t sign off on it and there’s a lot of give-and-take in everything we do.  We had a lot of discussions.  Cory’s a good player and he can start for most teams in this league but we’ve got two quality Canadians that we’re happy with and as fate has it, we’ll continue to go with those two.”

ON HUS

TAMAN:  “I talked to him this morning and he’s over-the-moon happy because Saskatchewan’s a place he’s always wanted to play.  We’ve been trying to get his rights for three years.  We have some work to do there because he has representation but I think his focus and goal would be to get to Saskatoon on May 31.  He’s available and we’ll visit with him as we go.”

“One of the things we wanted is to have two snappers on the team at all times so Levi Steinhauer is not going anywhere.  In fact he’ll probably get a chance to play some defensive end and in order for that to happen, we weren’t going to have a roster spot for a back-up snapper.  Now we’ve reversed it so maybe Jorgen can be the starting snapper and Levi as the back-up which is perfect for us.  It really helps him develop on defense and it helps our roster make-up because if we didn’t do it that way, we’d have to take a Canadian off somewhere else.”

“He ain’t a back-up snapper.  He’s one of the best ones you could see.  We had a good one last year in Chad Rempel and this kid is younger and as good, if not better.   He’s a talented kid.  He’s athletic and is thrilled to be in Saskatchewan which is huge.  If something were to happen with one of them, we’re covered.  Coach Dyce is really excited to get him.”

DOES THIS CHANGE THE STATUS OF THE #6 PICK TUESDAY?

TAMAN:  “Nope.  Not at all.  The cap had a lot to do with this move.  I would’ve loved to bring Cory to camp but if he’s not starting, I’d have to talk to him about a paycut and he doesn’t deserve that.  This doesn’t change our draft plan at all.  We’ll still look at our needs and see where it goes.”