RIDERS LOSE KNOX TO THE BUCCANEERS

More tough news for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

For the second time in a week, the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers have added a player from the Canadian Football League, this time signing former Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. on Friday night.

Knox, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, has played the last two seasons in the CFL, with 112 tackles as a rookie in 2015, breaking a team record set by current NFL linebacker Jerrell Freeman. He had 65 tackles and another 19 on special teams (fifth-highest in CFL) in 2016 and is the second CFL player to sign with the Bucs, following receiver Derel Walker.

The 24-year-old played Division II college football at California University of Pennsylvania, just south of his hometown of Pittsburgh. He had 11.5 tackles for loss including 7.5 sacks as a senior in 2014, with four forced fumbles.

Knox’s signing was first reported by NFLdraftdiamonds.com; Chip Smith, a performance coach based in Atlanta, posted a video of Knox signing his three-year contract with the Bucs. As with most players signing futures contracts, he’ll face tough odds to make the team, though the Bucs have a limited number of linebackers under contract for 2017.

Knox was dismissed from Pittsburgh a month into his freshman year in 2010 after he was arrested and accused of assault against a woman; he later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault.

( Courtesy http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs-sign-cfl-linebacker-jeff-knox/2309608)