ROUGHRIDERS
SUNSERI SIGNS
Backup quarterback and sometime starter last year Tino Sunseri has inked a new deal with the Riders. Sunseri, who was a free agent, says he can build off of last season.
REGINA — Tino Sunseri’s yo-yo-like 2014 season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders wasn’t a negative when he was trying to decide whether to rejoin the CFL team this off-season.
If anything, it may have pushed the 26-year-old quarterback to re-sign with the Green and White.
“Last year is something I can build off,” Sunseri said Friday after the Roughriders announced they had inked the free-agent pivot to a new contract. “It was a great learning experience for me.
“I’m not a guy who looks at anything half-empty; I look at it half-full. Going through experiences like that, yes, they’re tough, but they build you into what you are.
“I’ve carried over everything I learned last year to prepare this off-season and I’m going to apply it to next season so I can become an even better player.”
Sunseri was the Roughriders’ No. 2 quarterback to start the 2014 season, his second campaign with Saskatchewan.
After starter Darian Durant suffered what ended up being a season-ending elbow injury against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 7, Sunseri assumed the No. 1 job.
But over the subsequent weeks, he and Seth Doege took turns playing before they both were supplanted by 41-year-old Kerry Joseph.
Sunseri, who started four games, finished the season with 73 completions in 123 pass attempts for 973 yards and six touchdowns. He added 20 carries for 97 yards and a TD.
Despite his on-again, offagain performances, the Roughriders saw enough from Sunseri that they wanted him back.
“When Corey (Chamblin, head coach) and Jacques (Chapdelaine, offensive coordinator) evaluate him, they see potential and a lot of upside,” general manager Brendan Taman said.
“We’re going to do what we can to keep that position at as high a quality as we can — and we feel he’s worth a look. We’ve invested two years in him, so let’s go back and see where it goes.”
That said, the Roughriders will continue to pursue other options as well.
Taman said the team is still waiting to hear from former B.C. Lions QB Kevin Glenn, who became a free agent Tuesday. Saskatchewan also has talked to the agent for Dan LeFevour, whose contract with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats expired Tuesday.
The goal is to have a full stable for training camp.
“We’ll sign four or maybe five good, quality quarterbacks and the best three or four will stay with us,” Taman said. “I haven’t really pinpointed who’s one, two, three, four or five — obviously Darian’s got the inside track on one — but two to five will have to compete and see where it goes.
“It’s all about competition, whether you’re the kicker, the end, the centre or the guard. One of the things we’re going to try to maintain is having good strong competition at every position in camp and Tino will have competition to be two, three or four.” That’s fine by Sunseri. “Anybody they bring in or don’t bring in, they’re obviously trying to better the team,” he said from Charlotte, N.C., where he has been training. “Bettering the team brings competition — and that brings out the best in everybody that’s involved.”
Sunseri said he was contacted by other teams after becoming a free agent, but he always hoped to return to the Roughriders. When they showed an interest in bringing him back, he was happy to re-sign.
“I know I’m walking into a great place,” said Sunseri, who noted he signed for one year. “I can’t wait to get there, get started and try to bring another championship to Saskatchewan.”
EXTRAS: Taman said there hasn’t been a lot of movement on Saskatchewan’s other remaining free agents, including linebacker Brian Peters ... The Roughriders announced they had released Canadian defensive end David Lee. Having traded homebrew Ricky Foley to the Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan will deploy an American at end — and that made Lee (who was Foley’s backup) expendable.