CFL: Former NFL QB Young doesn’t make cut with Riders, Argos trim 11
Vince Young’s football comeback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders ended Saturday.
Leigh Steinberg, Young’s agent, tweeted the former Texas Longhorns’ star quarterback was waived by the Riders after suffering a torn hamstring during the CFL team’s training camp. Young didn’t play in either of Saskatchewan’s two exhibition games.
CFL teams had until 10 p.m. ET on Saturday night to finalize their 46man roster to start the regular season. At least 21 of those players must be Canadian with clubs allowed to carry three quarterbacks of any nationality.
Another 10 players can be carried on the practice roster.
The Riders confirmed Saturday evening that Young was among the 20 players they’d released.
The six-foot-five, 232-pound Young was injured June 6 and expected to miss four-to-six weeks. Young, 34, signed a two-year deal with the Riders this off-season after spending eight years in the NFL but hadn’t played in a regular-season game since 2011 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Young was to battle CFL veteran Kevin Glenn for the starter’s job in Regina. Glenn will be under centre when Saskatchewan kicks off the regular season Thursday night against the Montreal Alouettes.
Brandon Bridge of Mississauga, will be the backup with rookie Rookie Marquise Williams standing third on the depth chart.
Young was 30-2 at Texas and in ‘05 led the school to an NCAA title. He went in the first round, third overall, of the 2006 NFL draft to the Tennessee Titans and was the league’s top rookie and a Pro Bowl selection that season
Young, a 2005 Heisman Trophy finalist, started 50-of-60 career NFL games and in ‘09 was its comeback player and earned his second Pro Bowl nomination. But the Houston native had been out of football since 2014 when he retired after being released by the Cleveland Browns.
The Toronto Argonauts let 11 players go, including defensive back Aaron Berry, who returned an interception for a TD in Toronto’s 24-20 exhibition win over Montreal on June 8.
Defensive back Jovon Johnson, 33, was among 11 players let go by Montreal. The CFL’s top defensive player in 2011 with Winnipeg, Johnson was a two-time league all-star (2009, 2011) and spent time with Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal, registering 504 tackles, eight sacks and 32 interceptions, returning six for TDs.
Canadian defensive lineman Ben D’Aguilar and veteran quarterback Mitchell Gale were among the Calgary Stampeders’ 17 cuts. Gale, a fouryear CFL veteran with Toronto and Saskatchewan, battled Ricky Stanzi and Canadian Andrew Buckley for backup duties behind incumbent Bo Levi Mitchell.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers released 12 players, including American receiver Kenny Stafford. The six-footthree, 205-pound Stafford signed with the Bombers in the off-season after having spent time with Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton.