The changes keep on coming for the Green & White, as the team announced today that it had parted ways with two fan favourites: receiver Weston Dressler and defensive lineman John Chick.
Both are veteran players in their 30s with relatively large salaries, and in the team’s announcement GM/Head Coach Chris Jones said efforts to renegotiate their contracts had not been successful and the team had reached the difficult decision to release them.
Jones has said that he wants to get bigger at the receiver position, and with both Dressler and impressive 25-year old rookie Ryan Smith on the small side, it seemed unlikely that both would remain on the roster. Smith is a free agent, so jettisoning Dressler could clear the way to signing him. Or the team may decide to not pursue him either.
As for Chick, he enjoyed some dominant years with the Riders, and celebrated Grey Cups in 2007 and 2013. But again, he’s in the twilight of his career, and carries a hefty contract, and in a salary cap environment finances inevitably play a role in player personnel decisions.
We’ll be running our first Rider Fan Forum of the 2016 CFL season in the Feb. 18 issue, by the way. In November, Ron Mexico forecast that both Dressler and Chick could be on their way out. So it’ll be interesting to see what he and Earl Camembert, Cal Corduroy and John’s Chick have to say about the team.
