By Darrell Davis,
Regina Leader-Post
Darnell Edwards has apparently played his last game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have been trying to trade the veteran defensive back.
“I’m either looking at moving him or releasing him,” Roughriders head coach Danny Barrett said following the CFL team’s workout Tuesday.
“It got to a point where we’ve got too many safeties. Everybody can’t stay. I talked to him (Monday) and told him I’m looking at trying to find him a home or set him free so he can find his own. We’ve got too many guys back there.”
Barrett also said “economics” played a role in the decision. Edwards wasn’t among the 60 players practising Tuesday — CFL guidelines limit teams to a 46-man active roster, a seven-man developmental squad and players on injury lists.
The five-year veteran was informed Monday that he was at the bottom of a non-import group of safeties that includes starting rookie Tristan Clovis, veteran Kennedy Nkeyasen and Donnie Ruiz, who was claimed in the Ottawa Renegades’ dispersal draft.
“DB (Barrett) actually showed up at my house,” Edwards said. “He buzzed me because I didn’t give them a contact number.
“He feels this is best for the team, best for me. I love Saskatchewan, I love playing here, I just wish I could have contributed more, made more interceptions and thrown them into the stands. I love the fans. I have a big pile of stuff I have to get signed for all my neighbours, people I bump into in the mall. I love that. In Montreal or Toronto they don’t know who you are. I don’t mind going to the 7-Eleven here and talking for 20 minutes about football. I love how a 10-year-old asks, ‘Why didn’t you do this on that play?’ “
Edwards, 26, suffered a knee injury early in training camp. While rehabilitating the injury, which he described as a bruise underneath the kneecap, he was placed on Saskatchewan’s suspended list so he could visit his pregnant girlfriend in Minneapolis.
Edwards was gone for two weeks before rejoining the team; he was activated for Saskatchewan’s last two games but played only on special teams. Although the injury and his personal situation obviously affected Edwards’ performance, Barrett said they weren’t the reasons for his release.
“In the past we’ve been more than fair with his situation, allowing him to get into it,” Barrett said. “I don’t know, maybe the personal stuff has affected him somewhat. But there’s more to it than that. That’s not the sole reason. I was happy he had the opportunity to deal with that. At the time it would have been an easy decision (to cut Edwards), but I didn’t want it to happen. He came back, now he’s healthy and able to do some things, I just find the other guys are playing better. Darnell has hit a plateau (with his performance).”
Barrett has contacted several teams about trading Edwards, but as of Tuesday afternoon he had not received any offers. If no CFL team makes a deal for Edwards, he becomes a free agent today and could join any team that wants him.
“I would love to play for Montreal, but any team that wants me, I would love to contribute,” said Edwards, a Montreal product who was a fourth-round draft pick in 2002 from the University of Manitoba, where he had been an all-Canadian cornerback.
“I’m a hard worker, I’m aggressive, I’m more than willing to do anything, if it’s run downfield on kickoffs and blow up the wall, I’m down to doing anything. I thought that injuries kept me from doing the best I could, but I’m not afraid to hit anybody.”
