It was Christmas in January for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, according to head coach Corey Chamblin, as the team added the CFL's all-time leading receiver Geroy Simon on Thursday in a trade with the BC Lions.
“We've got a lot of gifts this January,” said Chamblin during the media conference announcing the trade. The other gift he was referring to this month was George Cortez coming on as offensive coordinator. “To be able to add a guy like Geroy Simon, we all know what he's done in this league and we know that he still has some more to do, so it's very positive having him sign on.”
News of Simon being shopped by the Lions started to come out earlier this week after general manager Wally Buono stated that they wouldn't be able too keep the 37-year-old receiver due to his high salary.
Riders general manager Brendan Taman says he'd been in talks about bringing Simon to Riderville for the better part of a month now, “Probably started mid-December that we had some notification that we were able to talk to his agent, so that's been going on for a quite a while. It's been quite a process to say the least.”
Simon will be taking a pay cut to come to the Riders and that's something that is still being worked out, according to Taman, “We've talked about the parameters of what he's going to make, so he knows there's going to be a reduction coming. Geroy will be here with agent on the weekend and we'll sit down and finalize that with him, probably, next week.”
The Riders are sending import receiver Justin Harper, who had nine catches for 95 yards in four games last season, and a 2014 third round pick in the Canadian College Draft to BC for Simon. “I wasn't big on doing as much as we did, but we had to get the deal done because I wasn't going to let it go to free agency because we wanted to make sure we got the guy,” explained Taman. “Harper's a good young player and I think he'll do well for them.”
Simon is a 14-year CFL veteran, who is the all-time leader in receiving yards with 15,787. He sits third in receptions with 989, just 29 catches away from the all-time record. His 100 receiving touchdowns also places him third on the all-time list.
“He's the ultimate professional and he works and trains to do that,” stated Chamblin. “He'll come in to complement Weston (Dressler), which is huge, and he'll be a big veteran leadership presence in the locker room.
“Weston is our guy and (Simon) knows that. I don't think he's coming here to take over that number one spot. I think he's coming in to be a part of the team and make sure we reach our goal at the end of the year.”
Last season was a down year for Simon as he failed to reach 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in nine seasons, but he was on pace to eclipse that plateau before missing the final five games of the season. He finished with 54 catches, 700 yards and two touchdowns, his lowest total since 2001.
“I know a lot of people are talking about his injury history, but I can go through Taj Smith, I can go through every one of our players and we're concerned about their history of injuries. As a football player you're going to get injured,” said Chamblin. “It's not like we're asking him to take the whole load, we're asking him to help with the load.”
However you look at, this move definitely signals that the Riders are focused on making Grey Cup 101 a home game when it's played at Mosaic Stadium in November.
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