Riders announce signings of five Canadian players

One of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first moves for the 2024 season involved signing up some Canadian depth.

While the search for the next head coach is still on, Riders general manager Jeremy O’Day is starting to shape the roster.

The team announced Tuesday that five Canadians — linebackers Matt Dean and Nick Thomas, offensive linemen Zack Fry and Evan Floren, and fullback Morgen Runge — had all signed contracts with the CFL club.

Dean and Fry were with the team for the 2023 season while Thomas (University of Manitoba), Floren (Queen’s University) and Runge (University of Alberta) all returned to school.

Fry, a 6-foot-6, 304-pounder, was selected by the Riders in the second round (16th overall) of the 2022 CFL draft.

In 2022, Fry was part of a Western Mustangs offence that led the OUA in multiple categories including points per game (45.0), total offence (4,106 yards), rushing yards (2,336), rushing yards per game (292.0) and yards per rush (8.2).

He was named an OUA all-star and second-team All-Canadian in 2022, helping the Mustangs go 8-0 in the regular season. In 2021, he helped the Mustangs capture the eighth Vanier Cup in school history.

He dressed in four games for the Riders in 2023.

Dean (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) was taken by Saskatchewan in the third round (21st overall) of the 2023 draft. He dressed for four games this past season, recording one special-teams tackle.

The 24-year-old played four seasons (2018-22) at York University, where he logged 115 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries and one blocked field goal over 31 college games. Dean was named an OUA all-star and team MVP in 2022.

Thomas was selected by the Roughriders in the seventh round (60th overall) of the 2023 draft. The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder attended training camp with the Riders before returning to university to play with the Bisons for his fifth season of eligibility.

The 25-year-old earned 140 total tackles over five seasons (2018-23) as a Bison.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Floren was taken by the Roughriders in the seventh round (57th overall) of the 2023 CFL draft. He attended training camp with the Green and White.

The 23-year-old played five seasons (2019-23) at Queen’s University. Primarily starting at left guard in 2023, Floren was part of a line that helped Queen’s finish first in the OUA in rushing with 242.3 yards per game and 20 touchdowns.

Runge, a 6-foot-1, 216-pounder, attended training camp with the Riders in 2023 before returning to school for his fifth season of U Sports eligibility.

The 25-year-old spent three seasons (2021-23) at the University of Alberta, logging 12 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown and adding 10 tackles and one fumble recovery. Runge also spent four seasons (2016-19) with the Edmonton Huskies of the CJFL.