The Saskatchewan Roughriders celebrated trade deadline day in Major League Baseball by pulling off a major C-F-L trade of their own.
The Riders dealt veteran quarterback Zach Collaros to winless Toronto Wednesday morning for a conditional fourth round pick in the 2020 C-F-L Draft. The fourth round choice can improve to a second round selection depending on playing time and contract extension clauses.
This will be Collaros’ second stint with the Argonauts. He started his C-F-L career in Toronto in 2012 before the 30-year-old played four seasons with Hamilton between 2014 and 17.
He was acquired by the Green and White before the 2018 campaign when he suited up for 14 games, completing 234 of 382 passes for 2,999 yards with nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Collaros was injured during the Riders’ season-opener in Hamilton on the third play of the contest and has been on the six-game injured list ever since. Cody Fajardo has emerged as the Saskatchewan starter and has won three of his five starts thus far. He will be the starter Thursday against the visiting Tiger-Cats.
The Argos, meanwhile, have struggled to find production at quarterback since Ricky Ray was injured in Week 2 of the 2018 season. Ray has since retired, while James Franklin and McLeod Bethel-Thompson have split starts since. Franklin is currently on the six-game injured list after suffering an injury in Week 3 against, ironically, the Roughriders while Bethel-Thompson was pulled during a shutout loss to Edmonton last week. Toronto hosts Winnipeg Thursday.
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Saskatchewan is only making two changes to their 46-man roster for Thursday night’s tussle with Hamilton at Mosaic Stadium…and neither involves starting position players! Justin McInnis comes back on the 46 with Regina product Mitch Picton returning to the practice roster after McInnis missed last Saturday’s 45-18 victory in B-C due to injury. The other change has Canadian linebacker and special teamer Brandyn Bartlett going on the six-game injured list with defensive lineman Charbel Debire coming onto the 46. Kicker Brett Lauther remains on the one-game injured list and receiver K-D Cannon is on the practice roster.
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In addition, Riders’ defensive end Charleston Hughes…along with Winnipeg defensive back Winston Rose, Montreal running back William Stanback…are the C-F-L top performers for July. Hughes had four sacks, 14 tackles and two forced fumbles in three games. His biggest game came two weeks ago when he sacked B-C Lions quarterback Mike Reilly three times, while adding two tackles for a loss, a career-high ten tackles and two forced fumbles in a 38-25 Green and White triumph. Following is the Collaros trade news release, along with the roster and depth chart for the Riders’ game against Hamilton…
DATE: July 31, 2019
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR19-094
ROUGHRIDERS TRADE ZACH COLLAROS TO ARGONAUTS
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have traded American quarterback Zach Collaros to the Toronto Argonauts in exchange for a conditional fourth round selection in the 2020 CFL Draft.
Collaros joined the Roughriders in January of 2018 after being acquired via trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The 30-year-old played 14 games for the Club in 2018 completing 234 of 382 pass attempts (61.3%) for 2,999 yards and nine touchdowns leading to 10 wins.
Over eight CFL seasons, Collaros has thrown for 16,758 yards and 92 touchdowns. He played in the 2014 Grey Cup with the Tiger-Cats and won the Grey Cup in 2012 with Toronto as the back-up quarterback.
