A free agent signing that wasn’t supposed to be announced until Tuesday happened Friday for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Green and White announced that Canadian linebacker Adam Auclair has inked a one-year deal. The 27-year-old Laval grad was Ottawa’s first round pick, sixth overall, in the 2020 C-F-L Draft and played 42 games with the RedBlacks over the last three seasons. In addition, the Riders signed for former N-F-L defensive back Nick Nelson. The U of Hawaii grad was a fourth draft pick of Las Vegas in 2018 and played two seasons with the Raiders in 2018 and 19 plus spent time with Indianapolis in 2021. Nelson is expected to be at training camp in May. Following are the news releases from the Roughriders…..
DATE: February 9, 2024
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR24-023
ROUGHRIDERS WELCOME FORMER 1st ROUND SELECTION ADAM AUCLAIR
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed National linebacker Adam Auclair to a one-year contract.
Auclair (6’2-223) joins the Roughriders after a career-year on the field with the Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2023. The Quebec native suited up at both weakside and middle linebacker and played all 18 games, tallying career-highs in defensive tackles (63) and special teams tackles (14). He also added one sack, one forced fumble, one interception, two pass knockdowns and two fumble recoveries and ranked second on the REDBLACKS with 83 defensive plays.
Auclair was drafted in the first round, sixth overall, by the REDBLACKS in the 2020 CFL Draft. In total he played 42 games with Ottawa and made 119 defensive tackles, 30 special teams tackles, two sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles.
Collegiately, the 27-year-old played four seasons (2016-19) with the Laval Rouge et Or and recorded 114 career tackles and seven interceptions. He is a two-time Vanier Cup Champion, winning in 2016 and 2018. Auclair won the President’s Trophy in 2017 as the stand-up Defensive Player of the Year, was twice named a USPORTS All-Canadian (2016, 2017) and won the Bruce Coulter Award as the defensive player of the game for his 11 tackle, one interception effort in the 2018 Vanier Cup.
DATE: February 9, 2024
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR24-022
RIDERS ADD FORMER RAIDER DB NICK NELSON
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed American defensive back Nick Nelson.
Nelson (5’11-205) was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the fourth round, 110th overall, of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons (2018-19) with the Raiders, suiting up for 12 career games including three starts, while earning 20 tackles, one pass deflection and one fumble recovery. He also spent time with the Indianapolis Colts in 2021.
Collegiately, Nelson started his career at the University of Hawaii (2014-15) before transferring to the University of Wisconsin in 2016. After a redshirt season post-transfer, the Maryland native played all 14 games of the 2017 season where he set a single-season school record and led the nation with 21 pass breakups and tallied 35 tackles and one tackle for loss. On special teams, he returned 24 punts 206 yards and one touchdown. For his formidable final college season, Nelson was named a Second-Team All-American (CBS) and a consensus First-Team All-Big Ten. Prior to Wisconsin, he played 21 games in Hawaii, earning 87 tackles, including three for loss, one sack, 20 pass deflections and two forced fumbles.
