The Edmonton Eskimos have given kicker Warren Kean the boot.
A league source requesting anonymity told The Canadian Press late
Friday night Kean, the second player selected in the ‘07 Canadian
College draft, was among Edmonton’s final cuts. The Eskimos made no
announcement Friday and have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday to decide
on their 46-man active roster.
The Eskimos drafted Kean as the heir apparent to veteran kicker Sean Fleming, who retired following the ‘07 season. However, Edmonton obtained veteran kicker-punter Noel Prefontaine from Toronto prior to training camp after the Argos re-signed former NFL star Mike Vanderjagt.
Kean, a native of Dundas, Ont., made the only convert he tried last year with Edmonton and connected on three-of-four field goals. Kean played his college football at Concordia and made 20-of-32 field goals in his final season with the Stingers.
Kean
set a CIS record when he connected on nine field goals in a
six-overtime game against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. He was a three-time
Quebec conference all-star and in ‘05 was a CIS all-Canadian
Some CFL teams got a head start Friday on making their final cuts.
Receiver Patrick Johnson was among seven players released by the Toronto Argonauts.
Toronto
acquired Johnson from the Edmonton Eskimos last year for a 2008
second-round draft pick and entering camp had high hopes for the former
NFL player. However, newcomer James Robinson, a six-foot-three,
196-pound CFL rookie, simply played his way on to the Argos roster with
stellar play on special teams and key catches when he got into the
club’s two exhibition games.
Another factor working against Johnson was the impending return of
former NFL first-round draft pick David Boston appears to have made
Johnson expendable.
Boston signed
with the Argos in the off-season but was placed on the suspended list
with a pre-existing foot ailment and missed all of training camp.
However, Boston doesn’t have to undergo surgery on his foot and is
expected to resume practising with Toronto this weekend.
Toronto made the roster moves following a 28-21 exhibition loss to Hamilton at Rogers Centre on Thursday night.
Those individuals among their team’s final cuts could still stick as
CFL teams are allowed to carry as many as seven players on the practice
roster.
Also released by Toronto were Yves Hercule and linebacker Eric
Maranda, both Canadian-born linebackers who played their college
football at Laval. The six-foot-two, 195-pound Hercule, a native of
Roxboro, Que., signed as a free agent
with Toronto in ‘07 and the Argos had Hercule and Sean Ortiz battling
to take over long-snapping duties with the off-season retirement of
Randy Srochenski. However, Srochenski returned to the CFL club during
training camp.
The six-foot-one, 235-pound Maranda, of St-Georges de Beauce, Que.,
was Toronto’s fourth-round pick (29th overall) in the ‘07 CFL Canadian
college draft.
The other players let go were receiver Chris Cole, kicker-punter Robert Eeuwes, defensive back Jason Shivers and defensive end Seante Williams.
Sophomore defensive back James Bethea, a former Washington Redskin,
was among five players released by the B.C. Lions. The others were
quarterback Gino Guidugli, offensive lineman Clint Stickdorn, receiver
Dedrick Poole and defensive lineman Tory Collins.