Bennett, Simonise among 17 players released by Bombers

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This article was published 08/06/2019 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Four players who saw significant playing time last season, including veteran quarterback Bryan Bennett and sophomore wide receiver Rashaun Simonise, were among 17 players given their outright release as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers reduced their numbers prior to the CFL’s roster deadline Saturday.

Bennett, who had the club’s No. 3 job last season and finished the pre-season with an excellent 5-for-7, 120-yard passing performance in Saturday’s 35-29 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, lost his spot to 23-year-old rookie Sean McGuire, a highly touted product out of Western Illinois.

McGuire, 23, went 6-for-9 for 77 yards against the Roughriders.

Simonise, meanwhile, was Winnipeg’s top pick (12th overall) in the 2018 CFL Draft, but his role diminished with the emergence of another Canadian pass-catcher, third-round (26th overall) 2018 pick Daniel Petermann.

In addition, defensive back Tyneil Cooper and wide receiver Corey Washington, both Americans, were jettisoned after having prominent roles in 2018. Washington, however, was injured much of this spring and spent most of training camp as a spectator.

GM Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea completed a major overhaul of the club’s receiving corps, including newcomers Lucky Whitehead, Rasheed Bailey, Kenneth Walker, Kenny Lawler and the return of Chris Matthews after stints in the NFL and with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.

Second-round draft choice Brady Oliveira earned a job but his University of North Dakota running mate, John Santiago, was cut.

Eleven players chose to accept spots on the club’s practice roster.

All CFL clubs have 45-man game rosters, which include 21 Canadians, 20 Americans, three quarterbacks and one global player; the club’s injured list will be announced the day before Saturday’s regular-season opener in Vancouver.

Winnipeg’s global player is expected to be German linebacker Thiadric Hansen.

Seven of the club’s 2019 draft picks earned a spot on the active or practice rosters, including offensive linemen Drew Desjarlais and Tui Eli; linebacker Jonathan Kongbo; running back Brady Oliveira; defensive lineman Connor Griffiths; and defensive backs Nick Hallet and Kerfalla Exumé. Kongbo, currently rehabbing after knee surgery, has yet to practise with the team.

Tariq Lachance, the club’s sixth-round pick from the University of Manitoba Bisons, was released Saturday while fifth-rounder Malik Richards did not make it out of rookie camp.

NOTEWORTHY: Former Blue Bomber defensive end Gerald Rivers was released by Saskatchewan. The Riders also unloaded backup quarterback David Watford… Toronto released defensive end Evan Foster, a University of Manitoba grad who was their third-round pick, 19th overall, in 2017.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14