The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hosting open CFL tryouts in the United States and TSN's Farhan Lalji knows the benefits from them.
"Most teams probably will have two to three guys in their roster every year that they find in these U.S. camps," Lalji told SportsCage host Barney Shynkaruk.
"You get a chance to go down there, guys are kicking the tires, and they might not know a lot about the Canadian football league. Then all of a sudden, they learn this is available, and they're like, 'I'll pay my hundred bucks and go try out.' They unearth some guys."
According to Riders senior journalist and historian Rob Vanstone, receiver Dohnte Meyers was found through an open CFL tryout.
"I've known about the CFL my whole life. My baseball coach is like a mentor and a second father. His brother, Paul, knows about the league. He's been in multiple Grey Cups. He always mentioned if the NFL doesn't work out, you can play in the CFL, and you will do very well," Meyers said while on the SportsCage in January.
"I played running back growing up, but I was always a natural athlete. I didn't transition to receiver till college, and I made it to college because of my return ability. Paul said in the CFL, you have that five-yard halo, you get an opportunity to return, that will suit you, that's a good opportunity for you. It honestly didn't come to fruition until about 2023, when I had an open tryout in Atlanta, Georgia for Saskatchewan. I ended up signing like two or three weeks later."
Meyers was with the Roughriders last season. He played 15 regular season games and recorded 65 receptions for 1,056 yards with eight touchdowns. He was with Saskatchewan when the Green and White won the Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes 25-17. In the offseason, he left Saskatchewan and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Other players Vanstone mentioned the Riders found from open tryouts were Shaq Evans, Sam Eguavoen, Derrick Moncrief, and Joe Robustelli. Lalji explains why CFL teams value open tryouts beyond uncovering new players.
"A lot of teams will take guys that are on their neg list and they'll steer them to those camps if they're ready to sign, so they can get an early evaluation and get to know them a little bit," Lalji explained.
"So there's a lot of value to these things and plenty of diamonds in the rough. There are tens of thousands of football players in the United States. You can't find them all, but they tend to find some."
Saskatchewan's first open tryout in 2026 takes place on Saturday, March 21 in Tampa, Florida and the last one will be on Saturday, May 2 in Atlanta, Georgia.
