SirVincent Rogers, a shut down left tackle, will be blocking the blind side in Ottawa for the next two years.
Sportsnet has learned that Rogers, the league’s top lineman in 2015, quietly signed a contract extension with the Ottawa Redblacks through the end of the 2018 season. The deal locks Rogers in for next year, with a team option for the following season.
“He’s the anchor of our offensive line,” said Redblacks centre Jon Gott, up for the league’s top lineman award tonight. “He’s physical, he’s a great leader on our O-line, he’s vocal and gets guys ready.”
Rogers hasn’t done the latter since late September when he tore his fibula and tore two ligaments in his ankle. Rogers is in Toronto with the Redblacks for Grey Cup week, but is not practising and head coach Rick Campbell said he’s unlikely to play Sunday. Rogers told Sportsnet he’d likely need two more weeks of rest and rehab to play at a 70-percent level against Calgary.
“SirV, you can’t replace him,” said Jamie Elizondo, the RedBlacks offensive coordinator. “His presence, toughness, mindset, he knows what it takes to be successful.”
In Rogers’s place, Ottawa has gone with Tommie Draheim up front, and quarterback Henry Burris was effusive in his praise for the former BC Lions tackle.
Gott has also been more vocal with the offensive-line group to make up for Rogers’s absence.
Locking up Rogers to the contract is the first of many deals on the priority list for the Redblacks. Ernest Jackson, the East Division nominee for the league’s most outstanding player, has an expiring deal. Greg Ellingson and Chris Williams, fellow 1,000-yard receivers, also are pending free agents.
Ottawa will likely get to them once Grey Cup week is over.
