The Saskatchewan Roughriders have demoted former first-round NFL draft pick Paxton Lynch to the practice roster.
The six-foot-seven, 244-pound passer has spent the entire 2021 season on the club’s active roster or one-game injured list, allowing him to collect his full salary. He has yet to dress for a game behind Cody Fajardo and Isaac Harker as he’s frequently been Saskatchewan’s healthy scratch.
This is why it came as a surprise when the Riders listed Harker and Mason Fine as their quarterbacks when they released their Week 16 depth chart on Friday morning. Fine has spent the entire season on the practice roster, presumably as the club’s fourth-string quarterback.
It appears Fine has leapfrogged Lynch to win the third-string job, which would explain why he’s backing up Harker on Saturday with Cody Fajardo resting for the postseason. Lynch is not hurt, as illustrated by him not being moved to the practice roster instead of the one-game or six-game injured lists.
Lynch spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos after being selected No. 26 overall during the 2016 NFL Draft. He had a 1-3 win-loss record as a starter and completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 792 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Lynch hasn’t played an NFL game since the 2017 season having been released by Seattle and Pittsburgh in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The 27-year-old was a prolific passer at the University of Memphis. He started 38 games for the Tigers passing for 8,863 yards, 59 touchdowns versus 23 interceptions with a 62.9 completion rate while adding 687 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. After being tabbed as a three-star recruit by Rivals, Lynch outperformed his ranking in the NCAA.
Lynch was a two-time all-conference honouree, one of 12 finalists for the Manning Award and one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He was also a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and for the 79th Maxwell Award.
In his junior collegiate season, he tied an NCAA record by completing seven touchdown passes in the first half of a game and finished the year ranked 11th in the NCAA in passing efficiency (157.5). Lynch decided to forgo his final collegiate season to enter the NFL Draft.
The Riders (9-4) are set to visit the Ticats (7-6) on Saturday with Saskatchewan resting a number of starters after clinching second place in the West Division last week. Among those who will not play are Fajardo, William Powell, Duke Williams, Micah Johnson, Micah Teitz, and Loucheiz Purifoy.
