The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have been in communication with former NFL running back James Robinson, who was re-added to the team’s negotiation list on March 19.
“Our personnel department’s definitely had conversations,” football operations president Orlondo Steinauer said. “I can’t tell you which way it was trending. If things were trending exactly the way we envisioned it, he would be signed.”
“I have not had conversations with him,” head coach Scott Milanovich said. “I know of him, I’ve seen his film. He’s a talented player, but we’re going to have to see how that potential fit happens. I’m worried about the guys that we have on the roster right now.”
The five-foot-nine, 219-pound ball-carrier went unselected in the 2020 NFL Draft but earned Jacksonville’s starting running back job as a rookie. He rushed 240 times for 1,070 yards with seven touchdowns and made 49 receptions for 344 yards and three scores for the Jaguars. The Rockford, Ill. native earned approximately $6.1 million USD over four seasons in the NFL.
“We don’t rule out anybody,” Steinauer said. “We like the running backs that we had — I mean, some that are coming in, we had them targeted last year. We can only bring so many up on NFL (practice roster) expansion. We’ve seen a couple of them in advance. Looking forward to the competition, [Robinson] would add to that.”
East Division all-star running back Greg Bell signed with the Ottawa Redblacks in CFL free agency. After two stints on the team’s practice roster last year, Shane Watts could get first crack to earn the starting RB job due to his familiarity with the playbook. Larry Rountree III, who made around $2.4 million USD in the NFL, could also compete along with Avery Morrow.
“That’s a position that we have a couple of guys that we have some familiarity with, but nobody with CFL snaps. Anytime you’re in a situation like this, you try to make it an open competition and see who does the best,” Milanovich said.
“There may be some things we do a little bit differently in training camp to help evaluate that position in terms of maybe some more full contact periods. It’s hard to evaluate guys when they have two preseason games, especially with our second preseason game being before a six-day week in our opener.”
The 53-year-old offensive guru wants to find creative ways to separate running backs in the competition for the Ticats’ starting job.
