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News January 31, 2017

D-Line changes

Montreal Alouettes quarterback Kevin Glenn is sacked by Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive lineman Keith Shologan during first quarter CFL football action Friday, August 26, 2016 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

@EdTaitWFC

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive line is undergoing another makeover.

The Bombers announced Tuesday the release of veteran defensive tackle Keith Shologan along with fullback Pascal Lochard – both Canadians – just two weeks before the opening of the Canadian Football League’s free agent market.

As well, import defensive tackle Euclid Cummings – added last year along with Shologan during the Bombers free agent spending spree – seems destined to hit the open market on Feb. 14th after seeing his quarterback sack total drop from eight to three.

“It’s a tough business,” said Bombers GM Kyle Walters. “Veteran guys have higher salaries and as we head into free agency there’s some tough decisions that need to be made as you try to set yourself up for this year. This was one of them.

“We wish Keith the best of luck.”

Shologan, now 31, made 17 starts for the Bombers in ’16, signing here after posting a career-best seven sacks with the Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2015 but managing just two last season.

Winnipeg-4nov2016. Photo Scott Grant

Lochard, signed last year after two seasons with the B.C. Lions as insurance for Andrew Harris, was limited to eight carries in 14 games with the Bombers last year.

The release of Shologan and the expectation Cummings will go to free agency means the two defensive tackle positions will have new starters in 2017. As well, the defensive end spot opposite Jamaal Westerman is also under the microscope and could be a target in free agency or through the team’s U.S. scouting network after Justin Cole, Adrian Hubbard and Shayon Green all made starts there in 2016.

All that said, it’s not like the cupboard is bare at the Canadian defensive tackle spot with Shologan’s release.

“We like Jake Thomas, he’s been solid for us, and we like our young guys,” said Walters.

“Rupert Butcher had a good training camp, Brandon Tennant got to play. And there is some quality depth at the D-tackle spot in the draft; it’s a good draft for that position.”

Butcher, a sixth-round draft choice of the Bombers in 2016, returned to Western University after training camp and was a First-Team U Sports All-Canadian. Tennant was added last summer after his release from the Saskatchewan Roughriders and suited up for four games as a member of the Bombers.

Walters wouldn’t identify the players the Bombers like heading into the draft – and they do hold the first and sixth overall selections – but the last CFL Scouting Bureau Draft Rankings, released in December, featured six defensive linemen among the Top 20, three of them tackles: Eli Ankou of UCLA, Junior Luke of the University of Montreal, Faith Ekakitie of the University of Iowa and Kay Ofafor of St. Francis-Xavier.

 

BLUE NOTES:

The Bombers also officially announced the release of receiver/kick returner Quincy McDuffie so he could pursue an NFL opportunity. That opportunity will come with the Dallas Cowboys, who announced his signing on Tuesday.

McDuffie dressed for 13 games last year, pulling in 23 passes for 241 yards and a TD but made his biggest impact as a returner. He tied a CFL record with two kickoff-return touchdowns and finished fourth in kickoff-return yards with 1,165.