Roughriders sign 1 familiar face, 4 draft picks

Xavier Fulton – known to some as the predator – will be back in the green and white this season. 

“I can’t express my level of gratitude for the chance to come back to a place I now call home,” Fulton said Thursday on his Facebook page. “A place with the best fans in the country, and a place where my amazing girlfriend and her family have taken me in.”

The 6’4”, 300 lbs offensive lineman re-signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders after becoming a free agent in February. He had spent four previous seasons with the team, prior to free agency. 

Fulton said he spent the off-season doing some NFL workouts – as well as in Chicago morning rush hour traffic – but added he’s excited to get started with the Roughriders and its new coaching staff.

Fulton has been the starting left tackle in all 65 CFL games he’s played in. He won the Grey Cup with the Roughriders in 2013. 

Riders number one pick holds out

The team also announced Thursday morning it has signed four of its seven selections in the 2016 CFL draft. 

Kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk, linebacker Alex Ogbongbemiga, offensive lineman Alex McKay, and receiver Joshua Stanford have all inked deals with the team. The details of the signings have not been released. 

The Roughriders are still working to sign first overall pick Josiah St. John. General manager and head coach Chris Jones hopes to see him at camp, but wouldn’t expand on what the hold up in signing the Oklahoma Sooner product was. 

“We’ve got certainly philosophies and ways we’re going to do things and so that’s kind of where we are right now,” Jones said on Tuesday.

The Riders two other draft picks, Ellie Bouka and David Onyemata, have signed free agent deals with the NFL. Bouka, the Riders third-round pick signed a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals.

Meanwhile, David Onyemata signed a four-year deal with the New Orleans Saints after the Saints selected him in the fourth round of the NFL draft.