A few thoughts about all that.Needless to say the end of the year was an eventful one for one former Rider.
Ottawa RedBlacks defensive lineman Keith Shologan will remember 2013 for a number of reasons. The tackle of course won the Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on home turf and then just weeks later it was all gone as he was left unprotected in the Ottawa expansion draft and was taken by the CFL's new team.
"We were in Austria (when Shologan got the call), my wife she's from there and her grandparents brought us out there so they could see our new son," Shologan told the Green Zone on Thursday.
When RedBlacks General Manager Marcel Desjardins announced Shologan's name there was a sense of collective shock across much of Rider Nation that Shologan was one of the Riders starters that was left unprotected.
Everyone had been making their own mock lists, and for the most part it was expected that Shologan would be protected. As it tuns out, he wasn't.
"That's football, that's the business," said Shologan. "I'm excited for the opportunity over in Ottawa, football wise it's a brand new chapter."
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So far, Shologan admits he hasn't talked too much with the braintrust or players in Ottawa about what the plan is next year, but everyone appears to be very excited about the opportunity to start something new.
"If we come in with positive attitudes, the sky is the limit," he said. "Sometimes when you get traded or drafted you get a chip on your shoulder, if we can use those chips in a positive way, I think we'll be competitive."
The hardest part for Shologan might actually be getting used to his new surroundings. When he first arrived in Regina it was Scott Schultz that was showing him around the area, but with everyone being new in Ottawa there isn't that veteran there to do that.
As for on the field, Shologan already sees some pretty good battles brewing along the defensive line with himself, the other Canadian rider taken in the expansion draft Zack Evans and some other defensive tackles they had previous drafted or signed.
Where he thinks they need some work right now is definitely on the edges.
"We got to pick up some defensive ends right now, by the look of my count they drafted four Canadian and four American tackles," said Shologan.
Shologan does like the look of the offensive linemen they've been able to pick up so far and of course quarterback Kevin Glenn.
At some point next season Shologan will be returning to Mosaic Stadium to play the Roughriders, something Shologan admits he hasn't thought about too much just yet.
"I'm not too excited about using those locker rooms," joked Shologan.
Shologan doesn't expect to make his way out to the Nation's Capital until just before training camp, excluding a brief stop for some kind of mini-camp sometime in the spring.
Not that it's so critical in reality, but even though everyone in Ottawa will be "new", not everyone will be new to Ottawa. The RedBlacks already have a couple of local players signed and it wouldn't be shocking if more were brought in between now and the time that Shologan has to report (which hopefully includes college draft pick Connor Williams, and edge player that Shologan feels we need anyway).
I love the comment, even in humour, about the locker rooms. It was never something I gave much thought to, but Frank Clair stadium could not have been much of a selling point to prospective free agents. New, modern facilities obviously will be.
That's one thing in terms of drawing free agents, but also in terms of retaining them. No doubt many of the players acquired in the expansion draft have only one year remaining on their contracts (with the exception of receiver Rory Kolhert who will be a free agent next month). And of those, several were established in other parts of the country. If we lose half of them after one year because they want to go "home", then the purpose and advantages of the expansion draft are blown. The RedBlack experience needs to be a quality one and facilities will be a big part of that.
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