It wasn\u2019t a quick decision by Desmond Evans to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n
The defensive end said he received about 20 calls from the CFL club over a nine-month span before he eventually gave them the answer they were looking for.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI got cut from the Tennessee Titans and then went back home for three months,\u201d the athlete from Sanford, N.C., said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know if I was going to play football or not. They were calling me non-stop and I thought, \u2018Hey, let me give it a shot.\u2019 I\u2019m only 23 years old. Let\u2019s do it. I signed the contract and came down here and am ready to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evans had already gotten a job outside of football in sales, saying he was helping Fortune 500 companies scale their business.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know in sales you make a lot of money, but it\u2019s a chance to play football and something I love doing. I only have 10 or seven years left to play football so I came out here to do what I love doing,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI can do (sales) after.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Evans joins the Riders after playing five seasons with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. Coming out of high school, Evans was considered the top defensive lineman prospect in the United States.<\/p>\n
He went undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft but did sign with the Titans, eventually playing in three pre-season games before he was released.<\/p>\n
Evans has been running with the starters throughout camp opposite the newly acquired veteran James Vaughters. He narrowly missed two sacks in the pre-season game against the Calgary Stampeders<\/a> but was finally able to get a quarterback to the ground in the game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saskatoon.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI missed two so I was like I have to make it up this last game. It felt wonderful. I felt good getting another sack,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a rush. It\u2019s like getting a pick but it\u2019s like I am better than the guy they put in front of me and I got to the quarterback in two seconds. I can\u2019t explain it, it\u2019s a good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans will look to remain with the starters<\/a> once training camp ends on Friday, with final cuts expected to be announced over the weekend.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan will have a bye week to open the season before facing the B.C. Lions<\/a> on June 13.<\/p>\n Klassen comes home<\/p>\n