After agreeing to a contract during the Canadian Football League’s free agent negotiation window, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have officially signed American quarterback Tommy Stevens.
Stevens joins the Riders after spending the last three seasons with the Calgary Stampeders. In those three campaigns, he appeared in 52 games and was primarily used as a short-yardage quarterback, rushing for 685 rushing yards on 160 carries and scoring 25 touchdowns.
The six-foot-four, 245-pound QB converted 30-of-31 third-and-short situations. Those 30 conversions comprised 26 rushing first downs, three touchdown runs, and a 24-yard completion.
Steven's biggest weeks of the season came while scoring three rushing touchdowns in Week 11 against Ottawa and in Week 16 against Saskatchewan when he scored on a 69-yard run.
By the end of the year, the 28-year-old led the CFL, alongside Chris Streveler, with 10 rushing touchdowns. Over his CFL career, Stevens moved the chains 60-of-62 times on third-down sneaks (97 percent) and 122-of-132 times on all QB sneak attempts (92.4 percent).
Before playing in the CFL, Stevens was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the seventh round, 240th overall during the 2020 NFL Draft and was converted to a tight end. Stevens spent most of the season on the team’s practice roster. He went on to spend time with the Carolina Panthers, suiting up for one game as a quarterback and rushing for 24 yards, before joining the New York Giants in 2021.
