'Everybody does it': TSN's Dave Naylor on roster rules and the Roughriders

The Saskatchewan Roughriders were in the spotlight this week when the CFL announced fines relating to how the team was deploying players.

According to the league, the team violated a number of policies concerning who can be involved in practices, among other things.

Head coach and general manger of the Riders Chris Jones accepted the penalties a $60,000 fine and a reduction in the team's salary cap but did not say much beyond that.

"He's acknowledging that the Roughriders were in violation of the league rules," Dave Naylor, a football analyst from TSN, said Friday.

Naylor added the issue of roster rules has arisen with other CFL teams.

They just took it too far.- Dave Naylor

"When teams are pointed out that they've got players in who aren't on the roster or injured players that are not really injured or practising or those kinds of things, this stuff goes on all the time," he said. "I think it's just the scale of it going on in Saskatchewan was different."

According to Naylor, teams have a common response when the issue is brought up.

"What you generally hear from teams," he said, "is that everybody does it."

• CFL fines Roughriders $60K for practicing with unsigned players

Naylor said the attitude of clubs is analogous to speeding.

"Everybody speeds a little bit," he said, but Naylor noted that the Roughriders were going far beyond the limits allowed.

"It's the scale the Roughriders were doing," he said. "The CFL is a league where the rosters are fairly small [and] teams are trying to save costs. So if you're going to put a guy up and use him for workouts or maybe bring to a meeting, people aren't going to squawk. I think in this case they just took it too far."

League commissioner clamps down

Naylor also said the Roughriders may not have expected the league to take action.

"They probably thought that the league has, historically, not come down on this," he said. "I can't think of another instance where the league has come down on this kind of thing."

• CFL fines Roughriders $15K for playing too many international players

Naylor believes the CFL, in fining the Roughriders, was sending a message to all nine teams.

"The Roughriders got ratted out by somebody, I would say, quite certainly," Naylor added. "There was another team in the league that probably notified the league."

According to Naylor, the current commissioner of the CFL Jeffrey Orridge is applying league policies in ways that have not been seen in the past.

"You've got a commissioner now ... who is perhaps willing to use the disciplinary arm of the league in a way that previous commissioners have been hesitant to do," he said.

Naylor said the Roughriders tactics regarding the roster may not be translating into success in recent matches, but the team is in what he calls an "evaluation" season and examining many players is part of that.

"This is one year of an evaluation process," he said. "This is the start of the process and sometimes having an evaluation year is necessary to building what you want."