‘A lot of waiting’: A glimpse into final cut day of CFL training camp

With the final day of Saskatchewan Roughriders camp, the coaches begin trimming roster for upcoming season, with QB2 still undecided. Donovan Maess has more.

At 28 years old, receiver Matthew Sexton is attending his seventh professional training camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders this season.

Getting cut from a team is an experience he has become far too used to.

“It’s kind of my whole life story, man. It’s just perseverance,” he described. “I thought I was going to get picked up in the UFL last year, didn’t pan out how [I thought].”

Sexton signed with the National Football League’s (CFL) Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2021.

He then went on to spend time with the Kansas City Chiefs (2022-23), Atlanta Falcons (2023), and the Miami Dolphins (2024), the XFL’s Vegas Vipers, the United Football League’s (UFL) San Antonio Brahmas.

Most recently, Sexton attended the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ rookie camp.

“I went to Ottawa thinking it was going to be great – I was cut two days later,” he said. “This is just an epitome of my life story. It’s just not new, you know what I mean? I’m an underdog story through and through. I’m glad to be here.”

In two preseason games with the Riders this season, Sexton made nine catches for 87 yards.

Now, like many other camp attendees whose roster spot is not a guarantee, he now awaits the call that he has made the team.

For the Eastern Michigan alumni, sticking with Saskatchewan would mean “everything.”

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“I thought I was done,” Sexton admitted. “I had no idea what was going to happen and then [Saskatchewan] gave me a call and they gave me an opportunity.”

For coaches, the process of setting the roster is just getting started.

“We have to sit down and have a long, long, long powwow,” head coach Corey Mace told reporters Friday after the team’s final practice of training camp.

“I was telling the guys, ‘What’s happened here at practice can drastically affect your decision making by me.’ You build trust on the practice field.”

Saskatchewan is the lone CFL team which did not play on the final day of the preseason Friday, giving coaches more time to debate how the final roster will round out.

“There’s debate, and there should be,” Mace explained. “If there’s never any debate, that means we didn’t have good players – and I know we did. We brought in a bunch of good guys that are pushing for multiple spots on the roster.”

Mace went on to say his message throughout camp to players was, “Make one of us stand on the table for you.’”

“Usually, when it comes down to maybe two guys and, if you feel strongly about something, you gotta it,” the coach added. “You’re encouraged to speak up, to stand on [the] table [for] somebody, because you want us to believe they are the one to help change the team.”

“If you sit on your hands and you don’t speak up, that’s not always a good thing. But it’s also not always a good thing to argue everybody,” Mace added.

Sexton described cut days in the NFL, saying players sit in the locker room and hope they are not called into the coaches office.

“We used to call him the ‘Grim Reaper.’ If no one comes to you, you’re good,” he said.

And now, he waits, again.

“It’s a lot of waiting around,” Sexton added.

Saskatchewan, like all teams across the league, have until 11:59 local time to make their final cuts and set their roster.