The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced Tuesday they had released defensive end A.C. Leonard. (File photo courtesy of the Saskatchewan Roughriders)

By Britton Gray, CKOM News Staff

Roughriders cut ties with veteran A.C. Leonard

Feb 1, 2023 | 10:45 AM

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have elected to move on from one of their veteran defensive players.

Defensive end A.C. Leonard was released by the CFL club on Tuesday. He was under contract for the 2023 season.

3DownNation reported the 31-year-old Leonard would have been the CFL’s highest-paid defensive lineman heading into the 2023 season. It also noted he was due a $40,000 roster bonus on Wednesday.

Just after 4 p.m., 3DownNation reported Leonard had signed with the Edmonton Elks. He’ll be reunited in Edmonton with head coach-GM Chris Jones, who had those jobs in Saskatchewan in 2016 when Leonard signed.

Leonard had three sacks in 13 games for the Riders in 2022. He didn’t register a sack after returning from injury in Week 11.

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Leonard led the CFL in sacks with 11 in a shortened season in 2021.

That season, he was suspended for three games — two for failing to provide a doping test sample after the Labour Day Classic and an additional game for verbally abusing the official trying to administer the test.

Leonard, who was converted from the tight end position to the defensive end spot, had 39 sacks in 97 career CFL regular-season games.