With less than a month to go until CFL free agency opens, Edmonton Eskimos vice president of football and general manager Brock Sunderland continues to work away at his long list of pending free agents.
On Tuesday, punter Hugh O’Neill joined the list of returning players as the team announced a one-year contract extension for the soon to be 28-year-old.
O’Neill returned to the Eskimos for his second stint with the team early in the 2017 season and was used mostly as a punter. He finished the season with a 45.1 yard average, tied for third best in the CFL. The University of Alberta grad also went 9 for 13 on field goals in the 13 games he played.
Kicker Sean Whyte, running back CJ Gable and offensive linemen Colin Kelly, David Beard and D’Anthony Batiste along with receiver Derel Walker have all signed contract extensions since the end of last season.
Sunderland is continuing negotiations with several of the remaining free agents including seven-year Eskimos linebacker J.C. Sherritt
“I’ve been in detailed conversations with J.C., we are hopeful he can come back if we can make it work on both ends,” Sunderland said.
He’s also hoping to get more pending free agents signed before they can start talking with other teams next month.
“Every day I am speaking with agents and players trying to get more and more guys to come back.
“Everybody loves playing for Jason (Maas) and we have a great organization – that’s the best recruiting tool of all. Some guys are going to say ‘I think my value is this much more’ and the reality is we aren’t going to get everybody back, but we are doing all we can to get the guys back that we really want.”
CFL free agency begins Feb. 13.
Also on Tuesday, the Eskimos announced the signing of receiver and kick returner Shaq Hill. The 5-10, 180 pounder played college football at Eastern Washington where he had 2,818 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career. Hill, 25, spent time in the training camps of the Houston Texans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past season.
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