No days off for the front office of the defending Grey Cup Champions. The Saskatchewan Roughriders had a trio of announcements today, including the release of pending free agent Shawn Bane Junior and signing Vi Jones and Kerfalla Exume. Receiver Bane Junior had spent three seasons with the Green and White, appearing in 36 games and recorded nine touchdowns with his best season coming in 2023 where he had 93 receptions for 1,104 yards. Bane Junior played in four games this past season after spending time on the one-game injured list or as a healthy scratch.
As for the two signings today for Saskatchewan, three-time Grey Cup champion Kerfalla Exume was extended today after appearing in all 18 games including both playoff game. Exume registered eight special teams tackle and a forced fumble, plus four defensive tackles. Exume has won the last two Grey Cups with Saskatchewan and Toronto, and his first came with Winnipeg in 2019. The Riders also signed American linebacker Vi Jones, bringing some N-F-L experience to the team. Jones signed as an undrafted free agent with Seattle in 2022, making three appearances while also playing for Tampa Bay and Arizona. Following are the official news releases from the Roughriders……
DATE: January 28, 2026
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR26-24
ROUGHRIDERS RELEASE PENDING FREE AGENT SHAWN BANE JR.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have released American wide receiver and pending free agent Shawn Bane Jr.
Bane Jr. signed with Roughriders and spent three seasons with the Club. In total Bane Jr. played 36 games with the Green and White, tallying 146 receptions for 1,713 yards and nine touchdowns, including a breakout season in 2023, registering 93 receptions for 1,104 yards.
DATE: January 28, 2026
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR26-25
RIDERS EXTEND THREE-TIME GREY CUP CHAMPION KERFALLA EXUMÉ
Exumé (6’0-195) returns to the Roughriders after signing with the Green and White in February last year. The Montreal native suited up for all 18 regular season games last season, plus the Western Final and Grey Cup. Exumé excels on special teams, where he made eight tackles and a forced fumble in 2025, while also adding four defensive tackles.
Exumé was selected by Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the eighth round, 70th overall, of the 2019 CFL Draft. Now entering his seventh CFL season he’s played 94 career regular season games between the Bombers, the Montreal Alouettes, the Toronto Argonauts and the Riders. He is a three-time Grey Cup Champion winning in 2019 with the Bombers, 2024 with the Argonauts and in 2025 with Saskatchewan.
Over his CFL career, Exumé has tallied a total of nine defensive tackles and 79 special teams tackles, including 25 special teams tackles in his first professional season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – the second-best mark in the league that year.
Collegiately, he played four seasons at the University of Montreal (2015-18). He earned 26 tackles, two interceptions, four pass breakups, and one forced fumble over 22 games.
DATE: January 28, 2026
RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATELY
RELEASE: SR26-26
RIDERS SIGN LINEBACKER VI JONES
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed American linebacker Vi Jones.
Jones (6’2-225) signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and appeared in three games as a rookie. He subsequently spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2023-24), earning two forced fumbles and nine defensive tackles in seven games in 2024. Both forced fumbles were in the same game — against the host Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 15, 2024 — and were on back-to-back plays. The Chargers recovered the first fumble made on a kickoff return, but Jones forced a turnover by dislodging the football once more on the following play from scrimmage. He went on to join the Cardinals for 2025 registering 10 tackles in three pre-season games before being among the Cardinals’ final cuts.
Collegiately, Jones played for USC (2017-18) before transferring to North Carolina State in 2019. As a senior in 2021, he had 45 tackles (including eight for a loss), six sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and a blocked kick in 12 games. In 2020, he blocked three kick, tying him for the lead in FBS, and started four games at weak-side linebacker. He was a co-recipient of the Wolfpack’s Special Teams Player of the Year award for 2020. He had 28 total tackles in 21 games over two seasons at USC.
