No surprise temperamental Ryquell Armstead cut by CFL Riders

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Raise your hand if you knew the Saskatchewan Roughriders were going to dump running back Ryquell Armstead.

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[Hand raised.]

Although he had a 207-yard rushing debut with the Roughriders last season — after only three days of practices — Armstead’s release has been coming since Nov. 10, when the Roughriders were eliminated from the 2024 CFL playoffs.

After losing the West final 38-22 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the talented, temperamental running back got into an argument with a Riders coach. It was witnessed by teammates and media.

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It’s rarely a secret in Regina when Roughriders don’t interact well with their teammates, or how they behave when they’re at restaurants, casinos, bars or concerts. Head coach Corey Mace is especially demanding that his players and coaches be good teammates while serving as respectable representatives of the community-owned franchise. Armstead evidently didn’t fulfill his responsibilities. The mercurial running back arrived on the scene like a comet before burning up in the atmosphere.

The Roughriders announced Armstead’s release Friday. The only surprise was that it took five months to happen.

From the Regina Leader-Post on Nov. 11 in the aftermath of the Riders’ season-ending loss:

“Saskatchewan’s offence, under first-year co-ordinator Marc Mueller, seemed intent on running A.J. Ouellette on every first down. It was predictable, ineffective and an affront to unhappy, underused Ryquell Armstead, the other running back who likely made his last appearance in Saskatchewan’s lineup.”

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Maybe the Roughriders tried to trade Armstead. But players with a reputation don’t draw much interest.

Maybe another CFL team will sign him, like the Roughriders did in mid-September. They were hoping he would fit into their family-friendly program and not resume being the disruptive hothead that convinced the Ottawa Redblacks to cut him even though he was the league’s fourth-leading rusher at the time.

“We felt this was in the best interests of the team,” Redblacks coach Bob Dyce told the Ottawa Citizen upon Armstead’s release. “We tried, as did he, to make this work. But in the end, it didn’t.”

Armstead was ejected from a Redblacks game for taking two objectionable conduct penalties, he was twice fined for verbal abuse, there were reports that he regularly complained about his playing time and alienated his teammates, plus he offended fans with profane outbursts during a high-profile game in Victoria.

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There were warning signs before that.

Armstead had an impressive college career at Temple. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He never became a starter and scored only two touchdowns before eventually being waived five times by NFL teams, including twice by Jacksonville, followed by an eight-game stint with the XFL’s DC Defenders in 2023.

That ended in mid-season, too. Ottawa signed Armstead two months later but he didn’t make his CFL debut until 2024.

Players with so much talent don’t bounce around like that without legitimate reasons. And leopards don’t change their spots.

But the Roughriders desperately needed a running back because Ouellette, their high-priced free agent, was injured most of last season and backup Frankie Hickson was unproductive. Armstead arrived in mid-season form, apparently healthy, eager to play and vowing to show gratitude and humility for getting another opportunity. Mace kept telling the media that Armstead was trying to be a model citizen.

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Armstead got hurt in his second game, but upon his recovery the Roughriders put both American running backs onto the roster. It was supposed to be a shared position between Ouellette and Armstead, power runners who can also pass-protect, but that evidently didn’t turn out the way the newcomer envisioned. Hence the blowup.

It’s never polite to celebrate a player’s demise, even when he brings it on himself. Although Armstead obviously wasn’t a good fit, some Rider fans were still hoping this season to see an offence that could deploy him in a two-pronged attack alongside Ouellette, who rebuilt himself during this offseason in an effort to become the productive weapon expected when he was lured away from the Toronto Argonauts.

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The Roughriders currently have three American running backs on their roster: Ouellette, Trent Pennix and Khalan Laborn. Pennix and Laborn have each had an NFL tryout. Pennix has no CFL experience.

Laborn spent time with three CFL teams before recently joining Saskatchewan as a free agent. And here’s a special plot twist — Laborn became the Redblacks’ short-lived starter last year when they semi-surprisingly waived Armstead.

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