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Another once highly prized NFL receiver appears headed to the CFL looking to put problems both on and off the field behind him.
Just weeks after the Toronto Argonauts signed former first-round NFL pick David Boston, the Montreal Alouettes are close to a deal with Charles Rogers, the second overall pick of the 2003 NFL draft.
“I would say there's about an 80-20 chance of him being at training camp, coming in and competing for a job,” Montreal general manager Jim Popp said yesterday.
“It's not completed yet, but he can come in as a CFL rookie and we'll make an assessment of him, where he's at in his career and his life.”
The parallels between Boston and Rogers are considerable.
Both are former first-round picks from Big-10 schools, still in their late 20s, who were prized for their size and ability to catch the football.
But both were plagued by injuries in the NFL and each was once suspended for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Rogers was a star at Michigan State, where he set school records for career touchdowns and receiver yards.
In 2002, he captured the Fred Belitnikoff award as the top receiver in U.S. college football before the Detroit Lions made him their top selection in April of 2003, one pick after University of Southern California quarterback Carson Palmer went first overall.
The Lions signed him to a six-year contract that would have been worth $55-million (U.S.) had Rogers lasted that long.
Instead, Rogers, now 27, became one of the biggest busts in recent NFL history.
He played just five games before breaking his collarbone during his rookie season, then missed almost all of the next year when he reinjured it.
But his relationship with Detroit really soured when, in 2005, he received a four-game suspension for repeated violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy, which he later said was for marijuana.
The Lions sued Rogers for $10-million of his $14-million signing bonus, claiming the terms of his contract required him to repay the money in the event of a drug suspension. The matter remains unresolved.
Rogers was released by Detroit before the 2006 season, news he seemed to welcome before being unable to find other work in the NFL.
“Charles is a good person,” Lions president Matt Millen said at the time of Rogers's release.
“He has to decide. If Charles wants to play, Charles can play. He has to commit himself 100 per cent to being a professional player.
“He certainly has all the skills.”
An immensely talented receiver in college, Rogers had a reputation for laziness in the NFL, something the Alouettes hope he can get past.
“If he can return to the form of being an All-American and first-round draft pick in the NFL, there's lots of upside,” Popp said.
“He's not a speed receiver. He's a big athletic presence, a big-body type like [former Calgary Stampeders star Allen Pitts].
“He may be able to have a tremendous amount of success in the CFL. But not everyone can adjust to the CFL.
“This is a veteran player coming in as a rookie in the CFL and you have to decide if he can help your ball club.”
In 15 games over three NFL seasons with Detroit, Rogers caught 36 passes for 440 yards and four touchdowns, two of which were in his first game for the Lions.
