Marcus Sayles faces former team as Sask. Roughriders meet Lions

Marcus Sayles will see plenty of familiar faces when the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the B.C. Lions Saturday.

The defensive back was cut by the Lions after training camp, leaving the veteran without a team for the first week of the 2024 CFL season.

“This isn’t my first rodeo, it wasn’t my first time being cut,” the 29-year-old said. “I understand it’s a business and even though they didn’t see me as part of their future, I’m blessed I’m able to still play.”

But he was signed by the Riders ahead of the team’s Week 2 game and has started the club’s past two games.

“I’m happy and fortunate enough to have a good team here and be with the guys who also love the game as much as I do and just want to succeed and win,” Sayles said.

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Sayles has found some form of success everywhere he has played football.

His love of the game started due to is older brother playing the sport.

“I didn’t really start watching football until I was in my young teens and didn’t start playing football until high school,” Sayles said.

He has three other brothers and two sisters who he grew up with.

“There was always something to do and always loud but everyone has their own personalities but it’s exciting to see where everyone has taken their life now,” Sayles said.

A product of Alpharetta, Ga., Sayles attended high school at Chattahoochee High School in Johns Creek, Ga.

While there, he played as both a receiver and defensive back. In 2010, the team went 15-0 and captured the state title in his junior year.

“We had a really good team. I was a halfway starter my junior year (in 2015) so my first year fully starting was my senior year. I was both ways playing offence and defence. I was good at receiver but I excelled better at DB,” Sayles said.

If the Riders found themselves in an emergency situation, Sayles thinks he still could contribute on offence if needed.

“I definitely think I still have some juice in me. I don’t know if I’ll be starting over these guys but if they need me for a sixth or seventh, I could do it,” Sayles said with a chuckle. “An emergency receiver.”

Sayles went on to play college football with the West Georgia Wolves. While there, he started in 46 games from 2013-16 recording 123 tackles, 12 interceptions, and 24 pass breakups. He also is the program’s record holder for most blocked kicks, with 13.

“It’s something that I liked to do,” Sayles said. “I just had a knack for it.”

While he went undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills but was released in September. He then signed with the Los Angeles Rams in November but was released in April 2018.

“My dream was to make it to the NFL. My transition was a little different because I was playing field corner in college and when I got to the league, they wanted me to play nickle,” Sayles said.

“I loved my experiences. I was able to touch it – that’s everybody’s dream and I’m just happy to keep going wherever my professional career takes me.”

His next opportunity would come in the CFL, a league he admits he didn’t know too much about.

“I had seen some games here and there but not too much,” Sayles said. “Whenever I got the opportunity to come out here, I just wanted to keep playing football. I didn’t want my football career to end right after college.”

He signed with the Winnipeg Bombers for the 2018 season. In 2019, he and Winston Rose became key parts of a Winnipeg defence that would go on to win the Grey Cup.

“It was great. A lot of the guys, we were just locked in,” Sayles said. “We were able to put it together.”

Sayles was signed by the Minnesota Vikings for the 2020 season with the CFL one cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sayles spent most of the year with the Vikings before he was released which opened the door to return to the CFL, where he signed with the Lions.

“When contract talks started coming, I just felt like (B.C.) was the next best opportunity for me and it became what it was,” Sayles said.

After two seasons there, including a CFL all-star season in 2022, he was cut and eventually joined the Green and White.

He has helped the defence become one of the league’s top units, with the Riders leading the way with 14 takeaways this season. Sayles has one himself – a pick-six against the Toronto Argonauts in a 30-23 win last week.

“It’s everybody is locking in. I’m the new guy but seeing their work ethic and how much film we watch and how we get into the weight room and the expectations our coaches have of us, it just raises our standard,” Sayles said. “Everyone just wants to win.”

As the undefeated Riders head into B.C. to take on the 4-1 Lions, Sayles is excited for the showdown with his former team. Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m.

“We’re coming in to be 1-0. We expect to win and we feel like we can win. Even though they have great players, so do we,” Sayles said. “It’s all going to come down to what happens between those lines.”