Tiger-cats Sign Four On Defence, Including Defensive Back Rogers

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced Thursday that the football club has signed four free agents on defence, including international defensive backs Justin Rogers, V’Angelo Bentley and Richard Leonard, and national linebacker Marc-Antoine Laurin.
Rogers, 29, played 39 games (eight starts at cornerback) in the National Football League over five seasons with the Buffalo Bills (2011-13), Houston Texans (2013) and Washington Redskins (2014-15), registering 81 combined tackles, three interceptions, 14 passes defended, 15 kick returns for 428 yards (28.5 average) and three punt returns for 14 yards (4.7 average). He was originally selected by the Bills in the seventh round, 206th overall, in the 2011 NFL Draft.
The 5-11, 181-pound native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, played four seasons at the University of Richmond from 2007 to 2010 before turning pro, and sits third in school history with 12 career interceptions. In his senior season, he became the Colonial Athletic Association’s career leader in kickoff return yards (2,561) and ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
Bentley, 22, served four weeks on the Tiger-Cats practice roster late last season. He also signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s New England Patriots and attended training camp with the team in 2016.
The 5-10, 190-pound native of Cleveland, Ohio, played in 46 career games (32 starts) at the University of Illinois from 2012 to 2015, registering 132 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, 11 passes defended, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Bentley also served as the primary kick and punt returner during his tenure at Illinois. He finished as the school’s kick return yardage record holder, posting 1,860 yards on 86 returns with one touchdown, and adding 50 punt returns for 550 yards and an additional touchdown. Bentley is the only player in Illinois history with at least one kick return, punt return, interception return and fumble return for a touchdown.
Leonard, 25, signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Houston Texans and attended training camp with the team last season. He appeared in 49 games at Florida International University from 2011 to 2015, compiling 205 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 37 passes defended, three forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. The 5-9, 189-pound native of Miami, Florida, also returned kicks for the Panthers, finishing his career ranked second all-time in punt returns (37), punt return yardage (577), kick returns (86) and kick return yardage (2,158).
Laurin, 26, appeared in 19 games for the University of Ottawa from 2012 to 2016, collecting 66.5 total tackles, three quarterback sacks, five tackles for loss and one forced fumble. The 6-1, 222-pound native of Cantley, Quebec, participated in the 2015 CIS East-West Bowl.