After spending the last year and a half out of football, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett has signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, the team announced Friday.
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A second-round pick out of USC in 2007, Jarrett caught 35 passes for 348 yards in four years for the Panthers. He was released in October 2010 following his second arrest since 2008 on a charge of driving while impaired.
"I just wanted to get my head straight," Jarrett told The StarPhoenix. "I hung around with family and friends who are close to me. I'm still young, so I wanted to give it another go. I'm looking forward to the CFL because it's a great league as far as receivers go. They throw the ball 95 percent of the time and as a receiver I like catching the ball. Why wouldn't I go up there?"
Jarrett attempted to return to the NFL but was unable to find a team interested in taking him on, Roughriders assistant general manager Jeremy O'Day said.
"We had to go through a bit of a waiting period while he worked out with some NFL teams," O'Day said. "Then he decided to take the opportunity. What's nice about Dwayne is he's only 25. He's not one of those guys who is pushing 30. We still think he has an upside and he's a big target."
