Riders moving on after Darian Durant, but fans may not brim with confidence

Many Roughriders fans woke up Friday morning to the news the Darian Durant era in Saskatchewan was over.

They were probably hardly surprised this day had come, but what they got in return was salt in the wound.

• Saskatchewan Roughriders trade Darian Durant to Montreal

The Roughriders traded their long-time quarterback to the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for two draft picks.

"In about four weeks he's on the streets as a free agent so we felt getting two draft picks was pretty significant," said Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones.

That's how Jones justified trading the face of the franchise in exchange for a fourth-rounder this year and a conditional second-rounder next year.

In the big picture, an embarrassing swap for the Roughriders — but considering next month they could get nothing in return, it was good enough for the Riders' boss.

Jones was confident a deal wouldn't get done with Durant and his agent, who rejected the Riders' latest offer in the last couple of weeks.

• Riders' QB Darian Durant says contract talks at a standstill

"It started becoming a reality we were staring at losing Darian Durant to free agency, we wanted to get something out of him," Jones said.

While the Riders were offering a reduced base-salary contract heavy on incentives, Durant and his agent wanted guaranteed money.

Jones was not prepared to financially commit to an aging quarterback who has had trouble staying healthy since winning the Grey Cup in 2013.

• Durant to sit out Roughriders' season finale

"Well, we won five ball games last year with Darian so that's reality," was the blunt statement from the Riders' head coach.

• Shockwaves through Rider Nation as fans react to Durant trade

Coincidentally, the Durant trade comes almost one year to the day after Jones showed the door to two other popular Riders, Weston Dressler and John Chick.

Durant, like Dressler and Chick, found it tough to say goodbye.

"This is a very emotional time for me right now and it's hard to put my thoughts together," Durant wrote on his website. "I'll say more later once this has sunken in."

Chris Jones, who always dresses in black, doesn't mind being perceived as the bad guy, nor is he here to win a popularity contest.

"They hired me to make decisions that were best for this football team, this organization. We said last year we were going to be fiscally responsible. We offered a fair market value contract and unfortunately we couldn't get anything done," he said.

The Riders have already moved on — the Darian Durant banner that hung on the old stadium is gone. 

Jones is touting the promising quarterbacks he has under contract and those he's currently talking with, all with minimal, if any, CFL experience.

"It means we're going to leave no stone unturned, we're going to continue to look until we do find a quarterback," he said. 

Which doesn't exactly leave Rider fans brimming with confidence.