The Saskatchewan Roughriders acquired quarterback Antonio Pipkin from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night in exchange for a punter Kaare Vedvik. This comes after the Roughriders lost quarterback Mason Fine on Friday night in a 41-12 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.
Antonio Pipkin is six foot three and weighs 225 pounds. The 27-year-old from Gary, Indiana, signed with the Ticats on July 18, 2023, and dressed for two games in 2023. Before Hamilton, he completed 29 of 52 passes (55.8%) for 393 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, 43 carries for 137 yards, and seven touchdowns in 18 games for the B.C. Lions in 2022.
Before B.C., Pipkin signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2017. After getting released by Arizona, Pipkin signed with the Montreal Alouettes.
He played three seasons in Montreal (2017-19), completing 99 of 182 (54.4%) passes for 1,295 yards, four touchdowns, eight interceptions, 58 carries for 318 yards, and nine touchdowns in 27 games, of which six were starts. In 2020, he signed with the Edmonton Elks but the season was canceled due to the pandemic.
In 2021, Pipkin signed with the Toronto Argonauts. He completed 13 of 26 (50%) passes for 158 yards, one interception, 27 carries for 131 yards, and five touchdowns in seven games. After Toronto, he signed with the B.C. Lions as a free agent on May 31, 2022.
Collegiately, Pipkin played three seasons at Tiffin University (2013-16) completing 979 of 1,513 passes (64.7%) for 10,941 yards, 88 touchdowns, 32 interceptions, 510 carries for 2,200 yards, and 25 touchdowns in 44 games for the Dragons.
Kaare Vedvik is six foot four and weighs 215 pounds. The 29-year-old from Stavanger, Norway, punted the ball 107 times in the 2022 season for 4,761 yards (44.5 AVG), with a long of 78 yards in 18 games. The Roughriders drafted Vedvik in the second round (14th pick) in the 2021 CFL Global Draft. He played two seasons in Saskatchewan with 135 punts for 6,048 yards (44.8 AVG), with a long of 78 yards in 22 career games.
Before Saskatchewan, Vedvik signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2018. In addition to the Ravens, he had stints with Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Washington Football Team, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Collegiately, Vedvik played five seasons at Marshall University (2013-17) with 129 punts for 5,397 yards (41.8 AVG), with a long of 92 yards in 37 games for the Thundering Herd.
In 2017 against Old Dominion, he made a 92-yard punt which ranked as the seventh-longes in FBS history, one-yard shy of Ray Guy’s record of 93 yards. That year, he was named First Team All-C-USA.
