The BC Lions announced on Saturday they have extended 2 of their players who would have hit free agency on February 13. The Lions have signed American defensive back Marcus Sayles to a 2-year extension. They have also signed Canadian offensive lineman David Knevel through the 2024 season.
DB Marcus Sayles – West Georgia (29 y/o, 5’9, 176 lbs)
Marcus Sayles played his NCAA ball for the West Georgia Wolves from 2013 to 2016 starting in 46 games. He amassed 123 tackles, 24 pass breakups, and 12 interceptions. He also set a program record in blocked kicks with 13.
Sayles signed with the Buffalo Bills in 2017 as an undrafted free agent and was released in September. He signed with the Los Angeles Rams in November 2017 where he spent time on the practice roster. He signed a reserve/future contract following the season although he was waived in April of 2018.
Marcus Sayles joined the CFL in 2018 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and was part of an elite cornerback duo with Winston Rose. Sayles played in 34 regular season games with 33 starts from 2018 to 2019 with Winnipeg contributing 136 tackles, 6 interceptions, and 2 sacks. He won the Grey Cup with Winnipeg in 2019.
Sayles signed a reserve future contract with the Minnesota Vikings in January of 2020 and spent the season on their practice squad until he was released in early December.
Sayles signed a 3-year contract with the BC Lions ahead of the 2021 season. He has played in 49 regular season games for BC amassing 158 tackles, 6 interceptions, 2 sacks, and a touchdown. He has also had an interception in the playoffs in each of the last 2 seasons with one coming against Calgary in the 2023 Western Semi-Final and another in 2022 against Winnipeg in the Western Final.
Sayles was named a West Division All-Star in 2019 and 2022 and was a CFL All-Star in 2022.
OL David Knevel – Nebraska (29 y/o, 6’8, 325 lbs)
David Knevel played for Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2014 to 2017 appearing in 28 games with 11 starts. He was Academic All-Big Ten in 2016.
Knevel was drafted by the BC Lions in the third round of the 2018 CFL Draft. He has since played in 51 games with the Lions with 6 starts. He missed the entire 2022 CFL season due to injury.
This past season Knevel played at left guard as the second string for the first 13 games and was the starting left guard for the final 5 regular season games as well as both playoff games. He was named to the PFF Team of the Week in the Semi-Finals Week.
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