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The Saskatchewan Roughriders have two suitors for their vacant place-kicking position and it appears there’s a chance the club could end up keeping both.
“(We could keep both kickers) potentially,” head coach Corey Mace told the media in Regina on Wednesday. “We’ve done it in the past and had more than one kicker. We’ll see how that shakes out.”
Jonathan Kim, an American out of Michigan State, went a perfect five-for-five on his preseason field goals with a long of 51 yards. The 25-year-old native of Fredericksburg, Pa. is the Spartans all-time leader in field goal percentage at 82.1 and was named second-team All-Big Ten in 2024.
Alex Hale, a Global from Australia, went three-for-three on converts during the preseason but just one-of-three on field goals. Both misses came from considerable distance, however, at 56 and 57 yards. The 27-year-old played collegiately at Oklahoma State, where he made 79.6 percent of his field goal attempts and was named second-team All-Big 12 in 2023.
The Roughriders released longtime kicker Brett Lauther this offseason, ending his eight-year run with the team. The 35-year-old connected on a league-worst 72.2 percent of his field goals during the regular-season in 2025 and missed a 39-yard field goal attempt in the Grey Cup.
Saskatchewan utilized a couple of other kickers amid Lauther’s struggles, including Michael Hughes, an American out of Appalachian State, and Campbell Fair, a native of Oakville, Ont. who played collegiately at the University of Ottawa. Hughes was released by the team earlier this month, while Fair was cut last October.
The club has had Kim and Hale try long field goals during preseason action and during practice, something that Mace indicated is intentional heading into the regular-season.
“We’ve been known to go out and trot those guys out there for long ones because we have faith in it,” said Mace. “We’re trying to see and get a little bit of an understanding of what these guys’ true range is.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders opened training camp on May 10. Saskatchewan lost 20-15 in its first preseason game against the Calgary Stampeders but won 31-27 in its second preseason game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saskatoon. Final roster cuts are due on Saturday, May 30, after which the team will play its first regular-season game against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, June 13.
Saskatchewan recently selected Michigan State defensive back Malcolm Bell with their first-round pick in the 2026 CFL Draft, adding a key piece to pair with Tevaughn Campbell. The team’s other major offseason additions include defensive lineman James Vaughters and returner James Letcher Jr.
In 2025, the Roughriders finished first in the West Division standings with a 12-6 record. The team went on to defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg, marking the club’s first championship in 12 years.
