Some popular veteran players were on the chopping block for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday as the team trimmed down its roster following the preseason.

The Riders released 23 players in total, including veteran receivers Rob Bagg, Bakari Grant and Chad Owens.

Chris Jones, the Riders' head coach and general manager, said that talent and salary came into play with the decision to cut ties with some key veterans.

"If you were just coaching, the easy thing would be to just take the best guy, but you have to factor everything in and make decisions based on the entire good for the entire team, not just the offence, not just the special teams, not just the defence, you're making decisions for the entire good of the organization," said Jones.

Bagg had joined the Riders as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and played nine seasons in Saskatchewan, winning the Grey Cup in 2013.

Jones said that was one of the harder decisions that he's had to make during his career.

"Rob Bagg has been a good player here for a long time and certainly has been a loyal player for us during our tenure here and it's one of those things where it's a young man's game unfortunately and we had a couple of young guys that really performed really well over the course of the entire camp," he said.

Both Grant and Owens were big signings for the Riders last offseason and they paid off in varying degrees. Grant had a career-year in 2017, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the first time and scoring five touchdowns, while Owens spent the majority of the season on the injured list.

Those moves were also made to clear room for younger, and cheaper, players for the Riders.

Offensive lineman Travis Bond was another veteran that was cut on Sunday. The two-year CFL veteran signed with the Riders during the offseason and he worked with the starting offence throughout training camp.

"Football is a competitive game and there's a delicate balance between a guy that is a second or third year guy that makes a lot of money and it's our job as personnel people and people that are managing the cap to bring in people to compete with that guy and you can't be even, there needs to be a distinct difference between your play and the person that's competing with you, so that's basically what it comes down to," said Jones.

Here's the full list of players released by the Riders on Sunday:

- National offensive lineman Emmanuel Adusei

- National receiver Rob Bagg

- International offensive lineman Travis Bond

- International running back David Cobb

- International defensive lineman Rakim Cox

- International defensive back Jeremy Cutrer

- International quarterback B.J. Daniels

- National defensive back Tristan Doughlin

- International offensive lineman Timothy Gardner

- International receiver Bakari Grant

- National linebacker Dillon Grondin

- International defensive back Reggie Hall

- International defensive back Orlandus Harris

- National offensive lineman Dalton Houghton

- International linebacker Kalen Jackson

- International defensive back Rudy Johnson

- International running back Storm Johnson

- International defensive lineman Arthur Miley

- International receiver Chad Owens

- National receiver Mitch Picton

- International linebacker Tyrell Robinson

- National running back Bryce Vieira

- International defensive lineman Gary Wilkins

The Riders also put five Canadians on the six-game injured list, including veteran kicker Tyler Crapigna and he'll miss the entire season with the leg injury.

"Tyler has been battling with something that he's going to have to get worked on," explained Jones. "He was willing to go into this year knowing that he had something, but he was going to wait and get it worked on after the season, so he put the team in front of his personal own good."

The addition of Brett Lauther allowed the Riders to sit down Crapigna for the year.

"Lauther is a good kicker, he's got a strong leg, has lots of pop and the thing I've liked most about him, he's a lot like our punter, he's got a really relaxed attitude and the pressure doesn't seem to bother him much," said Jones.

"He kicked pretty well in the preseason games and the first kick of the year was a pretty pressure situation where he had to kick a deep one and he's done a real good job during camp."

Linebackers Brandyn Bartlett and Kevin Francis, receiver Jake Harty and offensive lineman Josiah St. John were also added to the six-game injured list.

Jones said he is concerned about their Canadian depth as they get set to open the year, “You put together a roster and all you can do is go there and do the best that you can do to make sure you’re backed up in every position and certainly those injuries have hurt our depth,” he said.

"We'll go into the season and hope like crazy that we can stay healthy and we'll be able to get some of those guys back after the six games."

The Riders also added ten players to their practice roster to open the season: National linebackers Alexandre Chevrier and Alexandre Gagne, defensive linemen Mathieu Breton and Tresor Mafuta, and fullback Albert Awachie, as wells as international offensive lineman Takoby Cofield, defensive back Aaron Ivory, defensive lineman Curt Maggitt, receiver Kyran Moore and running back Zac Stacy.

Saskatchewan will open the regular season on Friday when they host the Toronto Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium.