Running back Trent Richardson has signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Canadian Football League team announced on Tuesday afternoon.

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed int'l RB, Trent Richardson to the club's roster.#RiderPride pic.twitter.com/CHr1dEhcQD — Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) September 26, 2017

Reports surfaced in August that Richardson planned to sign with Saskatchewan, but the former Alabama star told AL.com's Matt Zenitz that he'd decided against it because one-year CFL contracts contain a team option for another season. That would have prevented Richardson from signing with an NFL team next year if the Roughriders picked up the option.

The Roughriders have six games left in the CFL regular season, starting with a Friday visit to play the Ottawa Redblacks.

Saskatchewan is in the fourth placed in the five-team West Division with a 6-6 record. The Roughriders have won five of their past six games.

Former Arizona State standout Cameron Marshall is Saskatchewan's top ball-carrier with 490 yards on 87 carries. But he's missed three games this season nursing a knee injury, including last week's 15-9 loss to the Calgary Stampeders. The Roughriders' leading rusher against Calgary was former South Alabama standout Brandon Bridge, Saskatchewan's quarterback, who had 12 yards on three carries.

Richardson has been out of football since being released by the NFL's Baltimore Ravens during training camp on Aug. 2, 2016. Richardson was on the physically-unable-to-perform list when released by the Ravens because of a hamstring problem and a knee injury that required surgery.

Richardson most recently played in an NFL regular-season game with the Indianapolis Colts, who released him after the 2014 season. Richardson went to training camp with the Oakland Raiders in 2015, but was released before the regular season started.

Richardson won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best collegiate running back and finished third in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy while helping Alabama win the 2011 BCS national championship.

The Cleveland Browns selected Richardson with the third choice in the 2012 NFL Draft. In three seasons with the Browns and Colts, Richardson had 2,032 yards and 17 touchdowns on 614 rushing attempts and caught 113 passes for 912 yards and two TDs.

Richardson joins former Alabama teammate Christion Jones on the Roughriders. Listed as a running back, the former Crimson Tide wide receiver returns punts and kickoffs for Saskatchewan. He got his first rushing attempt of the season last week.

The Roughriders' coach and general manager is Chris Jones, who was an Alabama graduate assistant coach in 1997 and a former assistant coach at North Jackson High School in Stevenson.