Free agent offensive lineman Marc Parenteau signed Monday with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for two years plus an option.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Developing a stronger Canadian nucleus was one going to be one of our top priorities," said Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman. "In that regard, we became a better football team with the addition of Marc Parenteau."

Parenteau, 26, played nine games for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last season and suited up for just one game in 2005.

But the Roughriders liked the fact that he played several positions at Boston College, where he was voted a Big East all-star in 2002.

"We feel Marc is well on his way to being a multi-year starter in this league," Tillman said. "That he has started at centre, guard and tackle at Boston College is, of course, a huge plus.

"And our new assistant head coach, Mike Gibson, who coached Marc directly in Winnipeg, was up on the table championing Marc's cause from Day 1."

Tillman knows well of Parenteau, having drafted him in the fifth round (36th overall) in 2003, when Tillman was the GM of the Ottawa Renegades.

"Going back a few years, when we drafted Marc in Ottawa, we felt he would have been a first rounder had he not indicated that he wasn't going to play football beyond Boston College," Tillman explained. "But given his enormous potential, we felt it was a wise risk to take him in the fifth round.

"Who would have thought four years later we would both be in Saskatchewan? As I told Marc, he's going to look good in green."

Parenteau is a native of Sherbrooke, Que., so he qualifies as a non-import.

With files from the Canadian Press