The Saskatchewan Roughriders have returned to the West Division penthouse under franchise quarterback Trevor Harris, though his future remains unclear as he and the team have yet to negotiate a contract extension for 2026 or beyond.
“We haven’t had any discussions,” general manager and vice-president of football operations Jeremy O’Day told 3DownNation. “We’ll have those discussions after the season is over. It just hasn’t come up between us or him and we’ll bridge that after the season.”
The 39-year-old passer has thrown for 9,087 yards, 50 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions over three seasons in Saskatchewan, though his production has trended positively over that timeframe. Harris played only five regular-season games in 2023 due to a tibial plateau fracture and 12 regular-season games in 2024 due to a partially torn ACL.
Harris missed only one regular-season game this year, going 11-5 over 16 starts. He dressed for the team’s Week 20 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, though he didn’t see the field as the team had already clinched first place in the West Division.
O’Day doesn’t know how much longer Harris would like to play as he and his squad are currently focused on trying to win the 112th Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg.
“Honestly, we haven’t had a discussion of how he feels, how long he wants to play, and those types of things,” said O’Day. “I think he would rather focus on just this game.”
Harris was the fifth-highest-paid quarterback in the CFL in 2025, earning close to $450,000 including playtime incentives. One could argue that he deserves a raise based on his performance this season, though the biggest game of the year has yet to come.
Another position that will be an area of focus for the Roughriders this offseason is receiver with players like Samuel Emilus, Kian Schaffer-Baker, KeeSean Johnson, and Dohnte Meyers set to hit free agency. O’Day acknowledged that keeping everyone will be difficult, though the club wants to retain as many as possible.
“That will be a challenge with the amount of guys that had success in the receiving corps,” said O’Day. “It’s a good problem to have, but it becomes difficult when you have so many good players in a position and they all become free agents at the same time. We’ll work through it like we do every year. We’d love to have them all back. They’re all great players and we’ll work through that when we have to.”
O’Day received significant criticism from fans following the 2023 season as the Roughriders had gone 6-12 in back-to-back years and missed the playoffs both times. Instead of replacing him, Saskatchewan allowed him to hire a new head coach and gave him a contract extension, a decision that’s clearly worked out well for all parties.
Though he remains focused on this week’s Grey Cup, O’Day is pleased that he was entrusted to turn things around in Riderville.
“The job’s not done, so I think maybe I’ll reflect on it after the game,” he said. “I’m certainly appreciative of the organization to believe in me and to give you an opportunity to get back on track and put us in a position for them to do this.”
When asked about what has led to such a strong turnaround in Riderville, O’Day mentioned many people — head coach Corey Mace, assistant general manager Kyle Carson, offensive coordinator Marc Mueller — but the first name out of his mouth was Trevor Harris.
“I think signing Trevor Harris is a big part of it,” said O’Day. “Someone that’s played for such a long time, been successful for such a long time.”
This marks the first time the Saskatchewan Roughriders have been in the Grey Cup since 2013 when they won the CFL’s championship game at home. O’Day, who has been with the organization since joining their offensive line in 1999, would love nothing more than to bring another title back to Rider Nation.
“(A Grey Cup win would) be huge,” he said. “I think it’d be what they deserve — we have a fan base that is very loyal to us, that stands behind us. This is a chance for us to give back to them what they’ve given us.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16 with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.
This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20 and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
