Roughriders look ahead to new season after ‘heavy lifting’ done

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For the Saskatchewan Roughriders, retention has been more important than attraction.

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While the CFL club added four new faces to the roster in free agency with the acquisitions of centre Sean McEwen, guard Philippe Gagnon, quarterback Tommy Stevens and running back Khalan Laborn, looking at all the pieces the team has retained from last season tells the whole story.

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Heading into the off-season, the Roughriders had 32 players on expiring contracts and general manager Jeremy O’Day has been able to re-sign 17 of them to new deals, including four players who put together all-star seasons last year.

Among them were quarterback Trevor Harris, linebacker Jameer Thurman, defensive tackle Micah Johnson and cornerback Marcus Sayles. Other divisional all-stars including receiver Samuel Emilus, guard Logan Ferland, cover linebacker C.J. Reavis and defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. were already under contract for 2025.

For O’Day, he made it known from the start that he was more focused on continuity with roster from 2024, which saw the Riders finish 9-8-1 before a playoff exit in the West final.

This year’s approach was a stark contrast from the approach in free agency last February, when the Roughriders made a big splash by signing names such as Thurman, running back A.J. Ouellette, offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick and defensive end Malik Carney following a second straight season of missing the playoffs with a 6-12 record.

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“I think it’s fair to say when you’re coming off six-win seasons, you’re only fooling yourself if you don’t need to change something,” said O’Day. “I thought we took some steps forward. Obviously would have liked to win more games than we did, but I really thought we took a step forward with a new coaching staff and new players and coming to camp with new playbooks.

“Going into free agency, I think we were pretty clear that we wanted to get as many of our guys back as possible. I thought we have a good core of players here and thought we took a lot of growth last season and really wanted to try to bring them back and have continuity.

“And so we knew we weren’t going to be very active in free agency; different from the years past where we were trying to improve our team dramatically in free agency.

“Ideally, this is the way you’d like to have it where you’re keeping your guys in house and they can form that bond with each other.

“There’s a little less pressure knowing that we’re in good shape going into free agency. We don’t have to do too much; don’t have to be super active so that’s nice. Different from years past.”

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While there weren’t many holes, a few still needed to be filled in free agency.

With centre Peter Godber signing in Ottawa, the Roughriders were in need of a new starting centre and they found one with the addition of McEwen while adding Gagnon gives Saskatchewan another strong Canadian guard along the offensive line. Meanwhile, Stevens was brought in to handle short-yardage while Laborn adds depth to the running back room.

Other than that, Saskatchewan didn’t have any starting spots to fill in, including at receiver where there were a few big name Americans available on the open market including Kenny Lawler and Eugene Lewis.

With American starters Shawn Bane Jr., KeeSean Johnson and Dohnte Meyers all set to return in 2025, there wasn’t much of a need to go after a big-name — and big-priced — receiver.

“We weren’t super active on offence because we have a core of receivers that worked together for a year,” said O’Day. “Last year, coming in the season, there were a lot of question marks in the receiving corps of some of the young guys going to step up.

“And with KeeSean and Meyers stepping up, that’s good to know that we have the continuity there.”

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That’s not to say there weren’t a few changes that needed to be made heading into 2025. O’Day was just able to complete most of those tasks prior to Feb. 11.

With cornerbacks Deontai Williams and Amari Henderson both on their way out, O’Day was able to find a new starting cornerback by signing free agent Tevaughn Campbell, who has spent the last six years in the NFL.

And with a few starters along the defensive line on expiring deals including Bryan Cox Jr. and Miles Brown, the Riders added a pair of starters before CFL free agency with the additions of defensive tackle Mike Rose, who was released by Calgary, and defensive end Shane Ray, who is also coming off an NFL stint.

“Those were guys that were, I would say, unexpected when we started going through the process,” said O’Day. “So, when you add some guys with that pedigree and they factor in your salary cap, it kind of changes your approach a little bit as well.

“Obviously there was some change on the defensive line. With the guys that we signed — Mike Rose and Shane Ray — it’s going to change our defensive line from what it looked like last year.

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“And again, those are situations that came up prior to free agency that we just thought was a great opportunity for us to get some good players.”

Another task on O’Day’s list was adding a quarterback with experience to backup starter Trevor Harris, which is why the Roughriders acquired and subsequently signed Jake Maier from the Calgary Stampeders.

“When we talked about this off-season, we just wanted to add a veteran backup that’s played a lot in our game and that’s why we decided to trade for Jake and get Jake signed,” said O’Day.

While O’Day even worked ahead by signing Milligan, the CFL’s top defensive player in 2024, to an extension through 2026, some of Saskatchewan’s contract extensions came down to the wire as Sayles, Johnson, receiver Mitch Picton and returner Mario Alford all re-signed with the club following the opening of the CFL’s free agent negotiation window.

“We definitely had a situation where some guys wanted to look and see what was out there,” said O’Day. “(They) expressed that they wanted to be back but also, they wanted it to work for them financially. It (also) has to work for us financially.

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“So there’s a couple cases where guys wanted to go and wanted to see what was out there. You only get to play the game for a short period of time so you can’t take it offensive. You want them all to sign back and sign right away, but you know, they want to take a little bit of time and see what’s out there, which is fine.”

With 81 players under contract (37 offensive, 39 defensive, five special teams) and the salary cap figured out, there are starters pencilled in at every position with adequate depth behind them.

Now O’Day and the Roughriders’ next task will be the CFL Draft set for Apr. 29, which follows the CFL combine in Regina from Mar. 21-23. Training camp officially opens May 11.

“We feel good where we’re at right now, even if we don’t add anyone else,” said O’Day. “So right now, if we add someone, (it’s) just create more depth.

“But as far as the heavy lifting, that’s pretty much done.”

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