O’Day names Collaros as Riders’ No.1 quarterback

It was Jeremy O’Day’s first free agency as a general manager and he also thinks it will be the most unique.

The sheer number of free agents would have made it that way – but there was also the number of quarterbacks available and apparently willing to switch teams.

Among them were some of the league’s best. Mike Reilly – formerly of Edmonton – now finds himself in B.C. Trevor Harris, who played the last few seasons in Ottawa, is now in Edmonton.

And then there was Bo Levi Mitchell, the career Stampeder that basically left CFL fans on the edge of their seats Tuesday afternoon.

Reports were that the Argos, the Stampeders and the Roughriders were all contenders for the league’s 2018 Most Outstanding Player.

O’Day confirmed that when he met with the media Wednesday afternoon, but he said he doesn’t believe waiting on Mitchell’s decision resulted in them missing out on other targets.

“I think that when you’re trying to get a free agent of that magnitude, you have to have different plans that you are ready to execute. So naturally the concern there is the timing so if you’re holding on to a salary of that significance, the timing may cause you to lose players,” O’Day said.

“I think in our situation, some of it worked out where it didn’t cost us very many players. I think if you had to look back at it, maybe you could have been more aggressive with one or two other players that you had to kind of hold off on and maybe you’d have a better shot at ’em but there’s no guarantee you would have got them.”

With Mitchell deciding to stay in Calgary, the Roughriders went to their 2018 quarterback Zach Collaros. O’Day said they were upfront with him from the start, telling him they would be seeing what was happening with other free agent quarterbacks first.

O’Day said they had been in contact with Collaros in the off-season as well — something that Collaros appreciated.

“I talked to Coach Dickenson several times in the off-season after he got the job. He mentioned to me how he felt about me and this is a place I really enjoyed playing at last year. Regardless of some of the outcomes of things, (I) had a blast,” he said.

As for those concussions that rocked Collaros season last year, he said retirement was never really on his radar. A week after missing the west semi-final he said he was feeling better again and hasn’t had any symptoms since.

O’Day said Collaros’ concussion history is a concern for the team but he didn’t hesitate to name him the team’s number one quarterback heading into training camp. That put an immediate end to any speculation around the team, like that which existed last season between Collaros and Brandon Bridge.

But with that said, O’Day said the team is still on the market for a solid backup quarterback.

“We’re in discussions with a couple veteran quarterbacks currently. It is something we understand and with any team, you are going to want to have a back up you feel you can win with – those discussions are ongoing.”

“I think any time a player has concussions there is always a concern for you,” he added. “We feel good about his recovery and where he’s at right now and feel reassured that some of those concussions and those hits that he took last year would have been concussions hits for anyone who took those shots.”

As for Collaros, he’s happy to be back in green and white, reiterating just how much he enjoys playing football in Saskatchewan. He’s confident with O’Day and Dickenson’s plans for the 2019 season.

“I’m just really looking forward to working with those guys,” he said.