Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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The bitterness of the loss in the West Division final on Saturday was palpable as the Roughriders went through their lockers with garbage bags in hand on Sunday to toss away the remnants of the 2024 season.
Equally noticeable was the optimism for the future of the organization after they made it to the West final in their first year under the direction of head coach Corey Mace.
“The start of something special happened this year,” proclaimed quarterback Trevor Harris. “In the future I think we can look back to this year and say we set a lot of building blocks and foundation for something truly amazing.”
Harris took on a sizable leadership role for the Roughriders, coming off back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs.
Mace says Harris was a major part of his ability to set the culture on the right path in his first season as a head coach.
“I’m extremely grateful for Trevor for everything he’s been able to bring to this team. How he approaches each day to set the tone and example of what it looks like to be a professional and to be able to play at a high level for as long as he has. I mean, he does everything the right way.”
Mace says he couldn’t have asked for a better quarterback to help him as a rookie head coach, and also to help Marc Mueller as a rookie offensive coordinator.
Quarterback Shea Patterson cleans out his locker at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday. (Jamie Nye/650 CKOM)
Several veteran players without 2025 contracts
Mace’s message to the team on day one of training camp, and a mantra they carried throughout 2024, was “Build It” and the team definitely feels like they are on the right track, despite the loss on Saturday.
“I guess the silver lining in this is what we have to look forward to,” said all-star offensive lineman Logan Ferland.
“Hopefully we can keep as many guys as possible in this room,” added Ferland. “I think that’s important. Regardless of what happened this year, it’s clear and evident that was are building something special.”
The Roughriders have several veteran players who find themselves without a contract for the 2025 season, Harris being the most prominent name on that list.
Harris is approaching the off-season with a logical mind, knowing that the CFL is a business after all.
“I think the process that kind of starts now is does this organization have a chance if I’m here, and if the answer is ‘no’ than I don’t want to be here because I care about this organization way too darn much,” he said.
Despite feeling he’s still has great football ahead of him, Harris doesn’t want to get in the way of what he believes is a team that’s been put on the right path.
“(The Riders) deserve top tier of everything, and if I’m not that I should walk away — and I will.”
Mace still believes Harris has good football left in him, even as the quarterback turns 39 in May.
“I haven’t sat down with Trevor to have that kind of conversation yet. But I think that it is evident that he can still be a highly functioning quarterback in this league.”
Other veterans who will be potentially heading to free agency if the team doesn’t extend their contracts in the next three months are Micah Johnson, Peter Godber, Anthony Lanier II, Mario Alford, Marcus Sayles, Jameer Thurman, Adam Auclair and Philip Blake.
Blake contemplated retirement last year, and after another significant injury ended his 2024 season believes that may be it for his 13-year professional career.
“I actually spoke to (former Roughrider) Andrew Greene and he gave me a funny quote — he’s like ‘play until you’re done and then one more’ — so I’m probably at the done stage, so we’ll see. I’ll talk to my family … and we’ll see what they say in the off-season and we’ll go from there.”
Mace knows whatever difficult decisions they do make this off-season, they’ll be made for the sole reason to be better in 2025.
“I think as a foundational point, the core of the roster, it’s strong. But we’ll always look to find pieces that we think will make the team better.”
Mace just has one request of the people who will be back in green and white for next season.
“Level up, so to speak. Again, that’s myself, the staff, everybody that’s involved with this to just be better, because we have to be. That’s it.”
A few members of the Roughriders will be in Vancouver for Grey Cup week. Ferland, defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr., and Mace are all finalists for league awards that will be handed out at the CFL Awards on Thursday night.
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