Riders evaluating free-agent options at QB, extension not yet discussed with Fajardo

As the Saskatchewan Roughriders continue to plan for 2023, the quarterback position remains a major question mark.

The team chose to relegate Cody Fajardo to a backup role in a pair of games late in the 2022 CFL regular season, which seemed to signal the end of the 30-year-old’s time in green and white.

While general manager Jeremy O’Day said Tuesday the team could look to bring back Fajardo, a contract offer hasn’t been made.

“The communication that we’ve had with Cody has been limited. I spoke with Cody following the season last year. Coach (Craig) Dickenson has since talked to Cody over the phone. To be honest, I think there will be some more communication that will happen in the upcoming weeks with Cody,” O’Day told The Green Zone’s Jamie Nye from the CFL winter meetings in Kananaskis, Alta.

“We haven’t discussed a contract extension at this point, but we’re going through and preparing for free agency and trying to put our team in the best situation to have success. We’re evaluating all the potential candidates that could be free agents.”

Dickenson also said the Riders have not determined what direction they will head in 2023 at quarterback.

“Cody and I have always been good. He is anxious to figure out what his next move is. He has a young child and he and his wife are able to put down some roots. I told him as much as I could without making him promises we can’t keep,” Dickenson said.

“The reality is we’re going to do a really good job this off-season and in the next six weeks looking at our roster, we’ve already gone through it a number of times, and (we’ll) figure out the best way to go at quarterback. He is in the mix. He’s a guy we feel like is a quality starter in this league, but we’ve been very honest with him and said we are going to look at some of the other guys who are available and if the other guys fit, we are going to go down that road.

“We aren’t sure just yet because the reality is a lot of those guys are potential free agents who could be signed by the time February comes. We want to see who is available and make the best decision for our team going forward.”

Fajardo threw for 3,360 yards with 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 17 games for the Riders last season, with two of those games in a backup role. O’Day said that as of now, there aren’t any plans to trade Fajardo’s negotiation rights ahead of free agency, which begins on Feb. 14.

While that position still needs to be filled for the Riders, Dickenson did reveal who will be the offensive line coach for the team in 2023.

Anthony Vitale will be taking over the role after the team elected to not renew the contract of Stephen Sorrells following a season in which the Riders gave up 77 sacks.

Vitale was the Edmonton Elks’ offensive line coach in 2021. The Elks gave up 53 sacks in 2022 – second-most in the league.

Sorrells recently signed a contract with Edmonton to replace Vitale.

“We’ve got a relationship with (Vitale). He has been a guest coach with us the last few years before he took the job in Edmonton,” Dickenson said. “I think he’s a good coach – a good young guy that has some experience with some other members of our staff back when they were coaching in the U.S. college ranks and we feel like he’s going to do a good job with our O-line.”

Dickenson said the team is still looking to sign a receivers coach to replace the departed Travis Moore. The team also needs a defensive line coach after Ben Olson left to pursue an opportunity in the U.S. college ranks.

As the league’s coaches and general managers meet at the winter meetings, O’Day said he’ll meet with Dickenson to continue going over the roster.

“(We’ll) do a checklist of where we are at from what we started with in the off-season and go through the entire roster and what everyone’s status is and continue to work on our free agents,” O’Day said.

The team is continuing to work on contracts with both Larry Dean and Darnell Sankey. Both linebackers had over 100 tackles for the defence in 2022.

“We’re having conversations with them. (We feel) very strongly with both Larry and Darnell as players. They both had very good seasons for us, they are both leaders in the locker room and we have a ton of respect for them. Those conversations are ongoing,” O’Day said.

The team is also waiting to see what becomes of all the NFL tryouts receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker has been getting.

“To my knowledge, he has not been offered a contract with an NFL team. Anytime you work out for that many teams, there’s a strong chance you’re going to get offered, but I’ve also seen it before where it just doesn’t work out and they just don’t offer you,” O’Day said.

While at the winter meetings, the league’s executives will discuss possible rule changes for the 2023 season. In 2022, the league decided on a number of changes, including moving the hashmarks closer together.

“(It’s) really just an opportunity for us to all be in the same room and address any issues that we have moving forward and set the stage for the next season,” O’Day said.

“I think (the CFL) is in a good spot right now. If you look at the effects the rule changes had last year with scoring, obviously an objective for us was to increase scoring and excitement in our game and it certainly did that as the evidence and the stats prove.”

The Riders are to open their regular season June 11 in Edmonton.

The conversations with O’Day and Dickenson can be heard below. The chat with Dickenson begins with Nye asking if the head coach could get O’Day to go back-country camping in Kananaskis.