Roughriders’ O’Day ‘excited’ to get to free agency

The Saskatchewan Roughriders aren’t just spending money on chocolates and flowers this Valentine’s Day.

CFL free agency officially begins Tuesday, meaning any agreements made during the current negotiation period — which ends Sunday — can turn into contracts.

“The reality is we’ve got a lot of starting positions going into free agency that need to be filled,” Riders general manager Jeremy O’Day told media at Mosaic Stadium on Wednesday. “If that’s what you want to call active, yes, we are going to be active.

“We’ve got positions that we need to fill with starters.”

O’Day, who took over as the Riders’ GM in 2019, said it was clear from the number of free agents they had this off-season that there would be some new faces coming in after a 6-12 season. The Riders had 34 pending free agents when the 2022 season ended.

There are still 23 unsigned players who were with the team in 2022.

“It’s changes that we’re excited about. I think if you look at our team the last three or four seasons, we had some success early on and I think we’ve slowly regressed a little bit,” O’Day said. “Last year was a big regression with not making the playoffs. Anytime that happens, there’s going to be change and the team is going to look different (the next season).

“I don’t think we’re going to take the approach of we just had a bad year or had so many things that didn’t go our way. We took the approach that we’ve got to make change and we’re hoping the change is for the better.”

That could mean a new starting quarterback is coming to the province.

“We’re right in the middle of this window that we have to talk with all the players. We’ve had some discussions with Trevor Harris and they have been very positive,” O’Day said. “We’re excited about getting to the 14th.”

Reports have indicated the 36-year-old quarterback is expected to sign a contract with the Riders once free agency officially begins.

3DownNation is reporting one of Harris’ teammates with the Montreal Alouettes, slotback Jake Wieneke, is also set to wear green and white in 2023.

“It’s the exact same situation (as Harris),” O’Day said. “We’re waiting to get to free agency to get to that point where these guys are allowed to sign contracts.”

One area where Rider fans have been clamouring for change is along the offensive line. The Riders’ pass protection was brought into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in 2022, giving up a CFL-high 77 sacks.

“There’s lot of discussions that are going on and I feel like we’ve started that process with signing some guys off of our negotiation list and with the understanding there’s not a lot of American tackles making it to free agency,” O’Day said.

“There are lots of ways improving up front. Is it new players? Possibly. Is it getting better at what we do? Possibly. There’s a lot of ways that we can try to get better up front.”

O’Day said the Roughriders are still actively pursuing some players they want back on their team.

One player who did sign with Saskatchewan was linebacker Larry Dean. He started all 18 games for the Riders in 2022 and recorded 108 tackles (second only to teammate Darnell Sankey, who had 120) and added three sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions.

“Larry is such a fantastic leader and great for the building,” O’Day said. “He just had an awesome year and is a good football player. He’s the type of player you want on your team.”

When it comes to Sankey, O’Day said there have been conversations ongoing with the talented linebacker.

“Ultimately, it’s coming down to him making a decision but also how things are shaping up,” O’Day said. “You can only sign so many players at certain positions.”

Among the other unsigned players are quarterback Cody Fajardo, centre Dan Clark, safety Mike Edem, and receivers Shaq Evans, Kyran Moore and Duke Williams.