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Saskatchewan Roughriders General Manager Jeremy O’Day is able to focus more on consistency than finding answers this off-season.
After two seasons of missing the playoffs and trying to revamp their roster, the CFL club finished 9-7-1 and made it all the way to the West Final in 2024.
Now, instead of figuring out what the picture in the puzzle is supposed to be, O’Day can focus on finding the last few remaining pieces of the puzzle.
“It’s not a situation you want to be in, where you have to be super active in free agency. You want to get your core guys in-house and then try to retain them so they can build that continuity with each other,” O’Day said while attending the annual CFL winter meetings.
“A different position than we have been in the past couple of years for sure. We’re really focusing on trying to get our guys back and building that locker room camaraderie that usually pays dividends for the season.”
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One of those pieces will be linebacker Jameer Thurman, who signed a two-year contract that was announced on Monday.
“Jameer’s a very good football player and a veteran guy that has a lot of success in this league and has played at a high level,” O’Day said.
“What he brings to a locker room is invaluable. Coming to a new team and trying to get used to the players in the locker room and the coaching staff while trying to develop yourself into a leader of a new team is often challenging but he did a nice job of that … Someone you want to build your defence around.”
Jake Maier is ready to get straight to work, building chemistry with a group he believes is something special. pic.twitter.com/yZG3VMHs0v
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) January 13, 2025
Jake Maier was one of those pieces O’Day wanted to get a head start on. The Riders traded for the 27-year-old quarterback’s negotiation rights and signed him to a one-year extension.
“After we identified what we wanted to do at quarterback, it’s one of those situations where do you wait until free agency to talk to somebody or is there a possibility for you to make a trade,” O’Day said.
“We went back and forth with it and decided to reach out to Calgary to see if they would be willing to do it.”
Defensive end Malik Carney also signed an extension with the club — his deal being for just one year.
“He’s someone who constantly wins his one-on-ones and that’s a big deal,” O’Day said.
One player who remains without a contract is defensive back Marcus Sayles, who was an All-CFLer last season after grabbing four interceptions.
Defensive back Marcus Sayles was an All-CFLer in 2024. (Saskatchewan Roughriders/submitted)
“We have had talks with him and his agent. They are ongoing, just like they are with a lot of our free agents,” O’Day said.
“Marcus is a very good player. He came to our team late and did a great job for us. We would love to have him back but in most situations, it has to work out for both parties.”
O’Day feels good about where the team is at on the offensive side of the ball with a number of starters set to return in 2025.
“If I had a position we would be looking at still doing some work on in Canadian O-linemen. You usually want a good group of those guys, especially with the amount of injuries we’ve had on the offensive line the last number of years,” O’Day said.
As for defence, he said the club is still working on a number of contracts.
“If you look at our defensive line, it’s an area of ‘what’s our plan there?’,” O’Day said.
“We have a number of potential free agents that we are still working through. That will be an area we look to address either in free agency — whether it’s from our negotiation list or the draft.”
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