'What's next?' Riders' Armstead focused on showdown with Ottawa
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"I have a 'What's next?' mentality," said Ryquell Armstead, who faces his former team on Saturday.
All-star quarterback Cody Fajardo is sticking with the Saskatchewan Roughriders for another two years.
The CFL team announced Tuesday that Fajardo had signed a contract extension that will run through the 2022 season.
“I’m excited. I talked to (general manager Jeremy O’Day) about it — I feel like we’ve been negotiating more than we’ve been playing football, which is something you don’t want to be doing,” Fajardo told media Tuesday after signing the extension earlier that morning, putting an end to about three weeks of negotiations.
“Being with the team another two years is something I’m really looking forward to, just having that security and knowing where you’re going to be at in a career where I never knew where my next year was going to be. Having that with my family definitely makes us feel a lot better going into this season.”
Like many CFL fans, Fajardo is champing at the bit to have a season in 2021.
“I went to my backyard after everything was final and I threw the football at a few trees and a few trashcans back there because I just wanted to throw the football and I was excited about it,” Fajardo said.
Fajardo lit up Rider Nation in 2019, entering the first game of the season after just three plays when starting QB Zach Collaros suffered what would be a long-term injury.
Despite losing that first game, Fajardo made himself at home, throwing for 4,302 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushing for 611 yards and 10 touchdowns. The team finished the season with a 13-5-0 record.
His performance was recognized by the league, as he was named a top performer of the week three times before being named to the all-star team and chosen as the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player.
Fajardo said he is taking a pay cut in 2021 but will make a little more in 2022 to help offset that.
“(It’s about) just being able to help the team in any way I can, especially in 2021 to get the CFL back rolling again and hopefully create some revenue for the team going forward in 2022 and years after,” said Fajardo, referring to the fact the CFL didn’t have a season in 2020 due to COVID-19.
“I want the CFL to flourish. I want this league to be as great as it possibly can because I’ve stated time and time again without the CFL, I wouldn’t be playing football. I’d probably be working an office job or some business job somewhere.”
He said the fan support in Saskatchewan was one of the major reasons he wanted to stick around as well.
“I love playing in Saskatchewan and I want to be here as long as the team wants me to be here because there’s nothing like going out to practice and seeing fans in the stands (or) going to dinner and talking to kids who say they are pretending to be me in their backyard,” he said. “Those are the little things that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.”
Fajardo has previously said he turned down a longer deal in order to keep his NFL options open.
“The money is there in the NFL but to stand on the sideline and hold a clipboard for a couple extra thousands of dollars, I don’t know if it’s worth it … You want to actually play and use your talent,” Fajardo said.
“I can’t make that decision right now; I’ll figure that out. Hopefully I have two amazing years (and win) two Grey Cup championships (and) two MVPs over the next two years.”
The offence is starting to take shape around Fajardo as well, with wide receiver Shaq Evans, running back William Powell and offensive linemen Dan Clark and Brendon LaBatte all signing on for the 2021 season.
“My Christmas was made when the Roughriders were making those announcements. I didn’t even know,” Fajardo said. “I told my wife that was one of my favourite Christmas gifts of the year was having those guys back around us.”