Jake Maier, Riders reach agreement on one-year deal

Jake Maier is set to be a Saskatchewan Roughrider for 2025.

After the quarterback’s negotiation rights were traded from the Calgary Stampeders to the Riders, the CFL club announced a one-year extension with the 27-year-old.

The Green Zone’s CFL insider, Dave Naylor, reported the deal is for $165,000 and includes performance and playing time bonuses.

“It’s a reasonable deal. It’s a little lower than I thought it would come in but when you look at it — they paid Trevor (Harris) and he’s the guy,” Naylor said.

“It’s a one-year deal. Who knows what’s going to happen this season but it opens the door that if something happens with Trevor and Jake comes in and plays well, you can see where this could go.”

Naylor also wasn’t surprised it was just for a single season.

“If I’m the player and his agent, I’m the one who says, ‘We just want one year because if this goes well, I either want to make a lot more money than that in Saskatchewan or I want to make a lot more money somewhere else. I’m not going to commit to two years based on the worst season of my career.’ My sense was the player didn’t want to do (more than one year) and Sask. probably would have been more than willing to do that,” Naylor said.

Maier, a 6’0″, 200-pound product of Fullerton, Cal., spent the last four seasons (2021-24) with Calgary. He played in 65 games as a Stampeder and made 45 starts. Over that time, he completed 1,022 passes for 11,685 yards and 60 touchdowns while adding 60 carries for 232 yards and five touchdowns.

Last season, Maier made 357 passes for 3,841 yards (third in the CFL) and 22 touchdowns (third) but also threw 14 interceptions. With Maier as the Calgary starter for most of the season, the Stamps only managed five wins.

Read More:

• The Green Zone: Craig Reynolds year-ender
• A.J. Allen signs one-year extension with Saskatchewan Roughriders
• Riders confirm one-year extension for quarterback Trevor Harris

In 2023, his first full season as the starter after the Stamps elected to move on from Bo Levi Mitchell, he became the 10th player in Stampeders’ history to throw for 4,000 yards in a single season, finishing with 4,244 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Collegiately, Maier played 36 games over three seasons (2017-19) at the University of California, Davis. He completed 992 passes for 11,163 yards and threw 88 touchdowns.

Maier would have become a free agent on Feb. 11.