Monday Morning Sentimonies: Extending Harris

The big news in Riderville this week was also the leats surprising news. Trevor Harris was signed to a one year extension. If you were surprised by this move you either haven’t been paying attention or have been willfully deluding yourself. Given Harris’ age, for him, any extension that doesn’t require the assistance of pharmaceuticals is a win.

There are a number of reasons why this happened (listed in order of importance):

1 – Trevor Harris Is Good

When healthy he was damn good in 2024. Obviously the first 2 words of that line impose a massive caveat but Harris threw 3200 yards and 20 TDs (compared to just 9 INTs) in 12 games. Over an 18 game season that would be 4800 yards and 30 TDs. He started in 7 of our 9 wins. He proved he is still a starting caliber QB.

2 – Stability and Consistency

2024 was a season of change. Purging all the stench of failure from the Dickenson era. New offensive philosophy. New defensive philosophy. New leadership amongst the players. It worked. We improved from a team that could not find the playoffs even if someone hid them in a bowling alley to hosting and winning a home playoff game and finishing as a top 4 team. The changes worked. We want to continue to build on that foundation not seek our more massive changes. A new QB is a massive change that has potential to disrupt our upward momentum.

3 – Leadership

Harris is a true professional and an unquestioned leader in that locker room. He sets a high standard on and off the field. He embodies what Coach Mace wants to see in this team. Leaders like Harris help set the culture for the team and while intangible its important to winning franchises.

4 – What else were they going to do?

Adams was off the market. Despite everyone’s pipe dreams Tre Ford was never leaving Edmonton. That left Harris as far and away the best free agent QB on the market. The only other starting options were old man Bethel-Thompson (swapping one old man for a worse old man makes no sense) and Maier (back-up maybe, starter, please no). 

There is also Cody Fajardo but that would require a trade with Montreal and is not guaranteed. The irony of a fan base that was all to happy to see Fajardo go 2 years ago pinning for him to return is not lost on me. Also, if we want to knock of Harris’ durability consider that Fajardo played just one more game in 2024. 

I fully support keeping Harris. With two conditions: 1 – I am assuming his contract has a lower base salary and is more incentive based. If he can play 18 games then he deserves to be paid like a top 3 QB… but given that he hasn’t played 18 games in a season since 2015, it’s a pretty big risk to assume that will happen and pay him big guarantees. 2 – we need a quality back-up. At a minimum I expect whoever is #2 to start 2 games in 2025, maybe more.  I still believe that Patterson has more upside (how quick we are to forget how banged up we were during his starts and how many beautifully thrown balls our receivers ineptly dropped for him). But his progression is slow enough that you may want to look at other options.

In other Rider news…

LB Coach JC Sherritt is headed back to Edmonton to be the DC. Sucks to lose a talented coach but that’s the price you pay for employing quality people. No one was lining up to poach the likes of Kelly Jeffrey… is that the quality of staff you want instead?

Last but not least DL Charbel Dabire also signed an extension. This signing will not get a ton of hype but it should. I have been on the Charbel Dabire hype train since his rookie season. He is a quality Canadian player that can make an impact along the D-line when called upon. He had 2 sacks in 4 games in 2024 before succumbing to injury. Happy to have him continue his career in Saskatchewan.