The Saskatchewan Roughriders made Trevor Harris one of the highest-paid players in the CFL when free agency opened on Tuesday, Feb. 14.
The 36-year-old quarterback received a $250,000 signing bonus to become the face of the franchise on the prairies and will also earn $221,500 in base salary, $13,500 in housing money, $10,000 in non-football related services to the club, and a $5,000 travel allowance in 2023. In total, his compensation for this season will be exactly $500,000 in hard money.
The 10-year CFL veteran will see his compensation increase to $525,000 in the second year of the deal. He has a $250,000 active roster bonus scheduled for Feb. 1, 2024, along with $246,500 in base salary, $13,500 in housing money, $10,000 in non-football-related services to the club, and a $5,000 travel allowance.
Though the new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the CFL Players’ Association has yet to be made publicly available, “non-football related services to the club” are generally public appearances a player makes on behalf of the team.
Harris’ agreement with the Riders is slated to pay him $1,025,000 over the next two years. That’s a significant raise over what the Waldo, Ohio native made last season as a member of the Montreal Alouettes.
Harris signed a one-year pact worth $130,000 in hard money to begin as the backup behind Vernon Adams Jr. in February 2022. The contract included a number of playtime incentives he was able to unlock after taking over the starting role in Week 3.
The six-foot-three, 212-pound passer earned a $3,944.45 bonus each time he played more than 51 percent of Montreal’s offensive snaps in a game, which he accomplished 16 times. Harris also received a $25,000 bonus for starting a minimum of six games and a $15,000 bonus for leading the team in touchdown passes.
He earned $233,111.20 last year while completing 71.6 percent of his passes for 4,157 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, his best yardage and touchdown totals since 2018. He also carried the ball 24 times for 168 yards along the ground.
Harris will earn slightly more than Cody Fajardo did one season ago in Riderville, which turned out to be his last in green and white. Fajardo made $467,000 in hard money last season along with $14,000 in playtime bonuses, bringing his total compensation to $481,000.
It’s a “dream come true” for Harris to play for the Roughriders and Saskatchewan has paid him well to live it out.
