Saskatchewan Roughriders, Malik Carney ‘at a stalemate’ in CFL contract negotiations

Photo courtesy: Arthur Ward/CFL.

It seems as though Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive lineman Malik Carney would like to cash-in after recording a single-season career-high eight sacks in 2025.

The 30-year-old remains a pending free agent as the CFL’s communication window draws closer. His contract is set to officially expire on Tuesday, February 10, which would make him a free agent. General manager Jeremy O’Day characterized where contract negotiations stand with Carney.

“I’d say they’re probably at a stalemate right now, to be honest with you. Love to have them back. I think that, as you can understand, players only play for a short period of time, so they’re going to try to capitalize as much as they can,” O’Day told 3DownNation from the winter meetings in Calgary.

“From our standpoint, we want guys that want to be on our team and it can’t be always just about the money, it has to be about the team aspect as well. We’re trying to do something special here that hasn’t been done (in winning back-to-back Grey Cups). Ultimately, love to have him back, but it has to fit for us. It has to be a two-way street, it has to work out for him and also work out for the club.”

Carney earned $178,400 last year, which put him among the top-15 highest-paid players at his position in the CFL. He recorded 39 tackles with one forced fumble in 18 regular-season games and added five tackles, two for loss, in Saskatchewan’s West Final and Grey Cup wins. Head coach Corey Mace used him as a versatile chess piece within his defence.

“With Scoop, every year in our defence there’s a player that from the front standpoint you move around and try to win some matchups, Scoop was that guy for us. (Folarin) Orimolade has been that guy for us in the past, Ja’Gared Davis has been that guy in the past, so there’s always opportunity,” Mace told 3DownNation.

“But with that, a lot of those guys, they’ve made a lot of money. Scoop certainly is going to be in that same conversation as most of our guys, who’s been a heck of a player, helped us win and looking for something.”

Orimolade was the highest-paid American defensive end in the three-down league in 2025, earning $230,000. Using Mace’s reference, that’s likely the kind of money Carney wants to re-sign with the Riders. If the six-foot-three, 230-pound pass rusher reached the open market, he’d be 3DownNation’s No. 1 available defensive lineman.

“I’m hitting them up like, ‘Hey, whatever that looks like, man, you know, see if we can get back,’ and, ‘Hey, you know who your coach is,'” Mace said. “All this stuff, but ultimately, it’s going to come down to what makes the most sense for us and for Malik. We’ll see how that goes, could be Green and White, let’s do it again, but time will tell.”