Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
In the hours after hoisting the Grey Cup over his head, Trevor Harris made his decision.
A pending free agent, the starting quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders sat down with his wife Kalie during the team’s postgame celebrations on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg and the couple figured that returning to Saskatchewan in 2026 was the best option.
A few weeks later, a one-year extension was formally announced which will see Harris — the 2025 Grey Cup MVP — return for a fourth season in Saskatchewan as the Green and White look to defend their title.
“I talked to talk to my wife that night when we were at the party,” Harris, 39, told reporters on Friday over a video teleconference after signing his one-year deal the day prior. “And she was just like, ‘Honey, this is kind of the way to go out. But how can you go out when you’re playing like this and we enjoy being here so much?’
“And she’s like, ‘I just can’t see this being the end.’ And so when she had said that, it was kind of like this first time I turned the page a little bit. And when she had said that I was like, ‘I think we should too, but let’s still just wait a week because emotions are very high right now.’ ”
After enjoying the team’s championship celebrations and parade in Regina, where Harris was once again asked about his future while fans and teammates were chanting “one more year” the decision to run it back was further cemented on the drive back to Ohio alongside running back A.J. Ouellette.
“On the drive home, (my wife) sent me a long text message, and I read it while A.J. was driving,” recalled Harris. “And at that point I was like, ‘I think I’m coming back to play.’ I just didn’t really tell anybody yet, because I was just still going to just let it marinate for a few days.”
While the decision was never official until the contract was signed and returned, Harris said midway through the season is when he figured he would want to come back in 2026.
“I think my wife would probably tell you, there’s probably 10 or 15 times during the year where I tell her, I’m like, ‘Hey, this is it. This is the last year,’” said Harris. “But I do that every year; probably since I’ve been 32 years old.
“But as the year kind of wore on, it’s like I’m feeling better and better, and I feel like my play is getting better, and I feel like the guys here, we’re kind of hitting our stride.
“And so, it was probably little bit past the Labour Day where I was like, ‘I think I’d be leaning toward playing again.’ But I try and do my best that I can of not going there because I think that kind of takes my focus off of where I’m at.
“It was more or less just like, I’m just going to stay in the moment, enjoy this moment. Because I know I started getting a lot of questions about that toward the end of the year, which I think is a good sign, because it means they don’t want to kick you out quite yet.”
After leading Saskatchewan to a first-place finish in the West division with a 12-6 record, missing just one start due to injury, the 6-foot-3, 212-pound Harris threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns in a West final win over B.C. before a 302-yard performance in the Grey Cup. In the championship game, his first Grey Cup win as a starting CFL quarterback, Harris set a Grey Cup record with an 85.2 per cent completion rate as he connected on 23 of 27 pass attempts.
While Harris — a CFLer since 2012 who won two Grey Cups as a backup but was 0-1 in Grey Cup starts prior to this season — was happy to silence the critics who said he could never win as a starter, that’s not what motivates him.
“To be honest with you, I feel like I was supposed to feel different, you know, being this age,” he said. “We had won the Grey Cup and we hoisted it, I thought that I would be like, ‘OK, we did it.’ But I kind of haven’t.
“I took Monday and Tuesday off and I was back in the gym Wednesday. I was just ready to keep going. And I think that’s kind of a good message for myself of I wasn’t chasing this title; I just love to play ball. And I love to be in the locker room and lead guys and be with the fellas. I just love the game. I revere this game because of how much I put into it.”
After throwing for 4,549 yards — his highest total since 2018 with Ottawa — while completing 348 of 473 passes with 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, Harris believes he’s got much more in the tank for 2026.
And he’s hoping to do what he can to help Saskatchewan’s other pending free agents to make a decision to re-sign with the Roughriders as they look to recreate their success from 2025.
“I’m still curious what my ceiling is as a player,” said Harris. “I cannot assure you very much in terms of next year, but the one thing I can assure you is that I won’t be outworked.
“I’d be shocked if I’m not a better player next year than I am this year.
“I wouldn’t come back if I thought I was going to plateau or hit my ceiling. I’m still kind of curious how high of a level I can play at, and I’m still curious of how high a level we can take this in Regina.
“I think when you have the right cards in your hand, for you to just play one and be able to possibly have the same cards in your hands and go play it again, why wouldn’t you? And why wouldn’t you be able to play them better if you have more experience and you’ve got guys together?”
Does that mean 2026 will be it? Or has he considered what 2027 will look like?
“At this point in time, it’s really going to be a year at a time,” said Harris. “I don’t think we’ll have too much drama, if at the end of the year, there’s mutual interest to come back.
“I feel like if I’m going to play, I’m going to be playing in the green and white, and if they want me to keep playing, we’ll find a way to make it work.”
