Grey Cup MVP Harris says he’d be ‘shocked’ if he called time on his career

REGINA — Trevor Harris sounds ready to return for another season.

The MVP of the 112th Grey Cup has been non-committal about his future so far. But at the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ year-end media availability Wednesday, fresh off their Grey Cup win just three days earlier, the quarterback sounded like someone not ready for retirement.

“I’d be shocked if I turn around and say ‘that’s a wrap,'” Harris said.

The pending free agent doesn’t expect his decision about 2026 will take long.

“I’m not somebody that stews on things,” he said. “I think pretty quickly.”

Corey Mace wants to be the first head coach in franchise history to win back-to-back Grey Cups and says nobody on the team’s roster or coaching staff has told him yet they don’t plan to return for 2026.

“Everybody has been saying the opposite so I’ll be sure to remind them of that,” Mace said with a chuckle. “Everything has been really cool these last couple of days but we know business is business. We just hope it continues to be a family business.”

Mace made it clear he wants his starting quarterback, who will be 40 by the time next season begins, back for 2026.

“I love Trevor and I’ve been very vocal about that. I’m not going to start mincing my words now, but I love and respect any time he might need to make that decision for himself and his family.

“I think everybody understands the kind of sacrifice it is for anybody to go a journey like this as a football player to be the quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and everything it entails is probably another notch.”

Canadian receiver Sam Emilus, who like Harris is a pending free agent this off-season, said he will support the quarterback in any decision.

“I’m going to support him because he’s my friend first and then my teammate,” Emilus said. “I just support him in the decision he makes.”

The future is also a little murky for Harris’s backup. Jake Maier joined the Roughriders last off-season after being a starter with the Calgary Stampeders earlier in his career. At age 28, he said he would like to be a No. 1 quarterback again but left the door open to return as a backup for another run at a title.

“I’ve kind of learned over the last few years that you want to surround yourself with people that genuinely care about you and are going to be in your corner supporting you every step of the way,” he said. “So, I think my priorities have definitely shifted more toward that.”

“Obviously, you want to play but at the end of the day you want to be able to make sure the stars align in multiple ways, not just ‘how can I get on the field’ but ‘how can I be surrounded by the people that I enjoy coming to work with every day so that you keep yourself in a good headspace and continue to grow?

“My goal is to try to find the middle ground with that.”

Running back A.J. Ouellette, who has missed significant playing time due to injury throughout his two-year run in Saskatchewan, said he thinks about retirement and won’t rule it out this off-season either.

But in a locker room full of players still celebrating a championship, offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick, who has been on three Grey Cup-winning teams, says players will sometimes bend a little more to stay with a winner and expects that to happen this off-season for the Roughriders.

“If it works for their family and it works for us, let’s keep the band together,” Hardrick said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2025.

Brendan McGuire, The Canadian Press