RIDERS MADE RIGHT MOVE BY UNLOADING COLLAROS
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have traded quarterback
Zach Collaros for negligible compensation, thereby winning the deal handily.
Collaros, who was dispatched to the Toronto Argonauts on Wednesday morning for a conditional fourth-round CFL draft pick in 2020, was deemed expendable nearly seven weeks after suffering his latest concussion.
Since taking over from Collaros, Cody Fajardo has clearly upgraded the Green and White at football’s most crucial position, lacerating defences through the air and along the ground while exuding charisma and leadership qualities.
Fajardo has registered a glittering quarterback efficiency rating of 100-plus in four of the five games he has started. Collaros, by contrast, reached 100 in only two of the 14 games he started in Saskatchewan last season.
Although the Roughriders boasted a 10-4 record in games started by Collaros, that stat was misleading. The Roughriders posted many of those victories on the strength of a carnivorous defence. The offence, to the extent that it existed, scored a league-worst 25 touchdowns in 2018.
With Fajardo at the controls, Saskatchewan has erupted for 19 offensive touchdowns over six games. Only the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, with 20 majors, have reached the end zone more frequently on offence.
In terms of offensive points per game, the Roughriders (at 27.8) are third in the nine-team league, behind the Hamilton Tiger-cats (30.0) and Winnipeg (28.3). Saskatchewan eked out a meagre 19.8 points per game last season.
Yet, the Roughriders nonetheless saw fit to re-sign Collaros on Feb. 12 — Day 1 of the free-agency period — after unsuccessfully attempting to woo Bo Levi Mitchell, who predictably signed a new deal with the Calgary Stampeders.
Just as predictably, Collaros suffered another concussion.
Nobody could have imagined that he wouldn’t last beyond the first possession of the 2019 CFL season. But, honestly, what were the chances of him staying healthy for an extended period?
The Argonauts, mired in a state of desperation, were willing to gamble on Collaros remaining injury-free and somehow recapturing the form that in 2015 made him the favourite to earn CFL most-outstanding-player honours.
Good luck with that. Collaros hasn’t been the same since suffering a season-ending knee injury with Hamilton in September of 2015.
The Roughriders were hoping that Collaros could reprise his peak form, or something approaching it, when they acquired him from Hamilton in January of 2018.
At times, he was effective while resplendent in green, but the overall performance was uninspiring.
As feared, Collaros — who had a history of concussions even before landing in Saskatchewan — could not stay on the field.
Impactful hits knocked him out of five of the 17 regular-season or exhibition games for which he dressed as a Roughrider. Four of those exits followed a hit to the head.
One can only hope that, from this point forward, the 30-yearold Collaros is able to enjoy the best of health. There is the accompanying fear, though, that he is putting himself in danger of facing long-term consequences by continuing to play.
Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’day said Wednesday that Collaros has passed baseline concussion protocol tests and that he feels just fine, thank you. But, honestly, at what point does common sense take over?
Irrespective of Fajardo’s performance, the Roughriders had to know that they could not move ahead with Collaros. It wasn’t the safe or sane course of action.
Collaros was due to come off the six-game injured list following Thursday’s home date with Hamilton. The situation was reaching the point where the Roughriders had to make a call.
Once Argos GM Jim Popp made a call of his own, phoning O’day to inquire about Collaros’ status and availability, it was an easy move for the Riders’ GM.
The bonus in this scenario is the rapid emergence of the 27-year-old Fajardo, who has demonstrated that he can be the long-term answer at a marquee position while cordially embracing the accompanying, unavoidable face-of-the-franchise role. He seems to be a natural.
There is only one snag: Fajardo, a Roughrider since Feb. 12, is operating on a one-year deal.
Pursuit of a contract extension would be the obvious course of action for the Roughriders — as was Wednesday’s trade.