THE MONEY HAS SPOKEN
Vanstone notes significance of Collaros deal
Zach Collaros already has one notable completion as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
A contract renegotiation is done.
Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones had told the Regina Leader-Post on Jan. 10 that a new deal for the 29-year-old quarterback “is going to happen.”
Sure enough, the CFL team announced Friday that Collaros has signed a new contract for the 2018 season.
Particulars were not disclosed, but it is clear that Collaros will be well-paid.
Although Collaros has accepted a reduction from the $500,000-plus he was to earn this coming season, he will still be compensated at a rate that is commensurate with that of a starter.
Justin Dunk of 3DownNation. com and Dave Naylor of TSN both reported Friday that Collaros signed for $430,000.
Dunk added that Collaros received $225,000 in upfront money. Per the previous deal, he was to receive a $200,000 roster bonus on Feb. 1.
Collaros had signed that contract — which was the highest in the CFL — with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, whom he piloted to a Grey Cup berth in 2014.
The following year, he was a top candidate for CFL most-outstanding-player honours before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Collaros has not been able to recapture his form of 2014 and 2015, and was thus relegated to a backup’s role for the second half of the 2017 campaign.
On Jan. 3, Hamilton traded Collaros to Saskatchewan for a second-round selection (10th overall) in the 2018 CFL draft.
Since consummating the deal, the Roughriders’ brass has gone to considerable lengths to emphasize that Collaros has not been anointed the starter.
After all, there is Brandon Bridge to consider. He signed a new contract in December, instead of testing CFL free agency in February, and is a quarterback of considerable promise.
“The best guy plays,” Jones stated last week. “That’s just the way it’s going to go. We’ve got two really dynamic young quarterbacks who I feel really strongly about and they bring something a little bit different to the table.”
However, what took place at the bargaining table should carry considerable weight.
“With Collaros money guaranteed above $400K, makes it tough for (the Roughriders) to have a truly competitive situation at QB,” Naylor tweeted. “They could still do so but it’s going to cost them a lot of $$$ if Brandon Bridge wins the job.”
TSN’s Farhan Lalji promptly opined that “the Riders’ QB competition just ended.”
To which Bridge responded: “I’m going to control what I can control and that’s go out and do my thing in between the white lines. But reading this, I learned a lot about free agency ..."
We’ve got two really dynamic young quarterbacks who I feel really strongly about and they bring something a little bit different to the table.