QB puts pen to paper on pro pact with Argos

Noah Picton and his agent — who are one and the same — have signed off on his first CFL contract.

The University of Regina Rams quarterback has joined the Toronto Argonauts as a free agent. The deal was sealed one week after he was not selected in the CFL draft.

“Before the draft, I just really wanted to get into a camp,” the 22-year-old Picton said. “Obviously, last Thursday was disappointing. To be honest with you, I kind of thought that it was over. A few days had gone by.

“But then I received a call and I was pleased to land anywhere. Of all places, Toronto is absolutely the best place, as a quarterback, to go and learn. You look at the quarterback room and it’s full of all-time greats. Then you throw in (Argonauts head coach) Marc Trestman and the coaching staff. I think it’s the perfect spot to be for me.”

The starting quarterback is future hall of famer Ricky Ray. Another legendary passer, Anthony Calvillo, is the quarterbacks coach.

“It’s going to be a lot of learning and a lot of note-taking,” Picton said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

The Regina-born Picton is coming off back-to-back all-star seasons with the Rams.

In 2016, he became the first Ram to win the Hec Crighton Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in Canadian university football. He followed up last season by being named a first-team all-Canadian.

With a year of U Sports eligibility left, the 5-9, 180-pounder is already the Canada West conference’s alltime leader in passing yards (9,840) and completions (720).

Despite those eye-popping numbers, Picton was not drafted.

“From the get-go, I knew the odds were stacked against me,” he said. “When you look at the history of it, not a lot of Canadian quarterbacks go in the draft.

“Of course, every competitive person wants to succeed and wants to do well. When you don’t have your name called, it doesn’t matter what your expectations were, it’s going to be disheartening. That was what it was for me.

“It got tougher as the evening went on, and then after the draft was difficult because I knew from talking to people before that a lot of free agents would get signed right afterwards. I didn’t get a call that evening or the next morning or the day after that.

“It was difficult, but I kept training because I knew, at the end of the day, that I was going to be playing football either way ( because of ) the Regina Rams. It’s not like I just said, ‘Enough of this sport.’ I realized that maybe the CFL wasn’t it, but I still get to have another year with the Rams so I kept training.

“When I finally got the call, I was excited and eager to get out there.”

The signing of the contract added to the excitement.

“Well, it was fine print, so I kind of got a headache trying to read it,” Picton said with a chuckle. “It was pretty small writing.

“It was really, really cool. A lot of flashbacks came back. I thought about all the years of hard work that I put into it, and just being a little kid playing football in the backyard. I kind of went through my journey of football.

“To have it come down to signing a pro contract, it was pretty neat to reflect on, and it’s exciting to think about what lies ahead.”

Toronto is absolutely the best place, as a quarterback, to go and learn.