Signing bonus tripped up deal for Harris to stay
Dispute over signing bonus led veteran quarterback to sign deal with Eskimos
Fresh off signing a new contract that will pay him $525,000 — with a big signing bonus — to be the starting quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2019 CFL season, Trevor Harris says he would have taken less to stay with the Ottawa Redblacks.
How close was the 32-year-old to staying in Ottawa? He actually had a verbal agreement in place (dating back to December 2017), but a back-and-forth disagreement over bonus money sealed his exit, with the Redblacks re-signing Dominique Davis and adding former B.C. Lions quarterback Jonathan Jennings to replace Harris.
Harris, who agreed to take a $40,000 cut on his $450,000 salary in 2017 so the Redblacks had some additional cash to sign players, said he knew his days in Ottawa were done heading into free agency, which began Tuesday. The team had made its choice, maybe as early as the day Davis was re-signed.
“I received a call from (Redblacks GM) Marcel (Desjardins) maybe 30 minutes before free agency — it was the first time I’d heard from him (directly) this off-season,” Harris said over the phone from Edmonton, where he’s staying until Sunday. “He said, ‘Hey, it doesn’t look like anything is going to happen and I wanted to thank you.’ So I knew then, for sure.
“It wasn’t a thing where I was chasing dollars or anything like that. I wanted to be back, I wanted to finish my career there and I don’t regret saying that. I thought that was going to happen.”
People will wonder how the Redblacks could choose to go in a different direction, how Harris could move on. There are plenty of questions with answers that lead to more questions.
The sides had a deal worked out — the contract number was $475,000 for the coming season. Harris’ agent, Paul Brown, asked for a chunk of money to come in the form of a signing bonus. The Redblacks countered with an offer that included an increased signing bonus from the original offer. Apparently, it wasn’t enough. After that, there was little communication between the sides.
“The contact was pretty minimal,” said Harris. “It was just a couple of email exchanges between the two (the Redblacks and Brown). They asked if we were going forward with the number (we had talked about) last year and we said, ‘Yep.’ We sent out an offer with the signing bonus; it was the same total number, it was to do with the signing bonus. They countered it. As time went on, it became clear they were ready to move in another direction.”
There was another twist less than a month ago.
“I asked to have a conversation with Marcel,” Harris said. “I hoped we could smooth things over and talk about which way things were going. I was concerned whether we would keep all the guys (who were potential free agents) together; that didn’t seem to be the case. That’s why I reached out, I wanted to have a conversation to ease my mind. It never happened. That’s when it started becoming clear to me that they were going in a different direction. That was disappointing. I was holding out hope we could make it work.”
Asked about the contract talks with Harris, Desjardins said, “I’m not going into the details, it just didn’t work out. He did a lot for us while he was here. Timing and dollars are all part of the process for us and for him.”
Harris will replace Mike Reilly as the Eskimos’ starting quarterback.
“Part of me is sad, there’s the team and the teammates in Ottawa,” Harris said. “But I’m really excited about this. It’s a great tradition (in Edmonton). I want to do everything I can to come here and raise the bar.”
There were other teams in the mix to sign Harris — three, it seems, and you’d have to think Saskatchewan and Toronto were two of them — but Edmonton was his “clear-cut” choice.
“This was a very fitting thing for me, a chance to play for a guy I’d already been coached by (Jason Maas), and I know who (GM) Brock Sunderland is as a man,” said Harris. “It’s one of those deals where I’m happy it worked out here.”
In Edmonton, he’ll also have two former Redblacks teammates — receiver Greg Ellingson and offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers — joining him.
“When you can bring teammates with you, it’s obviously more fun,” Harris said. “It was the same kind of feeling with (Brendan) Gillanders when Gilly came over with me from Toronto to Ottawa (in 2015).
“With Greg, we meshed well together and there’s the relationship him and I have. Having my blind side covered by SirV is something I look forward to for the next two years and hopefully longer. The familiarity is cool, but meeting new teammates is cool as well.”
Some fans will look to put blame on Harris, while others will point at the organization and wonder why a deal couldn’t be struck to keep the quarterback who says there are no hard feelings toward an organization he was with for three seasons.
“I’m grateful for my time in Ottawa, it was a fun ride,” he said. “I’m forever grateful to the city of Ottawa, to the fans and to the organization — everybody. I grew a lot as a man and a player. I came there as a spot-duty backup, became a franchise quarterback and helped them get to a Grey Cup.
“I leave with some great memories, not a bad one. As I was reflecting, I’ll remember I got my first all-star award, we made it to two Grey Cups, we won a Grey Cup . ... I’ll remember the victories and the heart-wrenching defeats. You remember the guys in the locker-room. You remember the journey. I’ll be forever grateful for all of it.”
Any animosity? “Marcel does an outstanding job of putting the team together,” said Harris. “He’s been to three Grey Cups in five years with an expansion team. He knows what he’s doing, so the people of Ottawa should have faith in him. It’s all good, they make decisions. It’s pro football.”