‘Ignore the number of years I’ve lived’: Trevor Harris not taking farewell tour in 2026

Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris says it was an easy choice to return to the Roughriders for another season.

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback Trevor Harris says he will not be ‘rounding the bases,’ taking a farewell tour when he returns for his 40-year-old season in 2026.

“I know people are like, ‘You’re 40 next year.’ Like at some point I hope people will ignore the number of how many years I’ve lived next to my name,” Harris told reporters Friday. “When you turn this age, people want to talk about it quite a bit. But I’ll out work everybody, I feel like I always have.”

Harris signed a one-year contract extension with the Roughriders Thursday after leading Saskatchewan to a 2025 Grey Cup championship, a 25-17 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Nov. 16.

The 13-year veteran, who connected on 23 of 27 passes for 302 yards and a Grey Cup record 85.2-per-cent completion percentage, was named MVP of the contest.

• Riders extend QB Trevor Harris to one-year contract extension

Harris says he felt his future was mostly decided the week following that Grey Cup win but still took some time to be 100 per cent sure.

“I kind of talked to my wife at [a team] party,” he explained. “[We] kind of left, just sat down and she said, ‘This is kind of the way to go out. But how can you go out when you’re playing like this? We enjoy being here so much and the way things are set the way they are, it’s just so nice to see you happy working. And this is what you do to provide for us. I just can’t see this being the end.’

“When she’s said that, that was the first time I kind of turned the page a little bit.”

As the now 39-year-old enters the 2026 season, Harris boasts a CFL career passing total of 37,693 yards, 3,097 completions and 204 touchdowns, with his career completion percentage (70.1) the second-best in league history.

Recruitment begins

The Roughrider pivot says his recruitment of the other pending free agents on the team to return next season has already begun.

“I got a message [Thursday] from two or three teammates like, ‘[Are] you close to extending? I need to know what you’re doing,’ ” Harris said. “The thing is, I don’t know how much recruiting [I] have to do. Everybody wants to be here.”

At the end of the 2025 season, 45 players were set to become free agents for Saskatchewan.

Since then, some players have been re-signed, but Harris is the first big domino to fall.

“[Saskatchewan] is a destination now and people want to be here and to be a part of something great,” Harris added. “That’s due to our leadership.”

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Harris called his one-year deal, ‘team friendly’ in hopes of making it easier to retain the continuity of the championship roster.

He added the draw of repeating as champions in 2026 is a bigger draw to returning than what he accomplished in 2025.

“I’m still curious what my ceiling is as a player,” Harris said. “I can’t assure you of very much, in terms of next year. But the one thing I can assure you is: I won’t be outworked . . . I push myself to exhaustion and I’ve learned how to work smarter, in a lot of ways.”

“I’m not really too concerned about what other people put in. I’m pushing myself every single day for my teammates. As long as I play, I’ll be in my prime. Age is not going to be something that retires me,” the quarterback added.

The 2026 schedule is scheduled to be released Tues., Dec. 9.