In my first post of 2023, I wrote that the Saskatchewan Roughriders should have re-signed Cody Fajardo.  Whew!  I’m glad they didn’t take my advice, for Cody Fajardo’s sake.

I also subsequently wondered aloud why the Roughriders didn’t jump all over the opportunity to sign Darnell Sankey after he realized what a terrible idea it was to sign with the USFL. Again, it’s wonderful—for Sankey—the Roughriders did not grab Mr. Sankey after the terrible 2022 season he had… with the Roughriders.

Indeed, the Saskatchewan Roughriders management has been absolutely brilliant since Chris Jones took off, getting rid of exactly the wrong players and failing to get exactly the right players **coughoffensivelinecough**.  And thankfully—for the rest of the league—this brilliance has been rewarded with a new contract for the one guy who has been responsible for dismantling the Grey Cup caliber team Chris Jones assembled before he left for browner pastures.

And speaking of Chris Jones and Cody Fajardo, remember when Mr. Jones was talking shit about Mr. Fajardo a few years ago?  Yeah, the thing is, while Mr. Jones said a few things that might not have aged well in light of Mr. Fajardo’s game-winning MVP performance yesterday in the 2023 Grey Cup, one thing Mr. Jones did say has proven to be prescient (i.e., 100% accurate):

“I know he’s a winner.”

If only there was someone in the Saskatchewan Roughriders management who knew this.

PS – Here’s some free advice, Saskatchewan. Sign Buck Pierce as your new head coach. How often do you get the chance to simultaneously snag a young offensive genius while also weakening your arch-rival?

And here’s why the Roughriders will not sign Scott Milanovich. At this point in Mr. Milanovich’s career, he’s going to want to be coach and general manager, and Saskatchewan already has a general manager. Mr. Milanovich is going to have his eye on the general manager position. Saskatchewan’s current general manager Jeremy “Oh boy, looks like I messed up again!” O’Day is not going to want that kind of pressure and ambition around, especially with the fine track record he has. And Roughriders president Craig Reynolds will not want to make Mr. O’Boy uncomfortable.

Am I starting to sound bitter?

Prove me wrong, Saskatchewan, prove me wrong.