Samuel Emilus could have spent this week fielding lucrative contract offers from an assortment of interested parties.
It never came to that. Not even close.
Emilus, who was named the 2025 Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Canadian after helping the Saskatchewan Roughriders capture a CFL title on Nov. 16, re-signed with the Green and White shortly before Christmas.
“Right after we won the Grey Cup, I knew I wanted to be back,” Emilus said. “It was just a matter of wait-and-see and seeing how it played out. It played out exactly as I wanted.
“I’m here for the next two years and I couldn’t be more excited to be here and keep on building something special, like the Rider organization is doing right now.”
He could have waited until the free-agency period, which began on Sunday when the negotiating window opened, but talks with the Riders were consummated long before that.
“It’s pretty simple,” Emilus said. “They drafted me in the first round in 2022 so, obviously, they believed in me. It was only right for me to show the same love that they’ve been showing me ever since I’ve been here.
“It’s only right that I stay here and build my legacy here.”
He has done that in short order.
The Montreal-born Emilus, who was chosen seventh overall in the 2022 CFL Draft out of Louisiana Tech, enjoyed a breakout year as a sophomore with the Roughriders.
His first three CFL touchdowns were scored in the same game — a June 16, 2023 matchup with the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Just like that, he tied a team record for touchdown receptions in a game.
Emilus went on to catch 70 passes for 1,097 yards and six TDs in 2023. He followed up in 2024 with an 87-catch, 1,064-yard season and five more majors en route to being named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Canadian for the second year in a row.
Having battled injuries for a considerable portion of the 2025 season, Emilus caught 37 passes for 588 yards in seven games. Those totals, extrapolated over a full 18-game schedule, work out to 95 catches and 1,512 yards.
Operating at 100 per cent for the 2025 playoffs, Emilus hit 100 receiving yards on back-to-back weekends in November.
He caught nine passes for 100 yards to help Saskatchewan defeat the visiting B.C. Lions 24-21 in the Western Final. The Roughriders’ late-fourth-quarter, game-winning touchdown drive was kickstarted by a 23-yard Trevor Harris pass to Emilus.
That combination clicked in the 112th Grey Cup Game, in which Emilus caught 10 passes for 108 yards to help Saskatchewan defeat his hometown team, the Montreal Alouettes, 25-17.
“I’m going to bring the Grey Cup to Montreal, for sure,” he said. “I’ve got to bring it home to my family and my friends and some schools, just to have it in Montreal.
“(Alouettes fans) are going to handle it the way they want to handle it. The Alouettes couldn’t do it, but I’ll bring it to Montreal for them.”
Emilus is one of 22 players who have re-signed with the Roughriders instead of joining a rival CFL team as a free agent. Here is the complete list:
• QB Trevor Harris (Dec. 4).
• QB Tommy Stevens (Dec. 5).
• OL Jermarcus Hardrick (Dec. 9).
• FB Albert Awachie (Dec. 9).
• LB-DB Jayden Dalke (Dec. 16).
• RB Thomas Bertrand-Hudon (Dec. 17).
• DB Jaxon Ford (Dec. 18).
• DL Caleb Sanders (Dec. 22).
• REC Samuel Emilus (Dec. 24).
• DB Tevaughn Campbell (Jan. 12).
• QB Jack Coan (Jan. 19).
• REC Kian Schaffer-Baker (Jan. 19).
• DL Lake Korte-Moore (Jan. 20).
• OL Jacob Brammer (Jan. 26).
• DB Nelson Lokombo (Jan. 27).
• DB Kerfalla Exume (Jan. 28).
• REC KeeSean Johnson (Jan. 29).
• DB DaMarcus Fields (Jan. 30).
• DL Mike Rose (Jan. 31).
• RB A.J. Ouellette (Feb. 1).
• DL Benoit Marion (Feb. 2).
• LB Aubrey Miller Jr. (Feb. 2)
As well, All-CFL middle linebacker Jameer Thurman signed a contract extension on Jan. 12. Thurman, who was already signed for the upcoming season, is now under contract through 2027.