Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Trevor Harris’ new contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders will not put him on the podium as one of the three highest-paid quarterbacks in the CFL, but that is by design.

“I honestly have never, ever wanted to be in the top three paid guys in the league. That’s not really ever been an aim or anything of that nature, and so I stayed out of that,” Harris said on Friday. “I’m happy with where we’re at, and I feel like it’s fair compensation for both sides. I feel like JO (general manager Jeremy O’Day) would probably say the same thing.”

The 39-year-old pivot signed a one-year contract extension with the Riders on Thursday, putting to bed any doubts about whether he would retire after winning Grey Cup MVP in Saskatchewan’s 25-17 win over the Montreal Alouettes in Winnipeg last month.

Harris earned $444,700 after playtime incentives for his role in the Riders’ first-place regular season, plus another $23,000 in standard playoff bonuses for capturing the title. That placed him fifth among CFL quarterbacks in terms of earnings in 2025, trailing B.C.’s Nathan Rourke, Toronto’s Chad Kelly, Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros, and Calgary’s Vernon Adams Jr.

At the time of his last extension, the native of Waldo, Oh., described his deal as “team-friendly,” so long as you viewed him in the top tier of passers in the three-down league. While the details of this new deal have not yet been revealed, he painted it in a similar light.

“I think it’s still the same thing. Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, and where you see me,” he said. “My aim is not to make as much money as I possibly can. It never has been, and that’s not really what I’m concerned about. I want this team to do right, and I’ve been on record, I told Jeremy that if it ever comes down to a small amount of us getting a guy that’s going to change our trajectory, I’m always willing to discuss and help out.”

Saskatchewan had 44 pending free agents to negotiate with entering the offseason, of whom Harris was undeniably the most important. Even in his twilight years, the six-foot-three, 212-pound QB would have drawn interest on the open market and was 3DownNation‘s fifth-ranked potential free agent in the entire class.

However, Harris didn’t utilize that as leverage to secure a better deal from the Riders. He handled most of the negotiations with O’Day himself and opted for a number that would give the team the ability to re-sign other pieces.

“I didn’t really look into that too much,” Harris said when asked about how much he shaved off his overall earning potential. “I just thought about what would be fair in terms of what I feel like I’ve accomplished in what we just did, and also making sure that we can get guys back. That’s really where I’m at right now.”

“It was two conversations back and forth with JO, and we kind of just hammered out the deal together and got it done. It was a pretty simple one, in my opinion. It was like, ‘This is where I’m thinking.’ ‘This is where I’m thinking.’ And it kind of just settled where I feel like it should have anyway for us to get guys back, but also compensate things fairly. Money is not really anything that’s ever driven me. I just want to make sure I’m doing my best to take care of my family.”

Harris played arguably the best football of his 13-year CFL career in 2025, completing 73.5 percent of his passes for 4,549 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 16 starts. He capped it with Saskatchewan’s fifth-ever championship parade and the first for him as a starting quarterback.

While the veteran signal-caller still believes he can get better, he remains aware of what stage of his career he is in. Unlike many team-friendly contracts, which trade short-term financial gains for more long-term stability, Harris’ deal with the Riders is only for 2026. The idea of a multi-year contract was floated, but not seriously considered.

“It was a brief discussion, but at this point in time, it’s really going to be a year at a time. I don’t think we’ll have too much drama if, at the end of the year, there’s mutual interest to come back. I think we’ll kind of make it work,” he said.

“I’m going to be 40 years old. Why sign the long-term deal and complicate things a little more? It’s more or less just I feel like if I’m going to play, I’m going to be playing in the green and white, and if they want me to keep playing, we’ll find a way to make it work.”

That was certainly the case this year, when a deal was struck less than three weeks after the Riders lifted the trophy. The hope is that by not breaking the bank, Harris can help the team hoist it again.