{"id":240388,"date":"2025-10-26T01:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T01:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/240388\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T01:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T01:44:11","slug":"edmonton-elks-staring-unpopular-tre-ford-decision-in-the-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/240388\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Elks staring ‘unpopular’ Tre Ford decision in the face"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Timothy Atticus\/CFL.<\/p>\n

Edmonton Elks\u2019 general manager Ed Hervey is not one to mince words and he did not do so when asked about Canadian quarterback Tre Ford\u2019s future with the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a big discussion for us. I think this is one of those cases where we really have to evaluate whether or not the fit is right for him here, or maybe a fresh start for him is big,\u201d Hervey said on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe and I had a great conversation this afternoon, but as far as what we\u2019re doing and willing to do, there\u2019s an opportunity for us to have a chance to talk, talk with him again, talk with his agent, really digest the entire season and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old signed a three-year extension last December<\/a>, which made him the clear franchise quarterback. He started five games for Edmonton to begin the 2025 season and after a 1-4 start, Ford was benched as Cody Fajardo took over as QB1<\/a>, which was frustrating for the University of Waterloo product.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I wanted to do the best I could and play,\u201d Ford said. \u201cWe were able to have some positive stuff this year and it wasn\u2019t all negative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fajardo went 6-7 as Edmonton\u2019s starter to finish the 2025 CFL season while helping the Elks fight into playoff contention. Ultimately, the Green and Gold came up short and did not make the postseason in Mark Kilam\u2019s first year as head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like Tre Ford can play quarterback in the CFL. If it\u2019s here, so be it. If it\u2019s not, maybe a fresh start is good for him. I know he did learn from watching Cody, the way he conducted himself on a day-to-day basis, in practice, in meetings. I know that\u2019s beneficial,\u201d Kilam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also know that starting quarterbacks, it takes them a little while. You look across the league, guys like Trevor Harris, Vernon Adams Jr., even Cody \u2014 they spent a lot of time as backups before they got their shot, or before they really figured out who they wanted to be and how they were going to do that. Tre is no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Fajardo spent over three years in the Canadian Football League prior to starting his first game. He signed with the Toronto Argonauts in October 2015 and learned from Ricky Ray as he watched the four-time Grey Cup champion lead the Argos to a CFL title in 2017. The 2023 Grey Cup MVP had some advice for Ford after sharing a QB room with him for one season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing for him is to allow his emotions, to wear it on his sleeve. He\u2019s an even-keeled guy and I\u2019m the opposite. I\u2019m a little bit fiery, as you guys can see sometimes, but sometimes that motivates guys. Tre loves football, it\u2019s evident, he wants to win, he wants to be great in this league. But sometimes, on the outside looking in, when you\u2019re even-keeled people can take that the wrong way,\u201d Fajardo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how much he cares about this game because I\u2019ve seen him every morning in film with me every step of the way, I was talking about the playbook, I was talking about teams, dissecting teams. I\u2019ve seen him, I know he loves the game. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to show that so your teammates can feel that. I think he took it really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford acknowledged he\u2019s learned a lot from Fajardo. He asked questions about decision-making, footwork, reads and more. The dual-threat pivot tried to soak up little details every day and hopes that approach could equal big returns in his football future. There\u2019s a timeline on his future with Edmonton as he\u2019s due a $110,000 roster bonus on February 1.<\/p>\n

Hervey\u2019s stated goal is to do right by all of his players and make certain the athletes he deals with feel respected no matter the outcome. He believes the fans understand the Elks\u2019 main focus is winning and putting together a team that gives Edmonton a chance to compete for championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, in those cases, there are unpopular decisions that are made, and there are popular ones. In this case, I know how he is, but we have to look at the overall roster and how it makes us better. Considering we\u2019re talking about Cody on one hand and keeping him and all this other stuff, you guys know that something has to give,\u201d Hervey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to make this into him versus him, or me versus him, or us versus him. This is the reality of the football business. Once a season has been played, we look at it and say, \u2018How do we assess our roster and continue to build?\u2019 To be able to get this Cody Fajardo deal done, but also handle something as delicate as the Tre Ford situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Timothy Atticus\/CFL. Edmonton Elks\u2019 general manager Ed Hervey is not one to mince words and he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-240388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}