The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick to a one-year contract extension through the 2026 CFL season.
The six-foot-four, 315-pound Hardrick returns to the Riders after a 2025 season that saw him named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman and win his third Grey Cup Championship.
During the 112th Grey Cup, Hardrick provided protection for Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris, who went 23-of-27 for 302 yards, setting a Grey Cup record for completion percentage at 85.2. The Roughriders did not allow a sack in that game. He also paved the way for A.J. Ouellette, who rushed 17 times for 83 yards and one touchdown and caught one pass for 32 yards in the CFL championship game.
A cornerstone for Saskatchewan's offensive line and an unquestioned leader in the locker room, Hardrick started 17 regular-season games. He sat out one game after the Riders clinched first place in the West Division. He played 976 offensive snaps during the regular season, including 100 percent of the snaps for which he was available. Overall, he was part of 91.9 percent of the team’s total offensive snaps.
Hardrick’s performance anchored a dominant run game that saw Ouellette rush for 1,222 yards, second-best in the league, and eight touchdowns during the regular season. According to Pro Football Focus, he led all CFL players with an 85.5 run-blocking grade and recorded 46 positively graded run-blocking plays, the most among offensive tackles.
In pass protection, Hardrick was equally formidable. He allowed 17 total pressures on 579 pass-blocking snaps. The percentage of 2.9 was second-best among CFL tackles. He led all offensive linemen by allowing only six quarterback hurries, earned a 98.4 percent pass-blocking efficiency rating, and was flagged for only two penalties all season.
Hardrick’s excellence was consistently recognized throughout the year. He was the Roughriders’ top-rated offensive lineman in all seven games that earned the unit top billing on the CFL Honour Roll. He was also PFF’s highest-graded offensive lineman for both June and October. He capped the season by being named PFF’s first team right tackle, awarded to the top-graded player at the position league-wide.
'Yoshi' joined the Roughriders as a free agent in 2024 after a stellar 2023 season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers that saw him named to the All-CFL team for the second time and become the West Division nominee for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman. He was a member of the Blue Bombers from 2016 to 2023.
Counting time spent with Winnipeg, Hardrick is a four-time divisional All-CFL pick (2017, 2021, 2023, 2025), a three-time All-CFL choice (2021, 2023, 2025) and a three-time Grey Cup champion (2019, 2021, 2025).
Prior to landing with the Blue Bombers, the former University of Nebraska Cornhuskers standout played in 12 games with the B.C. Lions in 2014 and eight games with the Riders in 2015.
He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft and played in three pre-season games. He also spent time on the New Orleans Saints’ practice roster in 2012. He was with the Arena Football League’s Utah Blaze in 2013 before making his CFL debut the following year.
