The Saskatchewan Roughriders were one of the teams who offered CFL all-star receiver Eugene Lewis a contract in free agency.
“I talked to Sask — they were kind of trying to see where I was at and it wasn’t a good offer,” Lewis said on The SportsCage.
When asked what the Riders had to do to earn his signature, Lewis elaborated on how the Green and White could have improved their offer.
“Sask would have had to do a little more, they would have had to do some work.,” Lewis said jokingly. “We might have had to get some percentages for the jerseys or something like that.”
Ultimately, Lewis decided to sign with the Ottawa Redblacks.
“I always say I want to be somewhere where I’m appreciated and not tolerated,” Lewis detailed. “This is the closest place to back home for me. My mom, she’ll be able to finally come and see me play. I’ve been playing up here going on nine years now, so she’ll be able to drive that five and six hours from Philly. My brothers and sisters, they’ll be able to come see me. There was more money out there for me. Listen, I wanted to be back on the East coast a little bit more. I love the way the foundation that the Redblacks have right now and I want to be a part of it.”
The six-foot, 200-pound pass catcher started his career in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes from 2017 through 2022. During Lewis’s time in Quebec, he was named All-CFL in 2021 and 2022, received three divisional all-star selections in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Lewis also won the East Division Most Outstanding Player award in 2022.
“I definitely got to give a lot of credit to Adarius Pickett for being the party starter,” Lewis said. “That’s my boy I used to play with in Montreal. I got my boy [William] Stanback with me again [and] [Matthew] Shiltz. It’s good to be around some guys I was with before.”
Shiltz and Stanback were Lewis’ former teammates with the Als and both signed with the Redblacks in free agency. According to Lewis, he wanted to go to Ottawa earlier in his CFL career.
“Dealing with Shawn Burke since 2022… when I was leaving Montreal in 2022 I tried to get over there,” Lewis said. “Burke kept it real. He said: ‘Listen, I want you to be here, but I’m not even going to offer you something that’s disrespectful.’ I appreciate that because there are also GMs and teams that are offering you something disrespectful and not understanding it shouldn’t even have started like this. He was always very consistent.”
After Lewis left Montreal, he signed with the Edmonton Elks in 2023. Last season, he played 18 games, recording 74 receptions for 1,070 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was selected to the All-CFL team for his performance in 2024. As reported by 3DownNation insider Justin Dunk, Elks’ GM Ed Hervey was unwilling to pay Lewis over $300,000 and wanted to let his value be determined by the open market.
“I’ve never talked to Ed to this day, since free agency, nothing like that,” Lewis explained. “When he came out with the article and was saying everything he was saying… this is what I have to get people to understand, I’m a superstar in this league — I’m not a regular player. I’m not a rookie or nothing like that. He had different ideas and personally, I respect it. Call me and let me know that you want to go in another direction. Don’t try to degrade me and try to tell me that you’re not going to pay me like I’m not worth it — I’m still worth that money.”
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