Saskatchewan Roughriders fans are celebrating the team’s 25-17 Grey Cup win over the Montreal Alouettes. With pedning free agents looming, Green and White supporters wonder about the future of players such as Trevor Harris and A.J. Ouellette.
“I want to win another one, that’s what I want to do. This is the best place to play football in the CFL, that’s for sure,” Ouellette said on the SportsCage. “Go home, pray about it, think about it, and do what’s best.”
The five-foot-eight, 208-pound running back started 17 games for the Riders during the 2025 regular season. He rushed 248 times for 1,222 yards with eight touchdowns. Ouellette set a single-season career-high in rushing yards and tied his rushing touchdown count from 2023.
When Harris was asked the same question about his free agency plans, he talked about his family.
“I was chatting with my wife a little bit today about it, asking her where she was at for next year. She’s given some pretty good answers and pretty clear answers, so I told her that we’d wait till we got home to chat about it. You want to make sure that you’re the right fit for the organization and there’s alignment from the people upstairs. I had great meetings with J.O., with Kyle [Carson], [Corey] Mace, [Marc] Mueller, and all the guys,” Harris said.
“Things are good, I’m the type of person, I put everything I have into it, and I want to make sure that I can always do that. Because being able to look your teammates in the eye and tell them that you could do everything that you could possibly do in the offseason, during the season, your weekly prep, everything is something you always should be reflecting on briefly during the offseason. But there’s no shortage of motivation here to come back next year. So like I said on Wednesday, I’d be shocked if it didn’t work out.”
Harris suited up in 17 games during the 2025 regular season for Saskatchewan. He completed 74 percent of his passes for 4,549 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
After the Roughriders defeated the Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup, Harris earned game MVP honours. He completed 23-of-27 passes for 302 yards. That win marked Harris’s first Grey Cup as a starter; his other two CFL title rings came in 2012 with the Toronto Argonauts and in 2016 with the Ottawa Redblacks.
For Ouellette, it was his second Grey Cup win; his first was in 2022 with Toronto. 2024 was Ouellette’s first year with Saskatchewan. That season he developed a bond with Harris.
“We chatted during free agency before I came here, I was expecting a 10-minute chat about football, and it ended up being a three-hour chat about anything but football,” Ouellette recalled. “From there, it started and it’s been growing every day. Now I’m a bum living in his basement, so it’s true brotherhood.”
This season, the Riders finished with a 12-6 record and secured first in the West Division. Saskatchewan faced the B.C. Lions in the West Final and beat them 24-21. The Green and White went ahead late in the game with 11 seconds remaining when Harris threw a three-yard pass to Tommy Nield for a touchdown. Harris described the feeling in the huddle before the final drive.
“I can tell you this, that every single person on the sideline and every single person in the huddle knew exactly what was about to happen. That can sound cocky and pompous, I don’t mean for it to sound that way, I genuinely don’t,” Harris said.
“It’s a conviction, a confidence of who’s in the huddle and what we’re going to do and what we’ve done all year. It was who’s going to score and how’s it going to get done, and how cool is it going to be celebrating together, is what I felt.”
Both players expressed gratitude to Riders fans and reflected on what the time has been like celebrating the Grey Cup.
“Going to the parade, it was more than I was expecting,” Ouellette said. “The number of people who were lined up on the streets, and people were celebrating. Still trying to read through all the messages on Instagram and text messages. Grey Cups here are different.”
Harris elaborated on what Ouellette said regarding the Grey Cup and what his experience has been.
“It’s been phenomenal. The best part for me was watching the guys celebrate,” Harris said. “A job well done, we got to finish the job, and to do it in Saskatchewan is something that people talk about quite a bit. You’re feeling that the province really is enjoying this with us, we’re a community-owned team, so it’s their Grey Cup as well. Excited to be able to bring it home.”
