Now for the Hard Part

2026 will mark the 50th year of my attending Rider games, first with my Dad, then covering games as a PA Herald reporter, then as a season ticket holder covering games on behalf of paNow. The 2025 season will go down as a season where contrary to Rider fan experiences, almost everything went right which raises the question, can they do it again in 2026?

The 2025 schedule was one of the most favorable the Riders have experienced, with a bye week every six weeks avoiding previous years where the Rider injury list looked like a leper colony with various limbs here and there falling off because when you go more than six weeks without a bye week playing football which is like being a car crash a week that lasts for three hours, you tend to break down.

The Riders 2026 schedule came out December 9 and the influence of the World Cup is obvious. Games in Toronto and Vancouver are being moved to allow the soccer people to play and the Riders are benefiting with getting their away game in Toronto now playing played in Saskatchewan.

The extra home game has allowed the team to have its home exhibition game now being played in Saskatoon where the team has its training camp. I don’t have a problem with this since this is a provincial team and it helps to have exposure in the largest city in the province and northern Saskatchewan.

If there was a high-speed commuter rail link between Regina and Saskatoon, that would probably make it easier to hit games in the future and probably easier for people from North Battleford, Prince Albert and area to go to Saskatoon, park their cars and ride into Mosaic to take in a Rider game. Hey, you might get more out of town ticket buyers if getting to the game would be that easy.

So here is the 2026 schedule:

May 18 (exhibition) Saskatchewan at Calgary 1 pm

May 23 (exhibition) Bombers at Saskatchewan 5 pm

Regular season

June 13 BC at Saskatchewan 5 pm

June 20 Saskatchewan at Calgary 5 pm

June 26 Toronto at Saskatchewan 7 pm

July 3 Saskatchewan at Ottawa 5:30 pm

July 12 Hamilton at Saskatchewan 5 pm

July 23 Edmonton at Saskatchewan 7 pm

August 1 Saskatchewan at Edmonton 5 pm

August 6 Ottawa at Saskatchewan 7 pm

August 15 Saskatchewan at Hamilton 5 pm

August 23 Saskatchewan at BC 5 pm

August 29 Toronto at Saskatchewan 5 pm

September 6 Bombers at Saskatchewan 5 pm

September 12 Saskatchewan at Stony Mountain 2 pm

September 25 Saskatchewan at BC 8:30 pm

October 2 Calgary at Saskatchewan 7:30 pm

October 12 Saskatchewan at Montreal 11 am

October 17 Montreal at Saskatchewan 1 pm

October 24 Edmonton at Saskatchewan 1 pm

East and West Semi Finals October 31

East and West Finals November 7

Grey Cup in Calgary November 15

So, we play Edmonton and BC three times apiece, and the Bombers thankfully are just twice on our dance card, not including the exhibition game. So, while vacations are being booked and weddings planned. The league seems to have addressed previous issues with the schedule, except for how Toronto Argonaut ownership has treated their fans.

The BC Lions are out of BC Place for a couple of games the Lions are going to play in the interior to spread the game out because the Lions are also a provincial team. With an attendance of 15,000, the Argos might have looked at local options, brought in temporary stands and promoted the team in southern Ontario.

I am not going to scoff at an extra home game, but I want a league where every team is doing well and can build towards the level of fan involvement in Riderville or even, God forbid, Stony Mountain.

The early release of the schedule is a positive step because it allows fans to plan trips etc. The next step is free agency, and this year will see some interesting twists, probably starting with an increase in the player’s salary cap.

The increase is due to an increase in revenues, likely fueled by attendance in Riderville and Stony Mountain, the only two publicly owned teams whose financial records are open to all. The CFL is also looking at the last year of its contract with TSN and while viewing of the Grey Cup was up, likely due to people relieved they no longer had to watch the Bombers choke, I wonder if the contract would go substantially up.

TSN airs the Grey Cup on CTV but with the number of people cutting their cable cord, streaming whether through a computer or phone is the growth industry and this is where things will get interesting with a commissioner in Stewart Johnson who was also president of TSN. Increasing access to the games whether on air or at the turnstiles should be Job 1 for the CFL and while Johnson was not popular at the fan fair at the last Grey Cup, and was booed for presenting the Grey Cup, he can mitigate the venom directed his way by promoting the league and not just talking about it.

So, with the revenues dictating an increase in the salary cap, it would be fair to expect the first $300,000 receiver in CFL history, and quarterbacks looking to move further up the income ladder. I have been reading that some expect the extra money will go to the top players, which I can see, but considering the punishment these guys put their bodies through, you would hope the money also reaches the guys lower down the salary scale.

The Riders have a mass of free agents and one of the things that became apparent toward the end of the season was how these guys like each other and love to play for Head Coach Cory Mace. One free agent who was being watched closely in case he decided to retire was Trevor Harris who won his first Grey Cup as a starter and has emerged as a leader on the team.

Harris came back for another year in which I believe he turns 40. In the Grey Cup, Harris was not hit once behind an offensive line made up of four Americans and I wonder if that might be a blueprint for the Riders in 2026. Not only was Harris protected, but the running game was effective and the receiving corps, mostly Canadians, did a fantastic job.

Harris took less money than some thought because Harris not just uses Tom Brady’s exercise program for career longevity, he also saw how Brady took less money so the team could sign talent. Harris is a team first guy, and the Riders are very fortunate to have him.

The Riders also had Tommy Stevens come back as the short yardage quarterback on a two-year contract which makes third down sneaks’ fun to watch from a Rider point of view. Jake Maier has yet to sign and as a back up he did his job, didn’t lose the only game he started in place of Harris and appeared to enjoy his stay in Riderville.

Maier may be looking at how the quarterback market will shake out in the CFL, but right now, Ottawa might be a possibility if the Redblacks decide to move on from Dru Brown who was injured quite a bit and even when Maier was getting whacked in Calgary behind their offensive line two years ago, he managed to tough it out for the whole season.

Speaking of offensive line, Jemarcus Hardrick signed a one-year extension and Rider fans saw firsthand the impact he had on Rider chemistry and run blocking and pass protection. Hardrick wants to play until he is 40, and coming off a year where he was injured and with no guarantee he would be back, he worked to bring himself back to the line and even won the most outstanding offensive lineman award.

In the receiving corps, the Riders will likely lose Dohnte Meyers to the NFL (he is doing various camps right now but if he doesn’t stick, he will likely return) which makes Keesean Johnson a priority to sign. The major question is Samuel Emilus, the most outstanding Canadian in the Grey Cup.

Emilus missed some games due to injury last year, which allowed the back up receivers to receive invaluable experience, but in the Grey Cup you saw how Emilus can change a game on his own. With Tyson Philpot signing with Montreal for $270 K and Philpot has not played a whole season, I can see Emilus signing for $300 K.

Kian Schaffer-Baker spent most of last season on the injury list and I can’t see him moving into Emilus territory on the salary front. It would be nice to have to have him back, but on a friendlier salary so if he gets injured again, the Riders are not hamstrung in bringing in players.

The Riders will be bringing in draft picks Daniel Wiebe at receiver and Seth Hundeby at linebacker, both of whom excelled at the University of Saskatchewan and Hundeby was the defensive player of the year in U Sports.

The Riders are bringing in draft pick Erik Anderson of Western who also picked up the offensive lineman of the year honor. The Riders have done a great job of drafting and it will be interesting to see how the Riders bring the band back together for another run at the title.

Elsewhere in the CFL, the Toronto Argonauts have named Mike Miller as their head coach, replacing Ryan Dinwiddie who moved on to take on the GM/Head Coach position with the Ottawa Redblacks. The process in Toronto could charitably be described as chaotic with the Argos bringing in Bomber Head Coach Mike O’Shea and promising all the titles, but apparently not much else.

The Argos front office problem stems from Pinball Clemons who is a great PR person but not someone I would trust to find players, and John Murphy who can find players but is also a menace to decent society. Murphy being perceived as being involved in the Argos probably forced the hand of many candidates who said thanks but no thanks.

The hiring of Miller, the former quarterback coach, was probably best of a bad situation because Miller had worked with Chad Kelly, who sat out last year with a broken leg and had a good rapport. The Argos still have Nick Arbuckle who did very well in keeping the Argos competitive despite the fact their team was gutted in free agency.

The Murphy situation was solved when the Argos hired John Hufnagel as senior advisor from the Calgary Stampeders. Hufnagel had put together a pretty good front office in Calgary but after being booted upstairs, and having family in the eastern US, probably wanted to be closer to his kids and accepting the challenge of making the Argonauts a football competent organization.

There is a Rider component to this with Mace apparently being approached about his interest in the head coaching position although it was never apparently official. Marc Mueller was apparently looked at as a potential head coach and Kyle Carson, the Rider assistant GM, will be a GM of his team someday.

This is what happens to teams who win titles, other teams come to raid them to claim that magic for their own. The Rider front office seems set to stay together for another year as they go for a first in team history, back-to-back titles.

If the salary cap goes increase by $200 K to $300 K, teams may find it easier to hang on to their free agents. Money does go a long way, but it’s almost a month after the Grey Cup and I am still amazed at the team culture built by Cory Mace and Jeremy O’Day.

It is something Rider fans have not seen often but it does make them appreciate it when it come. It is going to be a fascinating off-season for the CFL and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

by Greg Urbanoski

Now for the Hard Part

What's Trending