January 3, 2018

The Roughriders have acquired QB Zach Collaros

The CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders believe they have reinforced their position in the West Division’s arms race.

The Roughriders acquired quarterback Zach Collaros from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Wednesday, sending a second-round pick (10th overall) in the 2018 draft the other way.

Collaros joins Kevin Glenn, Brandon Bridge, Vernon Adams Jr., Marquise Williams and David Watford in the Roughriders’ stable of quarterbacks. Strong performances from that group are imperative in a division that already includes QBs like Bo Levi Mitchell, Matt Nichols and Mike Reilly.

“With those guys in our conference, it’s critical that we have great quarterback play,” Jeremy O’Day, the Roughriders’ assistant vice-president of football operations and administration, said during a media conference at Mosaic Stadium. “If we want to be able to compete for first place in our conference, we need to play at a high level at that position.”

Collaros, a 29-year-old product of Steubenville, Ohio, played at a high level during his first three seasons in Hamilton.

After spending his first two CFL campaigns primarily as a backup with the Toronto Argonauts, Collaros signed with the Tiger-Cats as a free agent in January of 2014. He threw for 3,261 yards in 13 games that season, which was interrupted by a stint on the six-game injured list.

The 6-foot-0, 219-pound product of the University of Cincinnati got off to a spectacular start in 2015, throwing for 3,376 yards with 25 touchdowns in Hamilton’s first 12 regular-season games. But he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that September — and the injury derailed an MOP-calibre season.

Collaros returned for the seventh game of the Tiger-Cats’ 2016 season and passed for 2,398 yards and 18 TDs in 10 games. But in 2017, he lost his starting job to Jeremiah Masoli after Hamilton got off to an 0-8-0 start.

Collaros’ showing last season didn’t deter the Roughriders from making the trade.

“We took his whole body of work into consideration, not just one stretch early in the season …,” O’Day said. “For us, we’re looking at it big picture. We’re getting a quarterback who is 29 and who has played at the highest level you can play in our league.”

Collaros is vacationing in Mexico and wasn’t available to the Regina media on Wednesday. Contacted by the Hamilton Spectator, the quarterback said he was excited by the deal.

“It’s change, it’s a new opportunity,” said Collaros, who was Hamilton’s nominee for the CFL award as most outstanding player in both 2014 and ’15. “I don’t think I could be going to a better place from a fan standpoint, from an organizational standpoint, with the players they have. It’s a tremendous opportunity for me.”

Collaros reportedly was to receive a salary in excess of $500,000 in 2018, but O’Day said that the Roughriders already have had conversations with Collaros’ agent about possibly renegotiating the deal.

“We feel positive that those discussions are going in the right direction,” added O’Day.

Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones also had discussions with Bridge and Glenn on Wednesday morning after acquiring Collaros.

It’s unclear what was discussed or what conclusion was reached, but it would seem that something has to give. The Roughriders now have four QBs who have started games in their CFL careers (Adams, Bridge, Collaros and Glenn), so something may have to happen before training camp.

“The great news is that that’s a great problem to have,” O’Day said. “Something we wanted to do is have great competition at the quarterback position.

“(Collaros) has had a great deal of success in our league. We traded for him for a reason, but we also signed our other quarterbacks for reasons as well. I’ll let the coaches decide on where he’s going to fall on the depth chart.”

Collaros worked with some of the Roughriders’ coaches when they were employed by the Argos in 2012 and ’13, so there is some familiarity on both sides. Saskatchewan also did some added research to find out just what kind of a player it was getting.

During the media conference, O’Day referred to Collaros’ history as a winner in high school (30-1 record with two state titles) and as a first-team All-Big East performer at Cincinnati in 2010.

O’Day also pointed to Collaros’ career stats in the CFL (13,759 passing yards and a TD-to-interception ratio of 83-38) as well as his reputation as “a blue-collar, hard-working guy.”

“His statistics are pretty darn good, but I think the biggest thing that we know about Zach is that he’s a competitor — and that’s what we want,” O’Day said. “We want guys who are going to go out and be fierce competitors and who are going to lay it on the line for their teammates. That’s what he does.

“You can see it in his eyes during games and you can see it after games when he has had a tough loss. When he has to do an interview, you can tell that (the loss) is bothering him more than most people. That’s what you want: You want a guy (to whom) it really matters, a guy who’s going to have a great work ethic and ultimately a guy who his teammates are going to follow.”

The draft pick the Roughriders sent to Hamilton was the one they had acquired from the Montreal Alouettes in the Darian Durant trade.

Saskatchewan currently has five selections in the 2018 draft (the fifth, 14th, 36th, 45th and 63rd overall picks), although O’Day suggested the Roughriders may look to acquire more picks before the May 3 lottery if they feel the need to bolster their Canadian depth.

That may not be an issue, since four of last year’s nine picks (offensive linemen Eddie Meredith and Danny Sprukulis, linebacker Alexandre Chevrier and receiver Mitchell Picton) didn’t play a game for Saskatchewan in 2017 and two other selections (linebacker Cameron Judge and defensive lineman Emmanuel Adusei) were limited participants.

• O’Day said that the Roughriders are still attempting to work out deals with their players who can become free agents Feb. 13.

He admitted that some players won’t be re-signed, either by their choice or by that of the team. But O’Day noted that the Roughriders “feel good about where we are” with the players whom they want back in 2018.