Kian Schaffer-Baker has demonstrated an ability to extend a play and a contract.
Schaffer-Baker — an elusive and effective runner after the catch — has signed a new deal with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have secured his CFL rights through the 2025 season.
His original, three-year contract expires after the 2023 campaign.
“It’s just a blessing to have something set in stone and something that you just keep working towards,” Schaffer-Baker says.
“Saskatchewan has been home for the past two years now. They have helped to groom me in so many ways. Everyone in the organization, from the top down, has been phenomenal.
“They always bring out the best in me and want to see the best in me, so that helped to make my decision with this.”
Schaffer-Baker was named the Roughriders’ most outstanding Canadian in 2022 after leading the team in catches (68), receiving yards (960) and aerial touchdowns (five).
An eye-popping 43 per cent of his yards were gained after the catch. He added 74 yards on 13 rushes last season, in which he amassed 1,034 yards from scrimmage.
In 2022, Schaffer-Baker became only the fourth Canadian receiver (and the youngest such player) in Roughriders history to catch 68 or more passes in a season.
The others — Ray Elgaard, Jeff Fairholm and Andy Fantuz — are all in the SaskTel Plaza of Honour.
Last season, Schaffer-Baker was second among the CFL’s Canadian receivers in catches and yards. The Toronto Argonauts’ Kurleigh Gittens Jr. led the way with 81 receptions for 1,101 yards.
In 2021, Schaffer-Baker caught 47 passes for 563 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games, earning Roughriders rookie-of-the-year honours.
That was quite an auspicious debut for the former University of Guelph Gryphons receiver, who had been selected in the fourth round (30th overall) of the 2020 CFL draft.
The 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19. When play resumed in 2021, Schaffer-Baker reported to training camp as an unheralded rookie and soon turned heads.
He was a standout at camp and carried his propensity for playmaking into his debut season.
“I didn’t quite picture it like this, but my mind was always set on achieving big things in football — even outside of football,” Schaffer-Baker says. “It goes much beyond that.
“I know that I’m scratching the surface. There’s still a lot more to come and I’m going to continue to grow and learn throughout the process.”
The reference to “scratching the surface” resonates when you consider that Schaffer-Baker, for all he has accomplished so quickly as a CFLer, doesn’t turn 25 until April 28.
“Every stage in your life demands a new version of you,” he says. “There’s stages and phases and blessings through all that happens.”
That upbeat attitude also applies to recent events.
The beginning of Schaffer-Baker’s third season as a Roughrider will be delayed for an unspecified period while he recovers from hip surgery he underwent about a month ago to repair a torn labrum.
“The rehab has been going very well,” he reports. “I’m taking things one step at a time again — literally.”
Some of the steps had induced discomfort prior to his introduction to Riderville.
He suffered the injury while training and, even though the labrum would not fully heal, he was nonetheless able to quickly establish himself as a premier playmaker.
“With everything that happens to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat it as a gift that has happened to you,” Schaffer-Baker says.
“With any opportunity you get, it’s a chance to grow through those obstacles and to keep growing in life and learning from those things.”
Schaffer-Baker expanded his knowledge base during the off-season while auditioning for nine NFL teams.
“(The hip) was feeling good during the NFL workouts,” he notes. “It was just more of a business decision (to get the surgery).
“God willing, I want to be able to play this game for another 20 years, if I can. I knew getting this surgery would put me in the best position going forward, with just being healthy again.”
Each off-season, there is a period in which any CFL player — regardless of the time remaining on his contract — can test NFL opportunities.
Schaffer-Baker’s new deal defers CFL free agency until February of 2026 at the earliest and ensures that he will not play anywhere else north of the border for the foreseeable future.
“I’d say the interest was from both parties,” he says. “My agents (Warren Schmidt and Paul Sheehy) had been working very hard and diligently to get me a contract either in the NFL or in the CFL. They have been looking out for my best interests and the organization wants to help me out in every single way possible.
“So we both came to terms and I want to be playing in green and white for the next three years.”
His objectives over that period are pretty clear.
“The first thing that comes to mind is to win a Grey Cup,” Schaffer-Baker states. “I’m on that contract for two extra years — three if you include this year — so that means three Grey Cups.”
