As the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Montreal Alouettes in CFL Grey Cupaction in Winnipeg, MB, November 16, 2025. Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
A.J. Ouellette is far away from home, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders are close to his heart.
Hence the announcement that Ouellette, who hails from Ohio, has signed a one-year contract extension with the reigning Grey Cup champions.
“I think they knew I didn’t want to leave,” Ouellette, whose 1,222 rushing yards placed him second in the CFL last season, said during a Monday morning media conference at Mosaic Stadium.
The new contract was announced on Sunday — barely an hour before the league’s Free Agency Communications Window opened.
Ouellette waded into the free agency pool two years ago after spending his first four CFL seasons with the Toronto Argonauts. His parents, Phil and Jody of Covington, Ohio, were a six-hour drive away from Toronto.
Now Ouellette is separated from his hometown by 2,300 kilometres, but there is something magnetic about Saskatchewan.
“It’s just the way everything is run here — the front office, the support staff,” he said. “It’s a true professional feel. You’re also able to go out in the community and feel like you’re impacting someone’s life.
“I get stopped at Walmart and all that. That five-minute conversation I would have with someone who says it made their whole month, their whole year, it makes you feel good.”
The only complications can result from the prospect of a series of five-minute conversations with a popular ball-carrier who was named the Roughriders’ Wireless Age Player of the Year during the fifth championship season in franchise history.
“Sometimes I just run in there real quick, put the hoodie up, and just sprint,” Ouellette joked when asked about occasions when a shopping excursion must be abbreviated from the standpoint of practicality.
“But I enjoy those stops — and they’re not going to last forever. One day, another running back is going to step in and take my spot. A few years after that, I’ll just be a Grey Cup picture on someone’s wall.
“I’m just going to enjoy it while I have it.”
There is plenty to enjoy after a season in which Ouellette scored a team-high nine touchdowns and carried that success into November.
He rushed 17 times for 117 yards to help a Corey Mace-coached Saskatchewan squad defeat the visiting B.C. Lions 24-21 in the Western Final. Eight days later, Ouellette carried the ball 17 times for 83 yards and set up his four-yard TD run with a 32-yard reception.
As well, he contributed to airtight pass protection. Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris was not sacked in the Western Final or the 112th Grey Cup Game.
Harris was the first prominent Roughrider to sign a new contract during the off-season. His one-year extension was announced on Dec. 4.
Leading up to the free agency period and into the early stages of the Communications Window, Roughriders Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day has re-signed 21 players who were eligible to test the open market.
Moreover, All-CFL middle linebacker Jameer Thurman — who was already under contract for 2026 — extended his deal by one year.
All that activity, and more, was in advance of securing the valuable services of Ouellette for 2026.
“We had to wait for all the superstars to sign, right?” he said with a laugh.
The 39-years-young Harris started the trend and, once that was done, he was in touch with several prospective free agents, lobbying them to return.
“I love Coach Mace and the coaching staff is awesome,” Ouellette said. “The whole locker room is amazing, but the bond that me and Trevor have developed over the (past) two years and then him signing and just getting pumped that he gets to play another season of football — and possibly three more, depending on how he feels after this one — was a big reason.”
So is the desire to help Saskatchewan win back-to-back championships for the first time.
“As long as you can put work to your confidence, you’ll have a good season,” said Ouellette, who helped Toronto post a 16-2 record in 2023 after scoring two TDs in the Argonauts’ 2022 Grey Cup win at Mosaic Stadium.
“That (Toronto) team was very confident,” Ouellette recalled. “We just have to make sure we’re making the right decisions and staying on top of our work, our preparation, throughout the whole season. No matter how well the season’s going, playoffs can make a turn real quick.
“That’ll be my leadership going into this season — to have that confidence, but back it with the work like you did the previous year.
“We should be confident. We just won, right? So walk with your chest out but put in the work.”
RIDERS RE-SIGNINGS
• QB Trevor Harris (Dec. 4).
• QB Tommy Stevens (Dec. 5).
• OL Jermarcus Hardrick (Dec. 9).
• FB Albert Awachie (Dec. 9).
• LB-DB Jayden Dalke (Dec. 16).
• RB Thomas Bertrand-Hudon (Dec. 17).
• DB Jaxon Ford (Dec. 18).
• DL Caleb Sanders (Dec. 22).
• REC Samuel Emilus (Dec. 24).
• DB Tevaughn Campbell (Jan. 12).
• REC Kian Schaffer-Baker (Jan. 19).
• QB Jack Coan (Jan. 19).
• DL Lake Korte-Moore (Jan. 20).
• OL Jacob Brammer (Jan. 26).
• DB Nelson Lokombo (Jan. 27).
• DB Kerfalla Exume (Jan. 28).
• REC KeeSean Johnson (Jan. 29).
• DB DaMarcus Fields (Jan. 30).
• DL Mike Rose (Jan. 31).
• RB A.J. Ouellette (Feb. 1).
• DL Benoit Marion (Feb. 2).
• LB Aubrey Miller Jr. (Feb. 2)
Extended existing contract by one year: LB Jameer Thurman (Jan. 12).
