The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed award-winning offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick to a one-year contract extension, keeping him with the team until 2026. He was a pending free agent.
The 35-year-old was named the CFL's most outstanding forward last month, winning the award for the first time in his long career.
Hardrick led the Saskatchewan unit, which finished fourth in rushing and tied for the league in sacks allowed. Analytics firm Professional football ranked him as the best blocker in the league with a grade of 84.4. He allowed just 16 total attacks on 579 pass blocks, good for 2.9 percent.
The Batesville, Miss. native is a four-time Western Division selection and three CFL selections, including this season. He was also nominated by the Western Division for Most Outstanding Forward in 2023 for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Hardrick began his CFL career with the BC Lions in 2014. After a brief stint in Saskatchewan in 2015, he signed with Winnipeg the following season and became a fixture on the team's forward line, winning two Gray Cups. He signed with the Roughriders in 2023, becoming the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league.
In total, Hardrick played 159 CFL regular season games and won three championship rings.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders finished atop the West Division standings in 2025 with a 12-6 record, finishing first in the West Division for the first time since 2019. The team then defeated the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Gray Cup in Winnipeg, the team's first championship in 12 years. Trevor Harris went 11-5 as a starter, throwing for 4,549 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The Roughriders ranked second in net offense, second in net defense and third in turnover differential of plus eight. The club's leading rusher was AJ Ouellette with 1,222 yards, the leading receiver was KeSean Johnson with 1,159 yards, and the leading tackler was AJ Allen with 91 tackles. Saskatchewan ranked second in attendance with an average attendance of 28,427, up 2.7 per cent from the previous year.
