TORONTO — The CFL’s top-rushing Canadian is returning for another season.
Andrew Harris has agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Toronto Argonauts, according to a league source. The 35-year-old running back was slated to become a free agent Tuesday.
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity as the Argos didn’t immediately confirm the extension. CFL teams have been able to speak with pending free agents since Sunday.
The five-foot-10, 216-pound Harris ran for 490 yards on 114 carries (4.3-yard average) while adding 23 catches for 180 yards in eight regular-season games last season, his first with Toronto. Harris suffered a torn pectoral muscle in mid-August and was expected to miss the remainder of schedule, but returned in time for the Argos’ 34-27 East Division final win over the Montreal Alouettes.
Harris and the Argos capped their season with a 24-23 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Harris’s former team. The Winnipeg native ran for 97 yards and a TD on 19 carries in Toronto’s two playoff games.
Following the Grey Cup win, Harris admitted he’d consider retirement in the off-season, but now will return for a 13th CFL campaign.
Harris helped the Bombers win Grey Cup titles in 2019 and 2021. He also earned a CFL championship in 2011 with the B.C. Lions.
Harris has registered five career 1,000-yard seasons and is the top-rushing Canadian in league history with 10,151 yards on 1,903 carries (5.3-yard average) for 51 TDs. He also has 599 all-time catches for 5,403 yards and 32 touchdowns in 184 career regular-season games.
Also on Friday, Harris was named head of football operations for the Vancouver Island Raiders, a junior football franchise in Nanaimo, B.C. The club also announced Harris would become head coach in 2024.
Before embarking on his CFL career, Harris was a player with the Raiders. He led the club to three national championships (2006, 2008-09).
In 2009, he received the Wally Buono Award as the country’s top junior performer while also being on the Lions’ practice roster.
Toronto has also agreed to terms with defensive end Folarin Orimolade, according to another CFL source, on a two-year deal. The 27-year-old American had 37 tackles, six sacks, a forced fumble and interception-return TD in 17 regular-season games last year with Calgary, where he won a Grey Cup with in 2018.
In 34 career regular-season games with the Stampeders, Orimolade had 52 tackles, 11 special-teams tackles, 10 sacks, one interception and three forced fumbles.
Under terms of the CFL’s negotiating window, pending free agents have until noon ET on Sunday to entertain offers from other clubs.
Those proposals — including base salary and incentives — must be registered with the league and CFL Players’ Association. Any submissions made will be considered binding.
When the window closes, teams will have 48 hours to negotiate exclusively with their own potential free agents. The CFL will provide clubs with registered offers that have been made to those players.
Teams will then have until 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday to make an offer to their own players, of which a copy must given to both the league and CFLPA.
Following the 48-hour period, the player will have two hours (10 a.m.-noon ET) on Tuesday to select any offer made to him. If he accepts one, the chosen team must then inform the CFL.
Should the player turn down all offers, he’ll enter free agency Tuesday at 12:01 p.m. ET. Any prior offers will be no longer be available.
Also on Friday, the Saskatchewan Roughriders signed American offensive lineman Eric Lofton. The six-foot-four, 293-pound Lofton spent last season with Winnipeg, making one start.
Lofton also spent time with the Ottawa Redblacks (2017-18).
Veteran Canadian defensive lineman Ted Laurent, meanwhile, signed an extension with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The six-foot-one, 299-pound Laurent returns for a 12th CFL season and ninth with the Ticats.
Laurent had nine tackles (one for a loss), two sacks and a forced fumble in 18 games (17 regular season, one playoffs) last season with Hamilton. The 35-year-old has appeared in 155 career regular-season games, registering 221 tackles (23 for loss), 50 sacks and eight forced fumbles.
Hamilton also released American defensive back Cariel Brooks. The five-foot-10, 200-pound Brooks spent five seasons with the Ticats, registering 205 tackles, two special-teams tackles, two sacks, 12 interceptions and four forced fumbles in 70 career regular-season contests.
The Lions signed defensive lineman Woody Baron to a one-year contract extension through 2024. The veteran American would’ve become a free agent after the 2023 season.
The six-foot-one, 270-pound Baron had seven tackles and a sack in six regular-season games following an ankle injury.
Long-snapper Pierre-Luc Caron of the Alouettes announced his retirement Friday.
The 29-year-old from Laval, Que., appeared in 97 regular-season games over six seasons with Montreal and Calgary, winning a Grey Cup with the Stampeders in 2018. He’ll now work as an air traffic controller.
Receiver Mitchell Picton, a Regina native, signed a two-year contract extension with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Picton was eligible to become a free agent Tuesday.
The six-foot-two, 200-pound Picton had 18 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns in 11 regular-season games in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2023.
