Quarterback or not, Roughriders a perfect fit for Lavoie

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have stabilized their receiving corps for the 2019 season, announcing Monday they had signed Canadian receiver Patrick Lavoie to a two-year contract extension.

The seven-year CFL vet will now be with the team through the end of the 2020 season.

He joined the Roughriders last October as part of a trade with the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for receiver Joshua Stanford and a draft pick.

Through three games with Saskatchewan, Lavoie caught 10 passes for 79 yards.

As a dependable, Canadian pass-catcher, he said he was curious which quarterback would be throwing him the ball in 2019.

“I asked that question quite a lot,” he said with a laugh. “We had the exit meetings after the (western semi-final) game against Winnipeg, and they said, ‘ah, we’ll see. We don’t know yet.'”

Despite the uncertainty under centre for next year — quarterbacks Zach Collaros and Brandon Bridge are set to enter free agency in February, and they haven’t re-signed with the club — Lavoie said the team is in a good spot to build around its current group of players.

“The game plan should be to not change in Saskatchewan; the game plan is to go all the way to the Grey Cup, even if … we’ll see what happens with the quarterback, let’s put it that way. We’ll see what happens with the quarterback,” he said.

When he first arrived in Regina in October, the Saint-Flavie, Que. native said Saskatchewan is the furthest west he had ever lived.

It didn’t take long for him to warm up to the idea of staying in Regina long term.

“It’s a nice city for me, and when they (the Roughriders) started the negotiations, they put my family first,” he said.

When the team approached him about extending his stay, it was a no-brainer.

“It just opened the door, and I said, ‘yeah, let’s go. When you know, let us know.’ For me it was perfect.”

Lavoie was originally selected by the Alouettes in the second round of the 2012 CFL draft.

He’s played in two Grey Cups, winning one in 2016 with the Ottawa Redblacks.

– With files from 980 CJME’s Jamie Nye