MONTREAL – Dear Alouettes fans, be patient because you will not know who will be the club’s starting quarterback in 2025 anytime soon.
On Tuesday, general manager Danny Maciocia and head coach Jason Maas took stock of their 2024 season. However, only one subject caught the attention: who, Cody Fajardo or Davis Alexander, will be the man to lead the attack next year?
The first is under contract for another year, while the second could become a free agent this winter. Both were clear during their meeting with Alouettes management and in front of the media on Monday that they want the ball.
• Also read: Alouettes: Fajardo does not want to be pushed towards the exit
“You can’t have two quarterbacks who receive a starting quarterback salary,” the Alouettes GM repeated several times.
Concretely, two starting salaries would represent expenses ranging from $700,000 to $800,000. That’s about half the payroll of a CFL team. Maciocia will never spend that on two players, one of whom will be confined to the sidelines.
For Fajardo and Alexander to both be members of the ‘Als in 2025, the veteran will have to take a salary reduction to allow the younger one to sign a more lucrative contract. However, it won’t tell us who will be on the field and it could also create division in the locker room. This avenue therefore seems quite utopian.
Not on the same wavelength?
Faced with the thorny question, Maciocia and Maas did not reveal which side they leaned towards.
“With Jason, we will have the discussion. It’s not going to take 20 minutes or be done in a day. It will be intense and we will go into details before arriving at a decision,” indicated the general director.
It could very well be that the two men are not of the same opinion. Asked if he would be of the same opinion as Maciocia if the next season started tomorrow morning, Maas was not able to comment.
“I can’t answer that question. If I had a gun to my head and were asked to choose between the two, I don’t know who I would choose. Both are good.”
On the other hand, the head coach continued by talking about Fajardo.
“We have one under contract and the other not. I’ve worked with Cody for five years and I know what he’s capable of. We’re going to have to sit down and decide what direction we want the organization to go.”
Before joining the Alouettes, Maas and Fajardo worked together for three years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Losing an investment
On Maciocia’s side, we felt he would be disappointed to see Alexander lead the offense of another CFL team.
The GM hired the 26-year-old pivot in 2022 and has always been very complimentary of Alexander, even when the latter occupied the position of third quarter of the team.
Maciocia also spoke about the age of the two candidates.
“I will not hide that this factor has an impact. He [Alexander] at seven years younger, he is less magané. Also, don’t forget that we identified him when he played at Portland State University. We invested three years in him.”
“We know he has good potential and he’s in our court.”
“We also have to remember that we also have a quarterback who has a lot of experience in Cody. He knows how to win matches,” Maciocia was quick to add.
Will the general manager choose the project that is clearly close to his heart to the detriment of the established quarterback who allowed him to lift the Gray Cup? Will Maas be determined to continue his association with his faithful accomplice or will he be convinced to try the young stallion?
We will definitely have answers by February and who knows, maybe even before.
