Tiger-Cats re-sign 'dual-threat' QB Jeremiah Masoli for 2 years
San Francisco native was top CFL pivot in passing, rushing yards after Sept. 4
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats re-signed quarterback Jeremiah Masoli on Thursday, one day after trading Zach Collaros to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Masoli went 6-4 in 10 starts after replacing Collaros as the starter when June Jones took over as head coach. Masoli registered 249 completions on 391 pass attempts for 3,177 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Masoli was scheduled to become a free agent next month. He said while pondered waiting to see what the open market would bear, the Ticats' appointing Jones as their full-time head coach factored in his decision to stay put.
"It's a business decision you have to think about," Masoli said. "It was important to me to see coach June back here as the head coach.
"Obviously we all know what he did last year in taking over . . . and that was one of the big key factors. On top of that I've been here for a while, we've got a really good core of guys that really care and really want to win and I just want to be a part of that and part of something special."
In five seasons with the Ticats, the 29-year-old native of San Francisco has passed for 6,325 yards, rushed for 771 yards and posted 45 touchdowns
Hamilton finished out of the playoffs last season at 6-12-0.
Moving Collaros to Regina for a 2018 second-round draft pick shed salary for the Ticats and added to their stockpile of draft choices. It also gave the club additional financial resources to retain Masoli.
The Ticats also have former NCAA star QB Johnny Manziel on their negotiation list, with a green light from the CFL to sign him.