After being eliminated Saturday afternoon in the Eastern Final, the Montreal Alouettes enter the offseason facing a tough choice at quarterback.
Veteran Cody Fajardo and backup Davis Alexander split time due to injury in 2024, with the younger of the two showing signs of being a franchise guy. While Fajardo is under contract for another season, Alexander is a pending free agent. A choice between the two seems unavoidable and the biggest story this winter is whether general manager Danny Maciocia is willing to risk losing the team’s future by sticking with his 32-year-old incumbent.
“Sometimes, having two incredibly talented quarterbacks is not a good thing because it divides people. It divides fans, it divides guys in the locker room, it divides coaches,” Fajardo said in his end-of-season media availability on Monday. “I have all the faith in Coach Maas and in Danny in them making the right decision — whatever that decision is.”
Fajardo made a name for himself in his first season in Montreal, leading the team to a Grey Cup victory in 2023 and earning MVP honours in the big game. He got off to a hot start in 2024 but came back down to earth due to injuries, going 268-of-364 passing (73.6 percent) for 3,105 yards, 16 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 13 starts. He also rushed for 277 yards and three touchdowns, while posting a 7-5-1 record.
Alexander was a perfect 4-0 as the starter in relief of Fajardo, providing some of the year’s most memorable wins. He completed 105-of-151 passes (69.5 percent) for 1,347 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions while rushing for 166 yards and three majors.
The 26-year-old, who first joined the Alouettes in 2022, has blossomed in Fajardo’s shadow but doesn’t see the situation as sustainable going forward.
“We have a great relationship. I think we both understand it is a business. Whatever ends up happening, we’re gonna be there for each other,” Alexander said in an exclusive interview with 3DownNation. “I wish him (Fajardo) the best for whatever ends up happening. Maybe there is a crazy world where we end up on the same team, but it doesn’t seem likely”.
Fajardo has already met with Maciocia and says no decision has been made about his future. While he made clear that he wants to stay in Montreal, he isn’t interested in playing somewhere where there is controversy about his starting status.
“I’m fully committed to play another year. I want to be back here, I want to retire as an Alouette, I want to bring another Grey Cup to this beautiful city,” he insisted.
“However, you want to be on a team where you feel you’re the guy and you don’t feel like if you play bad in one game, all of a sudden, you’re not gonna be that guy.”
Alexander has been waiting for his opportunity for a long time and believes he has the potential to be a starting quarterback in the CFL. Nevertheless, he admits that it was challenging to handle the dynamics in Montreal this year while also going through the loss of his father mid-season.
“This was Cody’s team this year. It was a lot to balance for me. It was a hard year,” he said frankly.
It is expected that several CFL franchises will contemplate making their team Alexander’s this offseason, having firmly placed himself in the conversation for being “the next one.” The Alouettes will get the first crack at retaining the Gig Harbor, Wash. native but he feels fully in control of his destiny for the first time in his career.
“I feel like it’s more my decision,” Alexander said. “You feel that a little. There have been talks about teams wanting me, but I’m going to listen first to the organization and the people around me. It’s an exciting opportunity, and it’s my first time doing that.”
Fajardo is well aware of his backup’s stock league-wide and isn’t naive about what that means for the offseason, but also shared some words of caution.
“All I know is that his market value is extremely high right now. He played extremely well in a year where backups had to play a lot,” the former all-star said. “There are gonna be some franchises that will need a quarterback. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”
While Alexander’s future might not be determined until free agency opens in mid-February, the Alouettes will have an earlier deadline to decide whether promoting him internally is the best course of action. If they do decide to make a change, he’s not worried about the possible transition being difficult.
“I have a lot of torque in this organization,” Alexander said. “I would like to think it would be an easy transition if they were to go that way. Football is gonna keep playing no matter what.”
Maciocia and Maas are expected to address the quarterback situation when they speak to the media on Tuesday.
The post ‘Having two incredibly talented quarterbacks is not a good thing’: Alouettes’ QBs Cody Fajardo, Davis Alexander view co-existence unlikely appeared first on 3DownNation.
