Just days before impending free agents can enter into negotiations with CFL teams. The Argos have struck a pivotal deal re-signing free agent to be WR Kurleigh Gittens Jr. to a new three-year contract. Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed as of press time.
The All-Star Canadian wideout was on the verge of testing the open market. However, the Boatmen’s brass wisely averted a bidding war by rewarding their homegrown star with a new pact that will keep KG2 in the Six through the 2025 season.
Gittens Jr, 25, is the second Canadian draft pick; the Double Blue have re-signed in the last few weeks. Recently, Toronto came to terms on a two-year deal with Grey Cup hero, defensive linemen Robbie Smith. The 2019 CFL Draft and the Wilfred Laurier football program have been very kind to the Argonauts.
The Grey Cup Champion Toronto Argonauts needed to retain Kurleigh Gittens. Born in Guyana, he moved to Canada at age seven. Gittens Jr., an Ottawa native, is the type of player CFL teams should hitch their wagon to as faces of their franchise. Gittens’ high character level, play, and national status are huge assets. And the Argonauts are showing how much they value him with this re-signing.
The Argos have several 2022 starters set to hit the open market on February 14th, with the negotiation window opening this Sunday. But very few players carry the importance that Gittens does because of his age, talents, and national status.
General Manager Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons and his brilliant staff have their work cut out for them. The Argonauts now have 19 pending free agents, and among them are superstars like LBs Henoc Muamba, Wynton McManis, and Chris Edwards. But something tells me that Pinball and the Boatmen’s brass are far from done with keeping Toronto’s championship core together.
ARGOS RE-SIGN 2022 ALL-STAR WR KURLEIGH GITTENS JR. THROUGH 2025
TORONTO – The Toronto Argonauts Football Club announced today the team had re-signed Canadian WR Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for three more years.
Gittens Jr., 25, had a spectacular 2022 campaign that saw the young receiver catch 81 passes (fifth best in the CFL) for 1,101 yards (sixth best) and five touchdowns while leading the league in yards after catch (483), on route to being named a CFL All-Star for the first time in his career. The Ottawa native was Toronto’s nominee for Most Outstanding Canadian for the second season in a row and was the East Division nominee for the award in 2022 after leading all Canadian pass catchers in receiving yards last season. The Laurier product led the Double Blue in every significant receiving category in 2022, had three 100-yard games, including a career-high 161 at Ottawa in September, and a 9-97-1 line in the Eastern Final win over Montreal. The third-round draft pick of the Boatmen in 2019 (23rd overall) has played in 44 regular season games for the club, hauling in 132 receptions for 1,716 yards and nine touchdowns.
