The 2024 season is in the books and it’s almost time to turn the calendar to 2025.
With celebrations getting set to begin, here is a New Year’s resolution for every CFL team.
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TORONTO ARGONAUTS
RESOLUTION: To not get too arrogant.
In 2023, as defending champs, Toronto waltzed through the regular season with a 16-2 record only to be whipped in a home playoff game and some of that result just might have come from the team feeling a li’l bit pleased with themselves. “That was some front-runner bulls**t,” one Alouette sneered when asked about Toronto’s dramatic fall from grace against Montreal in the Eastern Final.
Two Grey Cup wins in three seasons – both victories against the team considered to be the gold standard – could lead a crew to feel a little big for their britches.
Resolve to guard against that.
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
RESOLUTION: To add a dash or two of spice.
Trusting the process is a great thing and it has been key to the Bombers becoming the CFL’s model of winning consistency over the last half decade.
But if you measure success by Grey Cup wins, losing three in a row is a sour way to go and if the methodical, humbly dutiful nature of the team is somehow standing in their way against fired up, more renegade-like opponents, then maybe 2025 ought to be about adding a little more colour to the style guide.
Get a little freaky.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES
RESOLUTION: To follow another Argonaut example.
After cruising through the 2023 season and seemingly on their way to a second-straight Grey Cup championship, the Argos, as previously mentioned, got upset in the Eastern Final by the upstart Als, who got red hot at the right time.
The Alouettes spent much of 2024 being ‘the team most likely to’ as they charted a course to a repeat of their own.
But lo and behold, they too suffered a heartbreaking, home field Eastern Final loss last season.
It was to the Argonauts, who bounced back from disappointment to regain the throne.
And that last part is the Argo example the Alouettes can resolve to follow in 2025.
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
RESOLUTION: To give up streaking.
In 2024 the Riders started hot but then lost six in a row from Week 8 to Week 14, with a tie sprinkled in there as well.
In 2023, the team suffered seven successive losses to close the season after OK Tire Labour Day Weekend. In 2022? Same thing with seven straight losses to wind up the year.
In 2025, the Roughriders need to resolve to not let losses linger and then multiply.
BC LIONS
RESOLUTION: To eliminate the drama.
2024 was a season that got away from a team that got out of the gates in tremendously good fashion. With a 5-1 record, the Leos seemed poised to be the favourites to win the West, which would’ve put them one win away from appearing in a hometown Grey Cup.
Soon after, quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. went down with a knee injury and while he was healing, the Lions brought back Nathan Rourke and gave him the starter’s job for the rest of the regular season.
A tough situation to navigate, emotionally, that was.
With Adams now in Calgary, the Lions can resolve to not be derailed by any kind of drama in 2025.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
RESOLUTION: To focus on the backfield.
The REDBLACKS were ninth in CFL rushing in 2024, averaging 83.7 yards per game. They suffered a terrible blow when running back Devonte Williams – a thousand-yard rusher in 2023 – suffered a season-ending Achilles injury before training camp even started.
Hopefully, Williams is back and full speed in 2025 but even if he isn’t, it would be a good idea for the REDBLACKS to have a strong ground game in place.
Quarterback Dru Brown had a good season even though opponents knew he’d be throwing, throwing, throwing. How good could he be with a 1,000-yard rusher to hand off to?
EDMONTON ELKS
RESOLUTION: To stop being so gracious.
The Elks have lost quite a number of games over the last two seasons by turning in very good efforts that got blown up by them making head-scratchingly bad mistakes at the most inopportune times.
Turnovers. Penalties. Whatever. If it could hurt them they found a way.
At home last season, the Elks went 3-6 and that was a banner year in comparison to previous seasons, especially when you consider they ended a 22-game home losing streak in August of 2023.
In 2025, resolve to stop being so magnanimous, you Elks. Be jerks.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
RESOLUTION: To stop digging holes.
Enough of the slow starts. They’re beyond aggravating for Hamilton fans and to be honest, now have gotten kinda boring to everyone else. (Pause for Argo fans to exclaim “not to me!”)
Oh-and-five to start 2024. Oh-and-three in 2023. Oh-and-four in 2022.
Same resolution that they’ve been breaking for the last three years. Don’t break it in 2025.
CALGARY STAMPEDERS
RESOLUTION: To open the wallet in February.
It’s been remarkable to see how the Stampeders went for so long replenishing the talent they’d lost in free agency by recruiting new
blood so damn well.
But with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. re-working his contract in order to make it more cap-friendly to the Stamps, it’d be nice to see Calgary do some real, knock-your-socks-off raiding in free agency this year.
Lord knows they’ve spent plenty of time over the last decade being raided.