There will be a major change under centre for the 2013 Eastern Division Champion Hamilton Tiger-Cats have agreed to terms with free agent quarterback Zach Collaros. The move likely means that Henry Burris, who led the Ti-Cats to a berth in the 101st Grey Cup will be allowed to leave in free agency. He is expected to sign with Winnipeg.
Collaros was originally scheduled to become a free agent on February 15, 2014, but the Toronto Argonauts released the University of Cincinnati product a day early in order to allow him to pursue his options and to see if he would get a starter’s job so they could have a better handle on the future of their own backup quarterback position prior to the February 15th opening of CFL free agency.
Collaros, 25, played in 14 games last year for the Toronto Argonauts, as the backup to Ricky Ray. He completed 190-of-287 passes (66.2 per cent) and threw for 2,316 yards with 14 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also ran 59 times for 246 yards and five touchdowns. He started seven games when Ray was injured, going 5-2 for the Argos, including a mid-season four-game road winning streak.
Collaros will compete with Dan LeFervour and Jeremiah Masoli in a situational quarterback rotation for the Tiger-Cats.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were also interested in Collaros, but he choose to go to Hamilton. Instead it is expected the Blue Bombers will sign the 38-year-old Burris who was the starter for Hamilton in that rotation last season. Burris threw for over 10,000 yards in his two seasons with the Tiger-Cats, putting up the best and third-best seasons of his career.
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