A multi-award winner is committed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for multiple seasons.
Defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr. recently signed a one-year contract extension, ensuring he will be a Roughrider through 2026.
Milligan Jr. is coming off a spectacular season in which he was named the CFL team’s Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
As a capper, he was recognized as the league’s top defensive player.
The new contract quickly became big news on Friday — one year to the day after his previous extension, through 2025, had been announced.
“I just felt like I deserved a larger contract after the season that I had, to be honest — knowing that if I asked for that and they added another year, I was fine with that,” Milligan Jr., 30, said from his home in Lake Wales, Fla.
“It wasn’t a necessity, really, but the fact that they were open to doing it lets you know what they think about you.”
Milligan Jr. was an automatic pick for All-CFL honours in 2024 after registering a league-leading eight interceptions in 16 regular-season games. As well, he finished third in the league in special teams tackles (20).
He added another pick in the Western Semi-Final, helping Saskatchewan defeat the visiting B.C. Lions 28-19 and earn a berth in the division championship game.
Since November, he has had some down time to reflect on his accomplishments, along with those of the Corey Mace-coached team.
“I’ve thought about it,” Milligan Jr. said. “With the accolades and the publicity that comes with it, it’s hard not to.
“At the end of it all, we still didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve. The biggest thing I think about now is the West Final loss. It’s just always, ‘We didn’t do well enough.’
“No matter what my personal accolades were, we didn’t do well enough to get to the Grey Cup and then win the Grey Cup.
“Obviously, I’m thankful that I received the award, but that wasn’t the end goal.”
The primary objective is to play a key role in bringing a championship to Saskatchewan.
“It’s always the same every season,” he said. “You always want to win the Grey Cup. If you’re a competitor and you don’t achieve that goal, that’s what pushes you going into the next season.
“Obviously, everybody has personal goals, but you always want to win the Grey Cup every year. That’s not a goal that I’ve achieved yet and I want to achieve that this coming season.”
Attainment of that goal would be extra-special because of the affinity Milligan Jr. has developed for Saskatchewan.
“Part of it was the similarity to home, as far as Regina being more of a laid-back city than some of the other cities in Canada,” he said.
“The fan base in Saskatchewan and throughout the rest of the country is amazing, with the support that we get during the season and in the off-season.
“Now, just having Coach Mace come in with his staff, it has been great for my personal development as a player.
“I had my best season since I’ve been up here and, really, throughout the entirety of my career.”
There haven’t been many comparable seasons in franchise history.
Only two other Saskatchewan players have won three team awards in the same season.
Safety Ken McEachern was named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Canadian in 1979 and 1980.
Thereafter, a Roughrider didn’t register a hat trick until 2015, when linebacker Jeff Knox Jr. was the Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Rookie.
Milligan Jr. went one step further, becoming only the third Roughrider to be celebrated as the league’s premier defensive player — following linemen Jearld Baylis (1993) and John Chick (2009) — since that award was first presented in 1974.
Over the last half-century, only two defensive backs have won the award. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Jovon Johnson (2011) stood alone among DBs until he was joined by Milligan Jr. in 2024.
Milligan Jr. was deployed as a linebacker when he made his debut with the Roughriders after signing with the team on Oct. 23, 2021. His previous time in the pro football ranks was spent in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys (2016), Detroit Lions (2017-18) and Indianapolis Colts (2018-20).
In 2021, he was activated for Saskatchewan’s regular-season finale and made an immediate impression — to the extent that he took part in both playoff games as a newcomer to the Roughriders.
“I really didn’t know what to expect, to be honest,” said Milligan Jr., who moved to the secondary in 2022.
“Before I got the call from my agent saying that the Riders were interested, I’d never really watched CFL football. I knew about a couple of teams, but I didn’t know much about the league at all.
“Fast forward to now. I’m about to start my fifth season. It has been a blessing.”
