Ticats sign QB Collaros

Zach Collaros was released by the Argonauts Wednesday. On Thursday, he was signed by the Tiger-Cats. The Ticats also announced that they have released veteran Henry Burris after two seasons with the black and gold.

The Ticats signed Collaros to a 3-year deal, believed to be in the 250-thousand dollars a season range. They are banking that the 25-year old Collaros, who will be introduced Friday, can help them take the next step, to a championship. It’s a gamble. Collaros has started only 8 games in his 2 years in the CFL; all 8 coming last season and 7 of them when Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros was 5-2 in the games he started and finished. He appeared in 14 games in total last year, passing for more than 23-hundred yards, 14 TDs, 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 246 yards and 5 TD’s.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were also in the running for Collaros, and now that they have lost out, they are expected to turn their attention to Henry Burris. The Bombers need to be competitive, and competitive now. The 38-year old Burris could help them be that. Burris would have been eligible for free agency on February 15th, but with his release he’s available now. And a report from Montreal, suggests the Alouettes could be interested as well. Statistically speaking, Burris had two of the best seasons of his career with the Ticats, passing for more than 10-thousand yards and 67 TD’s, and he did help get the Ticats to the Grey Cup game. The Zach Collaros news conference is scheduled for friday. He’s 6 feet tall, 215 pounds. Ticats Head Coach and GM Kent Austin says Collaros has a great future in front of him. They like his leadership skills and character. We saw that on display last season when he he filled in for an injured Ray. He led the Argos to 4 consecutive wins on the road. The Ticats now have 5 quarterbacks on the roster; Collaros, Dan Lefevour, Jeremiah Masoli, Brian Brohm and Stephen McGee.