At the end of the 2017 CFL season, many around Rider Nation expected the Saskatchewan Roughriders to lose star receiver, and sometimes defensive back, Duron Carter to the National Football League.

That didn’t happen however as the Riders announced on Monday that they have reached a one-year contract extension with Carter that will keep him in Riderville for the 2018 season.

The biggest reason he’s staying, a feeling of unfinished business from the 2017 season.

“I’ve always wanted to win a Grey Cup and given the best opportunity right now, the Roughriders have a chance,” said Carter over a conference call on Monday. “We had a lot of fun last year with all our receivers and we’re adding more pieces and it’s going to be a great year.”

Carter was scheduled to become a free agent next month and attracted some NFL interest, but he decided that Saskatchewan was where he wanted to be.

“(NFL teams) wanted me to come work out and I wasn’t in the workout mood, everybody’s seen my tape and I didn’t feel it was necessary for me to workout,” said Carter on the decision to forgo a jump to the NFL.

“I just wanted to take care of my body and I knew that I wanted to be back in Saskatchewan and started to talking with Coach Jones about my position on the team and where I’d be and he had some good stuff to say.” 

Carter’s first season with the Riders was the best of his career as he led the team with 1,043 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, both of which were career-highs as well, on his way to being named the team’s Most Outstanding Player.

Riders’ general manager and head coach Chris Jones said the new deal didn’t take too much work to get done.

“Duron and I are close and we had a good dinner, I got to meet some folks that he’s close with and got to explain exactly what we’re trying to do, what we’re trying to get accomplished and he wanted to be a part of it,” said Jones.

The one-year extension gives Carter some flexibility to pursue an NFL opportunity next season, if one comes up that interests the 26-year-old receiver.

“The advent of being somewhere for 4-5 years, that’s not pro football in today’s world, so this is a good opportunity for Duron to come back and still be able to get a window if he wants and decides that he wants to go to the NFL,” said Jones. “Right now, he has one thing in mind and that’s winning a Grey Cup with us.

“He could have gone on the open market and got more than what we’re going to give him this year, but he wanted to be a part of what we’re doing and that’s a testament to his character and what he wants to do with us.”

While the 2017 season was Carter’s best in terms of production offensively, it was also a season in which he added another wrinkle to his game as he started one game at defensive back and played there in multiple games, picking up one interception, which he returned for a touchdown.

Jones said he’s going to let Carter explore playing both ways more during the 2018 season.

“He enjoys doing things a little differently and he’s kind of relishing the moment that he can do something that only Duron Carter can do,” said Jones.

Prior to signing with Saskatchewan last January, Carter spent three seasons with the Montreal Alouettes and jumped to the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts in 2015.