It is the news Rider Nation has been waiting for.

The team is announcing they have signed quarterback Cody Fajardo to a two-year contract extension which will keep him with the team through the 2021 season.

Fajardo came to the Riders as a free agent in February and was pressed into duty as the starting quarterback after the first series of the year when Zach Collaros was injured on June 13 in Hamilton,

Since taking over as the starter, Fajardo has thrown for 3,873 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 610 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He is glad to have some football security under his belt and welcomes the chance to continue his career in a place he has grown to love.

“It’s good to be at a place where you’re wanted, as opposed to just liked,” Fajardo said. “I feel wanted here and that’s really big for me and my family. When my father had the opportunity to come up here and my wife had the opportunity to come up here, they said, ‘This is the city. This is it. This is where we want to be.”

GM Jeremy O’Day is glad to get this deal done saying it was something they wanted to do before the season was over.

“We feel good about him, we didn’t feel like we wanted to wait, we felt the timing was right as far as giving him the ability to not have to think about it any more and just focusing on football,” O’Day said.

Now that he knows he is going to continue wearing a Riders uniform, Fajardo says the goal is simple.

“The number one goal is to win a Grey Cup,” Fajardo said. “We’re not worried about 2020 or 2021. We’re worried about 2019.”

While terms of the deal were not announced, both TSN’s Farhan Lalji and 3 Down Nation’s Justin Dunk are reporting the deal is worth $450,000.

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620 CKRM’s Derek Taylor speaks with Cody Fajardo