New ownership, new president, new stadium...old QB? Argos bring back Ricky Ray

For much of 2015, it looked like Ricky Ray's time with the Toronto Argonauts was coming to an end. The Argos landed Ray in December 2011 and he proved key to their 2012 Grey Cup championship, but a series of injuries caused him to miss plenty of time in 2013 and 2014, and he missed most of the start of this season recovering from shoulder surgery. His absence this season paved the way for the emergence of younger quarterback Trevor Harris, and with Ray a pending free agent and the Argonauts themselves going through major changes, it looked like he might be heading elsewhere this offseason. That held true even after he started down the stretch and in their playoff game. That's not the case, though, as TSN's Gary Lawless reported Thursday that Ray has signed a new two-year deal:

Curtis Rush of The Toronto Star added confirmation later:

It's interesting that the Argos have decided to keep the 36-year-old Ray around, especially with the 29-year-old Harris also an option. However, this doesn't necessarily mean Ray will start, and this doesn't necessarily mean Harris is headed out. Lawless added that Ray's deal is low enough the team may be able to bring back Harris as well:

It makes sense that Ray is willing to take less than top-of-the-league money on this new deal, as he's been hurt so frequently over the last couple of years. There also isn't really a huge group of teams looking for starting quarterbacks. (In fact, there might not even be any looking to make a starting QB change, and there are plenty of intriguing potential free agents if teams do decide to do that.) Thus, there weren't a ton of options for him, and he probably also has a certain level of comfort in Toronto and in Scott Milanovich's offence at this point. Still, it's interesting that the Argos went out and locked up Ray before securing Harris or adding another quarterback. If this contract's at a low enough level, that may be a good move that at least provides them with a reliable backup; if not, though, this could wind up handicapping them.

The big question is going to be if Ray will be the starter in 2016. That really depends on who else the Argos sign. The most likely scenario seems like a competition in training camp, regardless of if it's Harris who comes back or another interesting quarterback who's a pending free agent like Montreal's Dan LeFevour, Hamilton's Jeremiah Masoli or Winnipeg's Matt Nichols. However, it's also possible that Toronto has guaranteed Ray the starting job (in which case, they'd likely sign a less-prominent backup) or that they'll guarantee someone else the starting job and have Ray as the backup. We'll see how it plays out. All we know for now is that Ray's time in an Argonauts' uniform isn't over just yet.