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Now is the time for the obligatory reference to the fact that Burris is really old by pro football standards and will turn 42 in the first week of training camp in June. Yes, he’s still under contract, but so is 31-year-old Trevor Harris, who is due a much larger salary than Burris and who signed with the Redblacks as a free agent in February with the stated intention that he would become starter in 2017.

Of course, those declarations were made before Burris tore ligaments in a pinky finger in the 2016 season opener, before Harris hurt his right knee and ankle four games later, before Burris returned to action prematurely and struggled, before Harris again became the starter, before Burris came off the bench against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in October and led a rally that earned him the No. 1 job again, before Burris led the Redblacks on a post-season run culminating in Ottawa’s first CFL championship since the Rough Riders’ last Grey Cup title in 1976.

January also fits with the Redblacks’ preferred timeline given that free agency starts Feb. 14. If they’re to make an aggressive pitch for another quarterback, as they did by signing of Harris last off-season, that would be the time.

Everything will flow from the post-rehabilitation assessment of that left knee, then discussions with family and the Redblacks.

“It’s one of those things where, if the future is something different, I want to go ahead and get it started right away, whereas, if it’s not, I definitely want to come to the team and start those talks as soon as possible,” he said.