By Sunday, Brandon "Speedy" Banks should be medically cleared for unrestricted workouts on his way back to full football condition.

But to which city that way back will lead is still very much up in the air.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats' standout wide receiver, who was enjoying a season for the ages before he broke his clavicle during the third-last game of the season, qualifies for free agency in mid-February.

And, he makes it clear that he's after a contract that he says should reflect what he has done here over the past year and a half and what he figures he can do in the future.

"Of course I want to come back to Hamilton," Banks told The Spectator from Raleigh, N.C. "The last few years it was not as much about the money, but this year it's different. I'm getting older and don't have as much time left to play.

"I know I got hurt, but I still finished among the top receivers in the league. I'm my own agent. It'll be a tough year for discussions."

With a CFL freeze on signing bonuses, and a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players still far in the distance, it's anticipated there will be a much slower pace of free-agent signings and re-signings.

But there will be exceptions for must-have players. On Tuesday, for instance, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers re-upped middle linebacker Adam Bighill, the league's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, to a three-year deal worth $750,000.

Banks, 31, says he has had some conversations with the Ticats but no negotiations yet.

The team doesn't discuss contract talks but Banks and middle linebacker Larry Dean (who must love the Bighill deal) are clearly right at the top of the Ticats' priority list for re-signing their own potential free agents. He is the receiving linchpin of June Jones' stretch offence and, as such, might be worth more to the Ticats than to some other CFL teams.

In 2016, according to reports at the time, Banks — then a part-time wide receiver, but primarily an electrifying, game-changing returner — made $140,000 with a substantial signing bonus, but came into the 2017 season with his contract reworked downward from its original $165,000.

But after June Jones made him an everyday receiver for the final 10 games of that season, Banks rapidly ascended into the league's upper echelon of pass-catchers. From Labour Day 2017 until the day he broke his clavicle, Banks and Jeremiah Masoli had combined for nearly 600 more passing yards than any other receiver-quarterback duo in the league.

It's believed Banks made $140,000 on a one-year deal he signed in January 2018, and he wants to hike well north of that for 2019 and beyond.

In 10 of Banks' 14 games last season he recorded 100 or more receiving yards, eclipsing Tony Champion's franchise record of eight, and he finished with 94 receptions for 1,423 yards. His 11 touchdown receptions tied Luke Tasker and Edmonton's Duke Williams atop the league. Even missing four games, he finished as the CFL's second-leading receiver and already had eight catches for 133 yards when he broke his clavicle early in the fourth quarter of the Ticats' 35-31 loss in Ottawa.

Banks said he has fully recovered from his broken clavicle, taking local rehab with the approval of the Ticats. The final restriction — reaching over his head to catch thrown balls — is scheduled to be removed Jan. 20.

If the Ticats can get him under contract, he'll reunite with fellow speedster Jalen Saunders, who tore his ACL on Labour Day, and was re-signed in December.

"Having Jalen back is definitely a plus for the team," Banks said. "I'd like to play with him again. (Defences) have to pay attention to him and that complements me, Luke Tasker, and the other guys.

"I want to be back, but I'm going to be upfront about this: I just want to be compensated."

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Notes: Kiana Steinauer had 33 points and 31 rebounds for Southern Connecticut against Concordia in December and made Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" with just the second 30-30 in NCAA Division II history. Her father, Ticat coach Orlondo Steinauer, was featured in "Faces in the Crowd" for a multiple-interception game for Western Washington in the mid-1990s ... as anticipated for several weeks, the Ticats released starting tackle Ryker Mathews early so he could sign with the NFL's New England Patriots, where he could end up as a guard.

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec