The CFL’s highest-paid players: Nathan Rourke is No. 1
Like in the NFL, the list of highest-paid CFL players begins with quarterbacks. In fact, the nine largest salaries in the league belong to the nine QBs who started the season as their team’s presumptive No. 1s.
For the second year in a row, the highest-paid CFL player is Lions pivot Nathan Rourke at $684,700. The Victoria, B.C. native and Ohio alum is a two-time winner of the Jon Cornish Trophy as the NCAA’s top Canadian and was First-Team All MAC in 2019.
He’s spent some time on NFL rosters but has never registered a pass attempt (even trying out as a wide receiver with the Giants). In the CFL he was named the 2025 Most Outstanding Player and is a two-time Most-Outstanding Canadian.
Toronto’s Chad Kelly, Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly’s nephew, ranks second. The highest-paid non-quarterback is Elks offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey at $300,000. The top defensive players among the the CFL’s highest-paid players are linemen Mathieu Betts of B.C and Malik Carney of Edmonton at $270,000.
Of the Top 25 — 27 thanks to ties — only three are defensive players, Betts, Carney and Ottawa linebacker A.J. Allen ($240,000). In the offence-first CFL, that only makes sense.
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The 25 highest-paid CFL players
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | SALARY |
| 1 | Nathan Rourke, QB | B.C. | $684,700 |
| 2 | Chad Kelly, QB | TOR | $625,000 |
| 3 | Zach Collaros, QB | WPG | $550,000 |
| 4 | Vernon Adams Jr., QB | CGY | $500,000 |
| 5 | Bo Levi Mitchell, QB | HAM | $485,300 |
| 6 | Trevor Harris, QB | SSK | $455,300 |
| 7 | Davis Alexander, QB | MTL | $404,000 |
| 8 | Cody Fajardo, QB | EDM | $395,500 |
| 9 | Dru Brown, QB | OTT | $321,000 |
| 10 | Coulter Woodmansey, OL | EDM | $300,000 |
| 11 | Brady Oliveira, RB | WPG | $290,000 |
| 12 | Keon Hatcher Sr., REC | B.C. | $287,500 |
| T-13 | Dakoda Shepley, OL | TOR | $285,000 |
| T-13 | Samuel Emilus, REC | SSK | $285,000 |
| T-13 | Ryan Hunter, OL | TOR | $285,000 |
| 16 | Tyson Philpot, REC | MTL | $275,000 |
| T-17 | Mathieu Betts, DL | B.C. | $270,000 |
| T-17 | Malik Carney, DL | EDM | $270,000 |
| 19 | Kenny Lawler, REC | HAM | $263,700 |
| 20 | Justin McInnis, REC | B.C. | $255,000 |
| T-21 | Drew Desjarlais, OL | OTT | $250,000 |
| T-21 | Logan Ferland, OL | SSK | $250,000 |
| T-21 | Jarell Broxton, OL | WPG | $250,000 |
| T-24 | A.J. Allen, LB | OTT | $240,000 |
| T-24 | Pier-Olivier Lestage, OL | MTL | $240,000 |
| T-24 | Zack Williams, OL | CGY | $240,000 |
| T-24 | Nic Demski, REC | WPG | $240,000 |
*Thanks to the good folks at 3DownNation for their dogged reporting on these salaries.
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| Feature image courtesy THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Dunsmoor. |
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