![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC06765-12-scaled.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto courtesy: Edmonton Elks.<\/p>\n
The CFL is a passing league, which means every successful team needs a solid secondary. Be it at strong-side linebacker, cornerback, halfback, or safety, ballhawks who can generate big plays and takeaways are always worth the investment.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s we\u2019re breaking down the top 10 highest-paid defensive backs in the Canadian Football League.<\/p>\n
3DownNation will be unveiling the CFL\u2019s highest-paid players from each position group over the coming days. We\u2019ve already covered quarterbacks<\/a>,\u00a0running backs<\/a>,\u00a0fullbacks<\/a>, receivers<\/a>, offensive linemen<\/a>, defensive linemen<\/a>, and linebackers.<\/p>\n \u201cHard money\u201d is a CFL term that refers to any portion of a contract that is paid even if a player is hurt. This includes base salary, signing bonuses, roster bonuses, housing allowances, travel allowances, and training allowances. Marketing money, which is officially called \u201cnon-football-related services,\u201d isn\u2019t always guaranteed, though we\u2019ve decided to include it in hard money for this series.<\/p>\n Any additional components \u2014 often referred to as \u201cplaytime\u201d or \u201cperformance incentives\u201d \u2014 are outlined in part or in full in the paragraph accompanying each player. These bonuses are often tied to how much a player sees the field, produces yardage, scores a touchdown, makes tackles, or whether or not they\u2019re named an all-star.<\/p>\n \u201cN\u201d denotes National players (ie. Canadians) and \u201cA\u201d denotes American players<\/p>\n 1) Tyrell Ford, Edmonton Elks (N)<\/p>\n Hard money: $230,000* The Niagara Falls, Ont. native received a $55,000 signing bonus in October to extend with the Elks through 2027. Though it appears these funds counted against the salary cap in 2025, we\u2019ve included them here to provide a fair comparison to other defensive backs around the league. Ford will also earn $140,000 in salary, $20,000 in marketing, $15,000 in housing, and up to $6,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n T-2) Stavros Katsantonis, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (N)<\/p>\n Hard money: $200,000 The Bakersfield Bandit got a $50,000 signing bonus to sign a three-year contract extension with the Tiger-Cats after earning his first All-CFL selection in 2025. The 29-year-old will also earn $180,580 in salary, $20,000 in marketing, $15,420 in housing, $6,000 in travel, and up to $5,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n Photo: Reuben Polansky\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n T-2) Tevaughn Campbell, Saskatchewan Roughriders (N)<\/p>\n Hard money: $200,000 The All-CFL selection and Grey Cup champion cashed a $50,000 signing bonus to return to the Roughriders for 2026. The 32-year-old will also make $121,200 in salary, $15,300 in housing, $7,500 in marketing, $6,000 in travel, and up to $5,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n 4) Adarius Pickett, Toronto Argonauts (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $190,300 The veteran strong-side linebacker got $80,000 to rejoin the Argonauts after a two-year stint with Ottawa. The three-time All-East Division selection will also collect $85,000 in salary, $15,300 in housing, $10,000 in marketing, and up to $11,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n T-5) Evan Holm, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $180,000 The 28-year-old earned his first All-CFL selection in 2025 and capitalized with a new contract that has him in the upper echelon of earners at his position. Holm has already collected a $71,700 signing bonus and will make another $80,000 in salary, $15,300 in housing, $10,000 in marketing, $3,000 in travel, and up to $6,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n T-5) Redha Kramdi, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (N)<\/p>\n Hard money: $180,000 The Montreal native got a $55,000 signing bonus to commit to Winnipeg for two more seasons, where he\u2019s the CFL\u2019s only Canadian starter at strong-side linebacker. Kramdi will also earn $94,700 in salary, $15,300 in housing, $10,000 in marketing, $5,000 in travel, and up to $5,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n 7) Deatrick Nichols, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $175,000 The three-time All-West Division selection got a $60,000 signing bonus to return for a sixth season in Bomberland. The longtime boundary halfback will also make $90,000 in salary, $15,000 in housing, $10,000 in marketing, and up to $7,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography<\/p>\n 8) Jamal Peters, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $172,500 The two-time All-CFL cornerback got a $45,000 signing bonus to commit to Steeltown for two more years. Peters will also make $100,080 in salary, $15,420 in housing, $7,000 in marketing, $5,000 in travel, and up to $5,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n 9) C.J. Reavis, Ottawa Redblacks (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $160,000 The two-time All-CFL strong-side linebacker got a $55,000 signing bonus to join Ottawa in free agency after helping Saskatchewan win the Grey Cup. The 30-year-old will also receive $77,100 in salary, $15,400 in housing, $7,500 in marketing, $5,000 in travel, and up to $6,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n 10) Rolan Milligan Jr., Saskatchewan Roughriders (A)<\/p>\n Hard money: $159,200 The league\u2019s former Most Outstanding Defensive Player collected a $39,000 signing bonus to return for a sixth season in Riderville. The 31-year-old will also earn $96,800 in salary, $15,400 in housing, $5,000 in marketing, $3,000 in travel, $6,000 in awards incentives, and an extra $100 or $200 each time he makes a special teams tackle or interception.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Maximum value: $236,000*<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $205,000<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RPS04349-2-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $205,000<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $201,300<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $186,000<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $185,000<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $182,000<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MG_3966-scaled-e1727102883775.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $177,500<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $166,000<\/p>\n
Maximum value: $165,200+<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/R_P00221-150x150.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/3downnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3DownNation-Wordmark-v3-3.svg\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks. The CFL is a passing league, which means every successful team needs a solid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[349,350,17264,15573,351,352,17265,17266,52,17267,354,17268,17269,1292,17270,17271,2935,17272,17273,17274],"class_list":["post-39655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-adarius-pickett","tag-c-j-reavis","tag-canadian","tag-cfl","tag-deatrick-nichols","tag-defensive-backs","tag-edmonton","tag-evan-holm","tag-football","tag-highest-paid","tag-jamal-peters","tag-money","tag-redha-kramdi","tag-rolan-milligan-jr","tag-salary","tag-stavros-katsantonis","tag-tevaughn-campbell","tag-tyrell-ford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}