Heartbreak: The greatest BC Lions player of all time has terminated his contract to sign a new contract.
Heartbreak: The greatest BC Lions player of all time has terminated his contract to sign a new contract.
The BC Lions have locked up one of their linebackers for the upcoming two seasons, continuing their aim on holding onto important depth players.
The organization announced on Thursday that global linebacker Maxime Rouyer has extended his contract for two more years, through the 2025 season.
Rouyer attended McGill University, where he participated in athletics from 2015 to 2018. In 23 games, he totaled 103 tackles and 4.5 sacks.
In the 2019 European CFL Draft, Edmonton selected Rouyer with the fourth overall pick. During his two seasons with the Elks, he participated in 18 games and recorded four special teams tackles.
Rouyer signed a contract with the European Football League’s Panthers Wroclaw in 2022. With 89 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and three fumble recoveries at the end of the season, he scored a touchdown on one in return.
Later in the 2022 season, Rouyer re-entered the CFL after signing with the BC Lions. After making seven appearances in 12 games that year and forcing one fumble, he concluded the 2023 campaign with a career-high seven total tackles in 12 games.
The Lions finished with an overall record of 12-6; however, they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Final for the second straight year.
The BC Lions had one of the strongest linebacking corpses in the CFL in 2023, but it might not be possible to retain that great squad for the upcoming season.
The issue confronting co-general managers Neil McEvoy and Rick Campbell is that American Josh Woods and Canadian Ben Hladik’s contracts are about to expire. After completing the last year of their respective rookie contracts, both players may be eligible for significant wage increases.
Since his selection in the third round of the 2021 CFL Draft, the 24-year-old Hladik has been a happy tale for the organization, enabling the Lions to retain the ratio of Canadians in both traditional linebacker positions. The Vernon, British Columbia, native assumed the starting position as middle linebacker halfway through the 2022 campaign.
In his first full season as a starter, the six-foot-four, 235-pound defender had a historic season. He added five sacks and an interception and became just the fourth Canadian in CFL history to record 100 defensive tackles. Given that the highest-paid Canadians at the position made over $130,000 last season, that ought to be sufficient to land him one of the biggest contracts for a linebacker in the league.
But the middle linebacker position is no longer considered to be as valuable as it once was, so the Lions will be cautious about overpaying in an area where numbers are frequently inflated. The luxury of a succession plan has been made possible by strong drafting, and the team has great expectations for Ryder Varga, a third-round pick in 2022 who was nominated for Most Outstanding Rookie.
It is thought that the former Regina Ram, who was named U Sports’ best defensive player in 2022 and won the President’s Trophy, is already following a similar path to Hladik and might become a starter right away for a significantly lower cost. However, considering the progress of the American Woods, who is a free agent, a ratio move at the position is tantalizingly plausible due to depth elsewhere on the team.
