EDMONTON – The Edmonton Elks have extended star defensive back Tyrell Ford through the 2027 season, the club announced Wednesday.
It’s ironic that many thought he signed with Edmonton to play with brother and that now there’s a good chance that Tre will be on another team next year.
Not impossible to believe the brothers wanted to play on the same team. Not going to assume that translates into forever or even longer than a season. A lot of family members are good with one season just so they can stoke that off their bucket list.
It sounds like Tre may be gone but I’m not convinced. It’s pretty obvious they are looking at signing Cody & that should happen soon. How much will he get? Rourke, Kelly & Collaros make 600K but I would be surprised that anyone, other than Rourke, makes 600K next year. Maybe Bo if he wins the East MOP which is likely - & they have some very cheap options behind him to up his $$$. There’s a big dropoff in salary last year from there. Harris will be signed for another year & my guess is he’s in the 500-550K range tops.
So - BC, Wpg & Toronto at the top end are looking at the 750K range devoted to the top 2 QB’s. And the salary cap goes up a bit next year. If you put aside 500K for Cody, you can keep Tre at the 257K hard money in his current deal. More likely they increase the incentives & lower the base. The question is - do they want to keep him? As a backup he’s got as much potential as anyone on the other 8 team rosters so if you let him go you better have a backup plan.
As for where does he go if they decide to trade him? Edmonton’s tendency is to trade their QB’s to the East. Ray, Maas, Franklin - heck, Ham & Damon Allen were sent East. As popular as he is with the fan base trading him to a West team & having him come back to possibly haunt you would not be a good way to appease the fan base.
Oh, yes, extending his twin brother is a very good signing.
Kelly is inked for another year. Isn’t he at or around 600k? Alexander might be another year to reach that.
Yes, Kelly is. But that doesn’t mean he’ll get that next year.
I agree with you that Alexander may be in line for that with another year under his belt. But he has to stay healthy. IMO Dru Brown is in the same boat health wise & Ottawa may well be re-evaluating him this coming year.
There goes my prediction that the brothers were off to Wpg for the ‘26 season, with Tre replacing the retired ZC as the starter.
Still don’t see Tre in Edm next year. Only question is if Edm will trade him or release him. Could he be in Ott or Tor next year? Argos might be moving on from Kelly. Wpg needs a starter if ZC retires. Cal should consider one too if the Leos zip them by 30+ points on Saturday. If the Riders win the cup, does Harris retire and go out a winner? If so, how about Tre as one of he contenders for the starter’s job?
When and where do the Philpot boys become teammates? I predict in Montreal in ‘27.
Edmonton can bring back Steven Jyles! 
Why not? I hear Joe Papao is heading back to BC to mentor Nathan & provide backup. And Drew Willy @ 38 has expressed interest in replacing the 37 year old Zach. He dropped out after COVID but the good news is there is no wear in tear on his arm the past 4 years. 
I would be surprised if Tre Ford is back. The coach clearly has moved on from him. Aside from the famous “Tre Ford has a future in the CFL” remark by Kilam, it was said again by Kilam that he wants Cody back. After that he said if Tre Ford is back “then so be it”. Why would Tre Ford think he has any future here other than a bench warmer when a coach, GM and even Cody suggested a change of scenery could be a good thing for Tre Ford? At least if he goes elsewhere he has the possibility of working himself back up to a starter or playing if the starter is injured. I think he’s already in the process of moving his family back to Ontario. At least that’s what one of the 880 Ched guys said.
don’t fool youe self unless Kelly cant walk or he’s in a wheelchair he will be the Argos QB for many years to come they will not move away from him .you can take that to the bank. the Argos should be in the playoffs the offense played well enough to win more than 5 games but because the let most of the defense walk. that’s what stop them from not being in the playoffs i hope they correct it next season go Argossssssssssssss
Also it is surprising they extended Tyrell Ford so quickly. I do wonder as someone said whether he was made an offer he couldn’t refuse or has bought in. I think it’s likely both and the EE could have wanted to get this done quickly for continuity, but it also doesn’t hurt for some damage control with fans upset over the Tre Ford issue. They need to show they are treating players well as lots of back lash about Tre Ford. As it is they are likely in for trouble trying to sell the fan base on a Fajardo/Maksymic offense likely.
Okay. Sounds reasonable. If the Argos did part ways with Kelly, he wouldn’t be out of work for long. I’ll scratch Tre as a possible Argo.
Why would they have trouble “trying to sell the fan base on a Fajardo/Maksymic offense?” They were pretty effective and only a few pieces away from being potent.
Edm dug itself in a deep hole losing all those games with Tre at the helm. Unless the Elks intend to acquire Rourke in the offseason, they’d be nutz to let Fajardo walk. Gotta move on from Tre. Elks need to win now to appease the fans and Fajardo is better positioned to do that than Ford. Elks save big money by trading or cutting Ford. Ford needs a new start elsewhere.
With a few personnel changes and better health, the Elks could well challenge for top spot in the CFL West in ‘26. There’s a lot of talent there. A bad start sunk them as it gave them no margin for error once they got rolling.
We can agree or disagree. And, I do agree that there are clear signals from both Hervey & Kilam that they are prepared to step away from Tre. BUT Hervey has already talked to Tre & had a good interview with him. Interesting that he would take him aside w/o dealing with Fajardo yet. Also interesting that on the heels of speaking with Tre the news comes out that Tyrell has extended. My guess is the conversation wasn’t “we’re moving on from you”, rather this is where we’re headed & there may be a fit IF……..
So, here’s some considerations.
You can read a lot of things into what Kilam & Hervey said. But they may be quite willing to keep him in a restructured contract with the carrot if he doesn’t play much this year, he gets released from his contract a year early. IOW a lower deal for one year. It’s unlikely he gets a guarantee from any other team as a starter. And Kilam also mentioned that Tre has benefitted from Cody’s mentoring & that it may require being a backup for a few years like the other veterans in the CFL - Zach, Harris, Cody, Adams etc etc etc.
Let me ask you this question as an EE fan. If Tre & Ed sit down & agree to a restructured contract are you going to be upset because the Elks could get a better backup option? If so, who do you think that is?
No, I won’t be upset at all if Ed Hervey and Tre Ford agree to a restructured contract. There are no better back-up options. There are at this point no better starter options either which is why the EE will go with Cody Fajardo. I just hope if there is a restructured contract and Tre Ford stays that there is going to be a dual QB system here. Like the old days. If one QB was not getting it done and clearly some games Fajardo wasn’t they won’t hesitate to bring Tre Ford into a game at least. There were times that Tre Ford could have come into some games after the benching. Creating a spark can go both ways. I agree with much of your post.
As I said before, the change had to be made because the team was in a freefall, hopefully next year they will start out better so we can see what Tre can do with a better team in front of him. If we keep both guys we will have one of the best 1-2 punches in the league.
The offense has become very boring and predictable this season. It seems the OC goes into a game with his “system” or plan and seems unable to make any adjustments needed. Too one dimensional. Teams always know what we are going to do. I guess the EE feels next year we will be winners with this same duo. I’m not so sure. Tre Ford didn’t have the benefit of a better defense at the start. Nor did the offense seem to average more points with Fajardo and he had the benefit of Hilaire who has been good and O’Donnell as well. When we needed to absolutely win we couldn’t do it. So I’m not sure why fans wouldn’t be guarded. The EE should have been looking for a very heavy passing QB and some “superstar” receivers if they want to stay with this same OC. He may improve a bit next year with a game managing type like Fajardo in all season, but then again may not. You still need a different mind to be successful going that route. Just my opinion and I know I’m not alone. Lots of our football group who are long time season ticket holders don’t feel we will be successful with Fajardo/Maksymic.
Exactly. Your defense didn’t wake up until all those high priced players on defense went down to injury. The offense was neither here nor there more effective but it did seem better organized. Effective matters more than sexy.
So now that you know all those rookie backups on defense can play, where do you guys go from here? You have outstanding depth and rotation if you hang on to everyone or do you trade to beef up in other areas?
Hervey did say he has faith in all the defense, but does need to address other areas. I just hope if we do end up moving to the younger guys that they can continue to show they can do it. We need some changes to the OLine and as well we could use a veteran receiver. There was talk that some veterans on defense may take less money because they want to stay in Edmonton. So perhaps some of the adjustments can be accomplished without shedding as many players as some may think.