Photo: Reuben Polansky/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Edmonton Elks have officially signed defensive lineman Malik Carney to a two-year contract, which makes him the three-down league’s highest-paid American defensive player. 3DownNation reported the agreement during the negotiation window.

Per sources, Carney received a $150,000 signing bonus to ink the deal, which is worth $270,000 in hard money for 2026 and 2027. That totals $540,000 in hard money over the two-year term. He becomes the highest-paid American defensive player in the CFL’s salary cap era. The contract was negotiated by veteran agent Rob Fry.

The six-foot-three, 230-pound defender recorded a single-season career-high eight sacks in 2025, helping the Saskatchewan Roughriders win the 112th Grey Cup. He also made 39 tackles and one forced fumble in 18 regular-season games, then added five tackles and two tackles for loss in the West Final and Grey Cup.

The 30-year-old has played five years in the CFL with Saskatchewan and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, registering 146 defensive tackles, 25 sacks, five special teams stops, four forced fumbles, and one interception in 72 career regular-season games.

Pending CFL free agents were able to communicate with teams around the league from February 1 to 8, during which time contracts could be negotiated and agreed upon but not signed. Starting Tuesday, February 10 at noon EST, players can officially change teams.

Edmonton finished fifth in the West Division standings in 2025 with a 7-11 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Cody Fajardo started the team’s final 13 regular-season games and went 6-7, throwing for 3,408 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Tre Ford started the first five, going 1-4, and threw for 984 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions.

The Elks ranked ninth in net offence, ninth in net defence, and fifth with a turnover differential of plus-four. The team’s leading rusher was Justin Rankin with 1,013 yards, leading receiver was Kaion Julien-Grant with 820 yards, and leading tackler was Joel Dublanko with 80 tackles. Edmonton finished seventh in attendance with average crowds of 19,050, which was a 7.1 percent decrease from the previous year.