Courtesy: Edmonton Elks

After the 2025 Edmonton Elks season ended, Cody Fajardo estimated his chances of retiring were 75 percent, versus only 25 percent coming back.

The 33-year-old was offered an offensive analyst job with his alma mater, the University of Nevada, which would have provided a smooth transition from playing professional football. The opportunity would also have given him the chance to be at home with his family more as he called it one of his “dreams jobs.”

“It was more of a prove-it kind of deal, but these coaches now in college football they get paid pretty good money. It was nothing near starting quarterback money in the CFL, but it was something that definitely intrigued me,” Fajardo said.

The last couple weeks of the CFL schedule were hard on his Fajardo’s wife, Laura, as she was in Reno, Nevada working as a physical therapist and taking care of the couple’s two sons, three-year-old Luca and one-year-old Cian. Following locker clean out day, the proud father wondered what he was doing missing the “golden years” in his children’s lives while failing to quality for the CFL playoffs. Those thoughts led to a two-week vacation for the Fajardos in late November.

“We took some time away and spent some time with the family. We wanted to see what life would look like with football and without football. You only have so many years to play football and I can coach for 50 years until I’m 60, 70, 80 years old, but you can only play for so long. That was something we talked about. Another year for my kids to see me play football now that they’re a little older, a little more in tune to things and can remember some things,” Fajardo said.

“You watch two of basically your exes in the Grey Cup with Sask and Montreal, that’ll light a fire under you. Saskatchewan, a team that in my opinion we could have beat twice in a year, but we beat ’em once at home. You beat a Grey Cup-winning team, it goes to show that you’re not as far off as you think you are, even though we missed the playoffs. That gave me hope about the team.”

The six-foot-one, 215-pound pivot considered retirement as he did following his 2022 season with the Roughriders. At that time, he was still young and wanted to prove he could be a championship quarterback in the CFL.

Fajardo accomplished his goal in 2023 with the Alouettes, giving an impassioned speech leading into the 110th Grey Cup in Hamilton. The result was a game-winning touchdown pass to Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot with Fajardo winning MVP honours.

One of the deciding factors for Fajardo in his return was the goal of becoming the QB to lead Edmonton back to the postseason for the first time since 2019. He signed what he termed a “team-friendly” contract with the Elks for 2026 and wants to be playing meaningful football in late October and November.

“That would make any money that I missed out on contract-wise well worth it, making the playoffs. That’s the goal and competing for a Grey cup. That was our vision when we talked and we went through negotiations,” Fajardo said.

The Brea, California native negotiated his own contract with Edmonton general manager Ed Hervey, as he also did last year when working out restructured financial details after being acquired via trade from Montreal. He used his old agreement from the 2023 season with the Alouettes and the Roughriders’ compensation with Trevor Harris from 2025 as his main comparables. Those contracts stuck out to Fajardo, even though he knows the salary cap has increased, because Grey Cups were able to be won.

“I want to gain the experience of going into the negotiation room with the GM. My goal when I’m done playing football, I would love to be a GM one day, whether it’s for a college team or in the CFL or somehow, some way be a general manager. The only way you can get that experience is by doing it yourself. For me, it was if I feel valued with this contract, why not say yes,” Fajardo said.

“When you see the numbers come out, it’ll be in the lower end of the starting quarterbacks. But like I said, a playoff team is going to be way more important than any dollar figure for me personally because that’s where I’m at in my career. If I was 26 years old, I’d tell you straight up, it’s all about the money. I’m established in my life. I know exactly what our expenses are monthly, I figured out what we needed to be comfortable and we got that deal done, so I wasn’t trying to be greedy.”

Fajardo admitted contract conversations with Hervey were “tough” to have as a player while also being frustrated and stressed at times. He believes both parties stayed professional and he respected the way Hervey handled his business. There were no face-to-face negotiations, however, the two had a three-hour exit meeting at the team’s facility prior to No. 7 returning to his offseason home in Reno.

“I think the team compromised, I compromised, and usually you get a good deal when nobody feels great about the deal. That means both parties usually did a good deal. I felt like I left some money on the table without an agent,” Fajardo said.

“We came up with numbers that felt good for me. Sometimes when you have an agent, the agent wants to push for more money because it gets more money in their pocket. When you sign for a starting quarterback salary, it’s a little bit better than what I had last year as a backup.”

Hervey and Fajardo did discuss a possible two-year contract, but the franchise QB felt “it made sense” to focus on a one-year pact. That does not take 2027 off the table as it can be negotiated at anytime through the year or after the season.

The Edmonton Elks 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 club’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.