Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography
Canadian Stavros Katsantonis has become the first CFL safety to hit $200,000 in three-down league history.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats paid Katsantonis a $50,000 signing bonus to ink his three-year contract extension. He has a $108,580 base salary, $20,000 in marketing money, $15,420 in housing, and a $6,000 travel allowance to equal $200,000 in hard money. The 29-year-old also has $5,000 available in all-star and award incentives, which can take his maximum earnings to $205,000 in 2026.
No. 30’s possible compensation increases to $210,000 for 2027 and $215,000 in 2028, with $205,000 and $210,000 in hard money, respectively, each year. His agreement was negotiated by Montreal-based agent Fred Weinrauch. He was the 10th-highest paid defensive back in 2025 and earned a $60,000-plus raise from last year.
Katsantonis started 17 regular-season games and one playoff game for the Ticats in 2025. He set single-season career highs with 69 tackles and six interceptions, tied for first in the CFL, along with three special teams tackles. The five-foot-eight, 188-pound defensive back was named a league all-star for his efforts.
Through 81 career CFL games, Katsantonis has registered 200 defensive tackles, 29 special teams stops, 12 interceptions, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and scored one defensive touchdown. He’s developed into an elite playmaker in the secondary for Hamilton.
The Bakersfield, Cal., native was selected in the fourth round, 36th overall, during the 2020 CFL Draft by the Ticats and earned the team’s Most Outstanding Canadian award in 2023.
Katsantonis was a three-time first-team All-Canadian coming out of the University of British Columbia. He won a Vanier Cup with the Thunderbirds in 2015 and earned the Bruce Coulter Award as the Canadian university national championship game’s defensive MVP.