Photo: Wake Forest Athletics

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have added American quarterback Hank Bachmeier to their negotiation list.

The native of Murrieta, Calif. finished his collegiate career at Wake Forest University in 2024 where he completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,593 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He rookie minicamp with the San Francisco 49ers last year and also had a brief stint with the B.C. Lions in training camp.

The six-foot-one, 221-pound passer played at Boise State from 2019 to 2022 where he completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 6,605 yards, 41 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. In 2023, Bachmeier played at Louisiana Tech where he completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,058 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

In total, Bachmeier completed 63.0 percent of his passes for 11,256 yards, 67 touchdowns, and 34 interceptions over 50 collegiate games.

CFL teams can claim the rights to up to 45 players via the negotiation list on a first-come, first-served basis, provided that they are not eligible for the Canadian or Global Drafts, and have never played in the league before. These players can be added, traded, or removed from the list at any time.

Being added to a negotiation list does not mean that the player has expressed interest in the CFL, and some are unaware that their rights have even been claimed. Players can only force their removal from the list if the team does not provide them with a minimum contract offer at their request.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished first in the East Division standings in 2025 with an 11-7 record, though the team lost the East Final to the Montreal Alouettes. Bo Levi Mitchell led the CFL with 5,296 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions after starting all 18 regular-season games, earning the East Division’s nomination for Most Outstanding Player.

The Tiger-Cats ranked third in net offence, eighth in net defence, and first with a turnover differential of plus-ten. The club’s leading rusher was Greg Bell with 1,038 yards, leading receiver was Kenny Lawler with 1,443 yards, and leading tackler was Stavros Katsantonis with 69 tackles. Hamilton ranked fourth in attendance with average crowds of 22,858, which was a 3.9 percent increase from the previous year.