Photo courtesy: Paul Yates/B.C. Lions
The B.C. Lions have signed Canadian kicker Sean Whyte to a one-year contract extension.
The White Rock, B.C., native returns for his ninth season with the Lions and 19th overall in the CFL after connecting on 39-of-41 field goal attempts last year, setting a new career high at 95.1 percent. As a result, he was named West Division All-CFL for the third straight season.
Whyte enters 2026 as the CFL’s all-time leader in field goal accuracy at 88.8 per cent, having made good on 557 of 627 attempts across 241 regular-season games. His 2,282 career points and 557 field goals are both good for ninth on the CFL’s all-time list.
The 40-year-old joined the Lions as a territorial exemption in 2007 after playing in the Canadian Junior Football League with the Surrey Rams. He later spent time with the Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks, before returning to B.C. in 2022. He is a three-time West Division all-star, one-time East Division all-star, two-time All-CFL selection, and two-time finalist for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player.
With 828 points in his Lions career, Whyte sits third on the club’s all-time scoring list behind only Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Lui Passaglia and Paul McCallum.
The B.C. Lions finished second in the West Division standings in 2025 with an 11-7 record and beat the Calgary Stampeders in the West Semi-Final before losing the West Final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Nathan Rourke threw for 5,290 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions over 16 regular-season starts, posting an 11-5 record. He was also named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.
The Lions ranked first in net offence, fourth in net defence, and sixth with a turnover differential of minus-four. James Butler rushed for 1,213 yards, Keon Hatcher led the CFL with 1,688 receiving yards, and Micah Awe led the league with 117 tackles. B.C. finished third in attendance with average crowds of 27,124, which was a 0.9 percent increase from the previous year.