{"id":475433,"date":"2026-02-14T23:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/475433\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T23:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:57:13","slug":"the-2026-edmonton-elks-free-agency-re-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/475433\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Edmonton Elks Free Agency Re-cap"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the CFL legal tampering window was scheduled from February 1st, 2026, at noon, to February 10th, 2026, at noon, there was a lot of momentum in negotiations amongst all nine CFL teams.<\/p>\n

When February 10th, 2026, came to fruition, many teams announced their signings to make it official.\u00a0 However, this season, the Edmonton Elks<\/a> elected not to take the traditional route but instead to hold a live press conference on February 11th, 2026.\u00a0 With that said, the only player Edmonton announced was the newly acquired wide receiver Joe Robustelli after 8 pm EST.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here are your newly acquired Edmonton Elks<\/a> for the 2026 season:<\/p>\n

Joe Robustelli<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joe Robustelli agreed to a 1-year deal, as per sources.\u00a0 He will receive a $15,000 signing bonus and $10,000 in incentives.\u00a0 He will have a total of $116,000 in hard money in his current contract.<\/p>\n

At 6\u2019-3\u201d and 220lbs, he brings a lot of size to the Edmonton offence.\u00a0 Joe Robustelli hit a stride in his 2nd year in the CFL with Saskatchewan, in which he contributed to the Roughriders offence at clutch moments.\u00a0 With only 12 games played, he was a role player who kept the offence moving with 544 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Malik Carney<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the most sought-after players during free agency was none other than Malik Carney.<\/p>\n

Not only is he a new member of the Elks, but it is reported that the signing is a 2-year deal.\u00a0 Furthermore, Malik Carney will be the highest-paid American defensive player.\u00a0 And that pot appears to be a big one.\u00a0 Carney will receive a $150,000 signing bonus and $270,000 per season for a total of $690,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his five years in the CFL with both Hamilton and Saskatchewan, Carney has been an instrumental player on the defence.\u00a0 In 72 games played, he has engineered 146 tackles, 25 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Malik Carney will only make the defence better going into the 2026 season, as his experience speaks for itself. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Taylor Powell<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Edmonton wanted some stability in a QB2 role since releasing Tre Ford on January 30th, 2026.\u00a0 On that note, Taylor Powell departs Hamilton and joins the Elks on a 2-year deal.<\/p>\n

Depth at quarterback is hard to come by in pro football.\u00a0 Taylor Powell does have an upside with his cannon of an arm.\u00a0 If he can lower his interception count, it would be beautiful.\u00a0 Growth at the quarterback position does take time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur post-season evaluation underscored the need to secure a quarterback with a long-term outlook,\u201d Hervey said. \u201cThe position was a priority for our organization. Adding Taylor Powell to our roster reflects our commitment to that objective and strengthens our belief that we are moving in the right direction at the position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coulter Woodmansey<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Edmonton was looking for someone who could help anchor their offensive line in the mid-to-long term during free agency.\u00a0 The Elks did just that in signing former Hamilton Tiger-Cats<\/a> offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey.<\/p>\n

With the signing of Woodmansey, he becomes the highest-paid non-quarterback Canadian player with yearly earnings of $300,000 per season.\u00a0 Add $100,000 as a signing bonus, as per sources, and Woodmansey has a solid payday of $900,000 of total salary for the term of the contract.<\/p>\n

After five seasons in Steel Town, Woodmansey has been productive with 82 games under his belt.\u00a0 He has taken a tough-as-nails approach to the game in battling defensive linemen.\u00a0 While at the University of Guelph, Woodmansey started in 28 out of 32 games.\u00a0 The 6\u2019-4\u201d, 304-pound lineman will be a good problem to have in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Brendan Bordner<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It appears that the theme of the 2026 edition of Edmonton\u2019s free agency is via ex-Hamilton players.\u00a0 That trend continued with the Elks signing offensive lineman Brendan Border.\u00a0 The length of the contract is a 2-year deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are acquiring a player who understands the mental and physical preparation needed to play at a high level,\u201d Hervey said. \u201cBrendan meets the standard we\u2019ve set as an organization: tough, disciplined, and team-first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old started 29 games for the Black and Gold in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.\u00a0 He was the third-highest ranking at left tackle in 2024 via Pro Football Focus (PFF).\u00a0 Edmonton also adds another big body at 6\u2019-5\u201d and 305lbs.<\/p>\n

Jordan Murray<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Does size matter?\u00a0 I guess it does in Edmonton.\u00a0 Let me guess what you\u2019re thinking?\u00a0 Did Edmonton sign another player from Hamilton?<\/p>\n

That is correct.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edmonton agreed to terms with Jordan Murray on a 2-year deal.\u00a0 Unfortunately for Jordan Murray, he suffered a knee injury for the 2025 season.\u00a0 His playing time was limited to only 3 games, at the end of the regular season calendar.\u00a0 What he will bring is a ton of energy and depth to the Edmonton offensive line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased to welcome Jordan to the Green and Gold,\u201d Hervey said. Jordan\u2019s work ethic, versatility, and commitment to continuous improvement make him an excellent fit for our culture and the direction of our football team. His professional experience will strengthen our offensive line and elevate the overall competitiveness of our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 6\u2019-9\u201d and 320lbs, he will be a big help for protection and the running game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brendan O\u2019Leary-Orange<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After stops in Winnipeg and Hamilton, the Edmonton Elks add Canadian depth to their receiving core with the acquisition of Brendon O\u2019Leary-Orange on a 1-year deal.<\/p>\n

The Toronto-native played collegiately at the University of Nevada.\u00a0 During his stint at Nevada, he collected 61 receptions and 941 yards for 8 touchdowns over the course of 35 games.\u00a0 Since being drafted by Winnipeg in 2020 (cancelled due to COVID), he currently has lifetime statistics of 63 receptions, 1,015 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the CFL legal tampering window was scheduled from February 1st, 2026, at noon, to February 10th, 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-475433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}