television star<\/a> reset the running back market on a three-year extension with his hometown team. Oliveira received a $120,000 signing bonus to re-sign with the Blue Bombers in December and will also collect $140,000 in salary and $30,000 in marketing in 2026.<\/p>\n2) RB Greg Bell, Ottawa Redblacks (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $175,000
Maximum value: $182,000<\/p>\n
The six-foot, 200-pound ball-carrier recorded his first 1,000-yard rushing season with Hamilton in 2025 and cashed in during free agency, receiving a $50,000 signing bonus to join the Redblacks. He will also earn $93,600 in salary, $15,400 in housing, $10,000 in marketing, $6,000 in travel, and up to $6,000 in awards incentives. Bell can make an additional $1,000 if he reaches 1,000 rushing yards in 2026.<\/p>\n
3) RB Dedrick Mills, Calgary Stampeders (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $173,000
Maximum value: $196,000<\/p>\n
The native of Waycross, Ga. was named All-CFL in 2025, leading to a significant raise from the Stampeders. Mills collected a $55,000 signing bonus to ink a two-year extension and will earn an additional $85,000 in salary, $15,000 in marketing, $15,000 in housing, and $3,000 in travel in 2026. He can also earn up to $17,000 in statistical incentives \u2014 including $5,000 for reaching 1,000 rushing yards \u2014 and $6,000 in awards incentives.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RPS05405-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo: Reuben Polansky\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
4) RB A.J. Ouellette, Saskatchewan Roughriders (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $153,000
Maximum value: $163,400<\/p>\n
The five-foot-eight, 208-pound ball-carrier cashed a $40,000 signing bonus in February and will earn an additional $75,000 in salary, $20,000 in marketing, $15,300 in housing, and $2,700 in travel this year. Ouellette can also make up to $5,000 in awards incentives, plus $300 each time he takes more than half the team\u2019s offensive snaps in a game.<\/p>\n
5) RB Justin Rankin, Edmonton Elks (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $141,000*
Maximum value: $144,600*<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old received a $35,000 signing bonus to agree to an extension with Edmonton in October. Though this money technically counted against the salary cap in 2025, we\u2019ve included it here to provide a fair comparison to other running backs around the league. Rankin\u2019s deal also includes $70,000 in salary, $15,000 in housing, $15,000 in marketing, $6,000 in travel, and $3,600 in playtime incentives.<\/p>\n
6) RB Javon Leake, Edmonton Elks (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $135,000
Maximum value: $140,000<\/p>\n
The former CFL Most Outstanding Special Teams Player got a $15,000 bonus to rework his deal in January. Leake will also make $89,800 in salary, $14,700 in housing, $2,000 in travel, and $1,000 in training. The native of Bronx, N.Y. will earn a $5,000 bonus when he reports to training camp and passes his physical, plus up to $5,000 in awards and performance incentives.<\/p>\n
7) RB James Butler, B.C. Lions (A)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $130,000
Maximum value: $136,000<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old set all-new career-highs in 2025, rushing for 1,213 yards and 11 touchdowns. He got a $20,000 signing bonus to ink a two-year contract extension with the Lions, and will also receive $90,000 in salary, $15,000 in housing, and $5,000 in travel. Butler can make an additional $6,000 in all-star and awards incentives.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Daniel_Adeboboye_2025_02-1600x902-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo: James Maclennan\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n
8) RB Daniel Adeboboye (N)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $120,100
Maximum value: $158,100<\/p>\n
The former second-round CFL draft pick got a $15,000 roster bonus on January 15 and will also collect $82,500 in salary, $15,600 in housing, $5,000 in marketing, and $2,000 in travel. The native of Mississauga, Ont. also has significant playtime incentives, as he\u2019ll collect $1,000 each time he plays more than half of his team\u2019s offensive snaps in a regular-season game and $10,000 if he does so at least nine times.<\/p>\n
9) FB David Dallaire, Montreal Alouettes (N)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $120,000
Maximum value: $135,000<\/p>\n
The native of Saint-Georges, Que. will earn $99,500 in salary, $15,400 in housing, and $5,000 in marketing with the Alouettes in 2026. The former second-round pick can make an additional $6,000 in awards incentives, plus $500 each time he plays more than half of Montreal\u2019s offensive snaps in a game.<\/p>\n
10) RB Ante Litre, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (N)<\/p>\n
Hard money: $110,200
Maximum value: $124,100<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old received a $7,500 offseason roster bonus in February and will make an additional $80,000 in salary, $14,700 in housing, $8,000 in marketing, and $2,500 the first time he makes the active roster. The Vancouver native can also earn $6,000 in awards incentives as well as $300 each time he plays more than half of Hamilton\u2019s offensive snaps in a game.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1125-Headshot-150x150.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https:\/\/3downnation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/3DownNation-Wordmark-v3-3.svg\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy: Graham Hughes\/CFL. The CFL\u2019s running back market has grown in recent years due in part to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,180012,241377,10485,110975,49,48,7028,521,522,520,241378,241379,95714,527,180014,180015,168937,180018,110756,241380,134,24961,63888,11337,82,5592,50407],"class_list":["post-649605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-a-j-ouellette","tag-ante-litre","tag-bonus","tag-brady-oliveira","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-daniel-adeboboye","tag-david-dallaire","tag-dedrick-mills","tag-football","tag-fullbacks","tag-greg-bell","tag-highest-paid","tag-james-butler","tag-javon-leake","tag-justin-rankin","tag-money","tag-paid","tag-running-backs","tag-salary","tag-sports","tag-ten","tag-top-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649605","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=649605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GMH106.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n