The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are facing a ticking clock to decide whether they think Canadian defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo is worth top dollar in the CFL.
Talent evaluators have spent the past decade drooling over the athletic potential of the Surrey, B.C. native but the results on the field have never quite lived up to high expectations. After he notched just 15 defensive tackles and three special teams tackles in his first season in Steeltown, the Ticats could be forced to pay the 27-year-old like one of the 10 best-compensated defensive ends in the league if they don’t move on.
Kongbo is set to receive a $15,000 offseason bonus on February 1, the first component in a deal worth $163,800 in hard money next season. There is an additional $15,000 in playtime and incentive money available as well, putting the underwhelming National on par financially with what players like Winnipeg’s Jackson Jeffcoat made last year.
Hamilton paid Kongbo over $123,000 in 2023 but they didn’t negotiate his current contract. Those terms were laid out by his hometown B.C. Lions, who paid out an additional $20,000 report and pass bonus after luring him back from the NFL. That seemingly perfect marriage didn’t even survive the preseason before the highly-touted pass-rusher publicly feuded with his teammates and got shipped to the Ticats in exchange for a fourth-round CFL Draft pick.
That marked the latest chapter in what has been a circuitous football journey for Kongbo, who once earned international acclaim as the top junior college player in the 2016 recruiting class. After fielding offers from every major program in the NCAA, the six-foot-five, 256-pound defender elected to attend the University of Tennessee, where he notched 51 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions in an unremarkable tenure with the Volunteers.
After a torn ACL derailed his senior season, Kongbo was selected in the first round of the 2019 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He would ultimately spend two seasons in Manitoba, interrupted by an unsuccessful training camp stint with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, and registered 28 defensive tackles and four sacks in 24 games.
Despite never being a full-time starter for the Bombers, Kongbo again headed to the NFL in 2022, this time with the Denver Broncos. He spent the duration of that season on the team’s practice roster and was activated for three games, making just one tackle.
It is clear that the NFL window has now closed on Kongbo but the jury is still out on whether he can be a difference-maker in the three-down league. His current pattern of production suggests he could be a valuable role player for a Ticats’ team desperate to see a young Canadian pass rusher emerge, but his 2024 paycheque might as well have “for stars only” written in the memo line.
The pre-free agency bonus is one of three natural separation points built into Kongbo’s deal. Even if Hamilton pays out the $15,000, he’ll be due another $20,000 after reporting to training camp and $25,000 once he plays his first regular-season snap. That gives new general manager Ed Hervey multiple opportunities to sever ties while absorbing various amounts of dead money.
Throwing a wrench into the equation is an uncertain Ticats’ defensive line room, where there is expected to be almost complete veteran turnover. All-star defensive tackle Casey Sayles remains under contract for next season, but stalwarts Dylan Wynn, Ja’Gared Davis, and Ted Laurent are all pending free agents. So are younger players Malik Carney, Mason Bennett, and Jamal Davis II, leaving little carved-in-stone up front.
Amidst that chaos, the Ticats’ front office must determine soon if Kongbo is a foundational Canadian piece worth paying, a project worth renegotiating, or a disappointing acquisition that is better left in the past.
