The dust has settled on CFL free agency, providing a view for what the 2025 season might have in store.
It has been nearly four months since we last ranked the CFL’s nine franchises at the end of the 2024 regular season and a lot has changed since the Argos rode backup Nick Arbuckle and an opportunistic defence to an upset Grey Cup victory. Three teams appointed new general managers, two installed new head coaches, and more than 100 players have found new homes for the upcoming season. That has created seismic shifts in the way virtually every team is viewed.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having twelve contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter — yes, we still call it “Twitter” — for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Saskatchewan Roughriders (-)
We can already hear the accusations of pandering to Rider Nation from fans across the league, but the reality is Saskatchewan didn’t need to do a lot in free agency to climb our rankings. The culture created in Corey Mace’s outstanding first season as head coach made sure virtually every player of importance was re-signed, including veteran difference-makers Jameer Thurman, Micah Johnson, and Marcus Sayles. Add in a couple notable former NFLers in Shane Ray and Tevaughn Campbell, plus a perennial all-star defensive tackle like Mike Rose, and a fearsome defence got even more intimidating. The additions of Sean McEwen and Philippe Gagnon will help shore up the offensive line in front of Trevor Harris regardless of how they employ the ratio and losing the 38-year-old for any stretch of time is less intimidating with Jake Maier as the backup. All things considered, this has felt like the off-season of a serious contender ready to take the next step.
2) Montreal Alouettes (-)
For a team that led the CFL’s regular-season standings last season, the Alouettes lost shockingly few pieces this off-season and even fewer that they didn’t already have ready-made replacements for. The big dice roll was moving on from Cody Fajardo in favour of up-and-comer Davis Alexander but the addition of McLeod Bethel-Thompson provides a brilliant safety net if the gamble goes belly up. That seems unlikely given that virtually anyone could have success throwing to a healthy Tyson Philpot and Austin Mack. Noel Thorpe’s defence remains virtually unchanged on the back end, but the additions of Josh Archibald and Shawn Oakman to the pass rush could be two of the most underrated signings of the year — especially since Shawn Lemon isn’t walking through the door anytime soon.
3) Ottawa Redblacks (-)
After ending their playoff drought last season, the Redblacks have made a number of moves in the months since that signal they’ll be a serious contender. The additions of defensive coordinator Will Fields and special teams coordinator Rick Campbell to the coaching staff will take a load off of Bob Dyce’s mind, while putting Eugene Lewis with Justin Hardy and Kalil Pimpleton has the potential to create offensive fireworks not seen since their last Grey Cup win. Bralon Addison will no longer need to take snaps at running back with William Stanback, Daniel Adeboboye, and a healthy Devonte Williams vying for touches, while Peter Godber provides an upgrade at centre. It will be a solution by committee in the team’s beleaguered secondary with four sneaky free-agent additions, but Adarius Pickett should be back healthy and can elevate everything around him.
4) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (-)
You can’t ever count out the Bombers but it’s hard not to feel like their brutal Grey Cup loss sewed up their era of dominance tighter than Zach Collaros’ stitches. Since falling in Vancouver, they’ve lost some of the most important parts of their scouting staff, promoted a coach with no play-calling experience to offensive coordinator, and been priced out on several of their key free agents, most notably receiver Kenny Lawler. Being able to retain Dalton Schoen takes some of the sting out of those departures and Kyle Walters has done a good job of filling holes on the cheap with players like Dillon Mitchell, Reggie White Jr., and Jerreth Sterns, but this is still a changing of the guard. For confirmation, look no further than the hole in the middle of the defence where — for better or for worse — Adam Bighill will no longer be standing.
5) Edmonton Elks (-)
There isn’t much use arguing who the off-season winners have been this year, but our voters aren’t ready to crown the Elks champions quite yet. From the hiring of franchise legend Chris Morris as president to the repatriation of general manager Ed Hervey and the hiring of homegrown head coach Mark Kilam, the Green and Gold have laid an exciting foundation. That has only been intensified by a lavish free-agent spending spree that landed them arguably the best defensive line in the league led by Jake Ceresna and a boatload of ratio-breaking Canadians like Tyrell Ford and Robbie Smith. Not everyone has been left feeling warm and fuzzy by Hervey’s management style and there are still questions to be answered after running virtually the entire receiving corps out of town. However, so long as Tre Ford rises to the occasion as an undisputed starter, the main thing holding this team back will be the time needed for 13 new starters to gel into a cohesive unit.
6) Toronto Argonauts (-)
No team has been more thoroughly brutalized this off-season than the reigning Grey Cup champions, with almost no position left unscathed. Among the Argos’ losses were five impact members of the Toronto Sack Exchange, their best defensive back in DaShaun Amos, their best receiver in Makai Polk, and arguably the league’s best offensive lineman in Dejon Allen. In classic John Murphy fashion, the team has found value additions in free agency to plug some of those gaps, including a couple of ex-Rider defensive linemen in Anthony Lanier II and Bryan Cox Jr., and improved their ratio at weak-side linebacker by trading for Cameron Judge and Ryder Varga. Still, they’ll need some major rookie contributions to not experience a drop-off. Fortunately, they’ll be more stable at quarterback with Chad Kelly potentially healthy in time for training camp.
7) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-)
Burlington native Ted Goveia had an understanding about the Ticats’ league-leading Grey Cup drought when he was hired as general manager and has made some ambitious moves in order to solve their plight. That included poaching seven players from the Bombers with the goal of creating a new culture and making Kenny Lawler the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback. As exciting as it is to imagine Bo Levi Mitchell throwing to a receiving group including Lawler, Tim White, Shemar Bridges, Kiondre Smith, and Drew Wolitarsky, the team’s bigger issues last year were on defence and there is still work to be done there. New coordinator Brent Monson should have fun playing with DaShaun Amos and Reggie Stubblefield in the secondary, but the release of Brandon Barlow makes an already shallow defensive line a massive question mark that’s impossible to overlook.
8) B.C. Lions (-)
The Leos acted dramatically and decisively in the aftermath of a West Semi-Final loss, firing Rick Campbell, promoting Ryan Rigmaiden to GM, and installing Buck Pierce as head coach. Gone is the quarterback controversy of last season, with Vernon Adams Jr. shipped out of town and Nathan Rourke made the undisputed starter at a slightly reduced price tag. Even so, the high salaries of Canadian stars like Rourke, Mathieu Betts, and Justin McInnis prompted the release of all-star receiver Alexander Hollins and forced them to show the door to long-standing veterans like T.J. Lee and Sukh Chungh. A blockbuster trade for former Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Dejon Allen will undoubtedly improve the team’s protection, but our voters aren’t convinced they’ve gotten better anywhere else.
9) Calgary Stampeders (-)
The Stampeders look dramatically different than they did a year ago, most importantly at the quarterback position where Vernon Adams Jr. might provide the league’s most dramatic upgrade over Jake Maier. But after years of declining performance, a disastrous 2024 season, and an off-season of shots fired in their direction, the perception of the team can only change so much while Dave Dickenson remains at the top of the organizational flow chart with multiple titles. The head coach and general manager scapegoated two of his most well-respected assistants and promised big roster changes, but managed only whimpers aside from a trade for star pass rusher Folarin Orimolade. With all due respect to Dominique Rhymes, Damon Webb, and Tevin Jones, the fans were expecting more and the situation has only gotten worse due to the sudden release of Demerio Houston.
