EXCLUSIVE: Cody Fajardo contract details for 2026 CFL season with Edmonton Elks

Courtesy: James Maclennan/CFL.

Cody Fajardo stated his contract would rank in the lower end among starting CFL quarterbacks, and the numbers back him up.

The six-foot-one, 215-pound QB receives a $190,000 signing bonus to ink his one-year extension with the Elks. He has a $135,080 base salary, $35,000 in marketing money, a $20,000 travel allowance, and $15,420 in housing to equal $395,500 in hard money.

Fajardo also has $52,000 available in incentives, which can take his maximum earnings to $447,500 in 2026. There’s $1,111.11 per game ($20,000 total) for making the active roster, a $10,000 bonus if he reaches 4,300 all-purpose yards, a $10,000 bonus if he reaches 25 touchdowns, a $7,000 bonus if he finishes top-four in CFL passing yards, and a $5,000 bonus if he’s named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player.

The 33-year-old earned $180,000 in hard money as a backup in 2025, plus $46,000 in bonus cash once he took the field to make his final total $226,000. After he accepted a $200,000-plus pay cut last offseason, No. 7 has a chance to earn it back and then some entering 2026 as the unquestioned starter in Edmonton.

When Fajardo was QB1 in Montreal, he earned over $400,000 in 2023 and 2024. He used his financial details from those seasons for negotiations with general manager Ed Hervey, as the Alouettes were able to win the 110th Grey Cup and produce the CFL’s best record (12-5-1) the following year.

Fajardo ranks behind B.C.’s Nathan Rourke, Toronto’s Chad Kelly, Winnipeg’s Zach Collaros, Calgary’s Vernon Adams Jr., Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell, Ottawa’s Dru Brown and Saskatchewan’s Trevor Harris among starting quarterbacks for financial compensation in 2026. His highest-earning season came in 2022, when he made $481,000 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

During 13 starts for the Elks last season, Fajardo compiled a 6-7 win-loss record. He infused veteran energy and leadership into the team following a 1-4 start under Canadian QB Tre Ford. The six-foot-one, 215-pound pivot completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 3,408 yards with 14 touchdowns versus seven interceptions and ran 55 times for 319 yards plus seven majors.

Fajardo has completed 71.3 percent of his passes for 21,406 yards with 97 touchdowns against 59 interceptions during his nine-year CFL career while producing a 49-36-1 win-loss-tie record in the regular season. He’s rushed 551 times for 2,810 yards, 5.1 per carry, and 48 majors.

Edmonton finished fifth in the West Division standings in 2025 with a 7-11 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Fajardo started the team’s final 13 regular-season games and went 6-7, throwing for 3,408 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Tre Ford started the first five, going 1-4, and threw for 984 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions.

The Elks ranked ninth in net offence, ninth in net defence, and fifth with a turnover differential of plus-four. The team’s leading rusher was Justin Rankin with 1,013 yards, the leading receiver was Kaion Julien-Grant with 820 yards, and the leading tackler was Joel Dublanko with 80 tackles. Edmonton finished seventh in attendance with average crowds of 19,050, which was a 7.1 percent decrease from the previous year.