‘Just a genetics thing’: Kaidon Salter following in footsteps of cousin Casey Printers with B.C. Lions

Photo courtesy: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions

Kaidon Salter is expected to make his first career start for the B.C. Lions on Thursday, but he won’t be the first member of his family to take the helm for the franchise.

“A lot of people don’t know, but Casey Printers — he used to play here — that’s one of my cousins,” the 23-year-old quarterback revealed on Monday. “He talked to me over the weekend; he was telling me just be prepared. Time’s moving fast, and he was telling me a little bit about the CFL and everything that he’s done here. I’m just grateful, very privileged, and I’m just ready for the opportunity if my number is called.”

Printers is one of the most fascinating and divisive signal-callers in the history of the Lions. The native of DeSoto, Tex., first joined the team in 2003, but rose to stardom the following season after starter Dave Dickenson went down with an injury. He threw for 5,088 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in relief, while rushing for 469 yards and nine majors. That earned him the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award, though he was eventually benched in favour of Dickenson ahead of B.C.’s loss in the 92nd Grey Cup.

The quarterback controversy between Dickenson and Printers continued throughout the 2005 season, with the latter seeing limited time due to injury. The following season, Printers signed with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.

Salter wasn’t aware of his connection to the franchise’s one-time all-star pivot when he signed with the Lions, but learned of it in the midst of team meetings.

“The dude was a legend. I honestly didn’t recognize that he played here until we was in the quarterbacks room talking, and coach brought up Casey Printers. I’m like, ‘Hold up,'” he chuckled. “So I text my Pops. I’m like, ‘Isn’t Casey Printers my cousin?’ Cause I haven’t spoken to him in a minute. He’s my cousin on my mom’s side. They all went to school together and stuff. But yeah, he was a legend up here, and just very privileged to be able to come up here and try to do some of the things that he’s done.”

After his unsuccessful NFL stint, Printers returned to Canada midway through the 2007 season, signing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He eventually made his way back to Vancouver in 2009 and spent parts of another two seasons with the team, but never recaptured his former glory.

Printers was released in October 2010, having thrown for 11,647 yards, 64 touchdowns, and 38 interceptions in 92 career CFL games. He also rushed for 1,467 yards and 19 touchdowns. While it is widely accepted that a mercurial temperament, rather than a lack of talent, contributed to his downfall, time has allowed the 45-year-old to mature in his perspective and pass on advice to the next generation.

“He was just telling me how fast things can go and how fast things can happen. He was telling me that I’m capable of playing in this league. Just telling me I need to stay in the film room, stay communicating with my team, stay with the coaches, just build the bond with the team, build the relationships that need to be built out here, and just keep working,” Salter said. “Just be that leader that the team needs, and be that player that brings those big playmaking abilities to the offensive side of the ball.”

Salter had his first taste of live CFL action in Saturday’s loss to the Toronto Argonauts, coming off the bench with six minutes remaining. He made an instant impression, completing nine-of-fifteen pass attempts for 121 yards and rushing four times for 12 yards. That appears to have earned him the rare opportunity to start as a rookie, as reigning M.O.P. Nathan Rourke continues to work his way back from a left shoulder injury.

The six-foot-one, 200-pound athletic QB completed his collegiate career at the University of Colorado in 2025, replacing Shedeur Sanders as the team’s starter. He went 3-6, completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,414 yards, 10 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 356 yards and five scores.

Salter spent the previous four seasons of his collegiate career at Liberty University, where he went 23-6 as a starter and was named first-team All-Conference USA, the Conference USA MVP, and the Conference USA Championship Game MVP in 2023. The native of Dallas, Tex., completed 58.7 percent of his passes with the Flames for 5,889 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions, and rushed for 2,006 yards and 21 scores.

Not unlike his famous cousin, Salter has been criticized for a lack of consistency. The physical tools of either player have never been questioned.

“(Casey’s) most definitely a bigger body than me, and he most definitely has a strong arm. But overall, I feel like I’ve got that strong arm with him too, and we’re both able to run, dual-threat abilities, get the ball out, and probably can both throw the ball almost 80 yards down the field. It’s just a genetics thing,” Salter said.

“Me and him are probably the only two quarterbacks in our family. My dad played linebacker. I’ve got a little brother that plays linebacker at Colorado. My big brother played linebacker. I’m the only offensive side of the ball in the family. Just a big privilege knowing that I had a cousin that played up here and made his name up here, and I can come do the same.”

The Lions hope that Salter won’t need to see the field quite as much as Printers did in 2004, but a similar result in the short term would serve them well as they hope to salvage their waning Grey Cup hopes.

The B.C. Lions (1-5) will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-3) at Princess Auto Stadium on Thursday, July 30, with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The Lions lost a one-sided game to the Toronto Argonauts last week, while the Blue Bombers suffered a blowout defeat to the Calgary Stampeders.

The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of 30 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 730 CKNW (English) or Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 (Punjabi) in Vancouver or 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.