Bo Levi Mitchell announces return to Hamilton Tiger-Cats for 2027

Photo: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography / 3DownNation. All rights reserved.

After a season derailed by injury, franchise quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is returning to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2027.

“I’m very excited to announce that I’m coming back and make sure everybody understands that, especially season ticket holders,” Mitchell told in-house Tiger-Cats reporter Steve Milton on Tuesday. “Get those things renewed!”

The 36-year-old got off to a strong start this year, completing 78.2 percent of his passes for 1,107 yards, nine touchdowns, and one interception over four games.

The native of Katy, Texas was carted off the field on July 5 during Hamilton’s 14-13 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He soon underwent surgery, and vowed to return to the field as soon as possible.

The Tiger-Cats soon made it clear that Mitchell would be out long-term, and could miss the rest of the year. Recently, head coach Scott Milanovich officially ruled Mitchell out for the rest of the regular-season. Hamilton was eliminated from playoff contention this past week.

Mitchell is technically a pending free agent, though it seems like contract negotiations are a mere formality at this point.

“I’m looking forward to (returning next year),” said Mitchell. “My family’s excited about it, I’m excited about it. I knew, the moment I went down (I’d play again). My wife was in the ambulance, we were holding hands and just talking and we said, ‘We’re not going out like this,’ so we’re excited. I’m sure there will be some cool, fun announcements happening soon.

“It was a tough (injury) to happen. Obviously, I think we all felt the season was going great. Personally, I felt awesome. As you get older, you kind of worry about how your body’s going to react to training camp and everything, but I felt so good, and my arm felt so good. And I think we were moving the ball really well and feeling amazing. So, when it comes out of nowhere, it’s always a tough one as we all kind of felt in the stadium that day.”

Mitchell indicated that he’s doing well in his recovery, as he’s back to playing weight and is capable of throwing, jogging, shuffling, and dropping.

The six-foot-one, 210-pound passer is a two-time Grey Cup champion, two-time Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, two-time All-CFL selection, two-time CFL passing leader, and two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player.

Over 211 career regular-season games, he has thrown for 45,426 yards, 271 touchdowns, and 129 interceptions, and rushed 212 times for 1,049 yards and 14 scores.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-11) will visit the Ottawa Redblacks (0-14) on Friday, October 2 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Tiger-Cats were eliminated from playoff contention following last week’s loss to Edmonton, while the Redblacks continued their winless season against Calgary.

The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton or TSN 1200 in Ottawa.