Contract year pressure pushing Jevon Cottoy to new heights with B.C. Lions

Photo courtesy: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions

Money might talk, but Jevon Cottoy hopes it also listens.

The B.C. Lions’ imposing Canadian receiver was refreshingly candid when asked what has prompted his recent statistical tear.

“First and foremost, it’s my contract year,” he told 3DownNation this week. “I’ve got to perform at the end of the day to make sure I can continue playing this great game in B.C., hopefully.”

Cottoy has appeared in nine games this season, hauling in 45 receptions for 621 yards and three touchdowns. The six-foot-six, 235-pound target was injured in the Lions season-opener and was forced to sit out for six games, but has made the most of every moment since his return in Week 10.

With a 69-yard average, Cottoy ranks tenth in the CFL in terms of receiving yards per game. Projected out over the course of a full 18-game campaign, he would be on pace for 1,242 yards — the equivalent of fifth place on the current CFL receiving charts behind Tyson Philpot, Tyler Snead, Damonte Coxie, and KeeSean Johnson. He is also the league’s most reliable target from a statistical standpoint, hauling in a whopping 90 percent of passes thrown his way.

All of this has occurred as the 29-year-old prepares to enter the offseason as a pending free agent.

“Obviously, it’s a little bit of added pressure, but that comes with playing a professional sport, especially football,” Cottoy said. “I do my best making sure I prep myself every single week, knowing what I have to do, determining what game plan we have going in, and making sure I execute that. As long as I execute that to the best of my ability, the rest will take care of itself.”

Cottoy is in the final year of a three-year contract signed prior to the 2024 season. That deal made him the CFL’s ninth highest-paid receiver at the time, and has kept him in the upper echelon of pass catchers in the years since. However, a ballooning receiver market, particularly amongst Canadians, dropped him down to 20th  ahead of this season.

Earning potential for the top homegrown receivers is already close to the $300,000 mark and could grow even further with more salary cap gains expected in the coming years. That has the Calgary native hopeful about what could be possible.

“We’ve got dudes going off right now. (Justin) McInnis goes off every single year. We’ve got Tyson breaking records left, right, and centre. We have Kevin Mital. Obviously, Nic Demski has done it for a long time,” Cottoy said. “When my name gets thrown into that mix, it makes me excited. It makes my family excited too, and it just brings more joy to the game.”

When Cottoy went down early in the season, some felt it could foreshadow the end of his time in B.C. Though he has always been valued for his versatility and size within the team’s offensive schemes, the former CJFL standout’s high price tag hasn’t always matched his production. In seven seasons with the Lions, he had never surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in any given year or even 100 yards in a single game.

With the Lions already locked into a market-setting multi-year deal with Keon Hatcher Sr. and fellow Canadian standout Justin McInnis also up for a new contract this offseason, Cottoy seemed like a logical place to cut back after missing time with injuries in each of the past three years. B.C. snagged a pair of young pass catchers — Nate Demontagnac and Nick Cenacle — in the 2026 CFL Draft for the express purpose of preparing to be priced out on one or both of their incumbent National starters.

However, Cottoy’s return to the lineup has only proved his importance, coinciding with an incredible turnaround for the team as a whole. He has become an offensive catalyst down the stretch, collecting the first two 100-yard games of his career and coming within four yards of another.

“That’s not up to me. That’s up to Buck (Pierce). I just take pride in doing whatever I can to help the team win,” he said of his growing role. “If that’s blocking, if that’s giving my advice on what I think in terms of the defences that we’re going up against each and every week, if that’s just being the leader in the receiver room. Guys looking up to me or looking at how I take my day. I’m coming in working every single chance I get. If it’s in the weight room, the film room, practice, leading up to game day, I take pride in doing that.”

While McInnis is certain to finish with more yardage by virtue of playing the whole year, Cottoy has surpassed him in terms of yards per game and continues to contribute meaningfully as a blocker in the run game, as well as in max protection. With three games left, he is 12 catches and 186 yards shy of matching previous career highs, despite significant missed time.

With All-CFL voting already underway, you could make an argument that Cottoy deserves to be in the conversation in the West Division. He doesn’t expect that recognition due to his long absence, but hopes to make up for it in November with a more important accolade.

“The name of the game is staying healthy, right? You can’t make the club in the tub. I make sure that when I do come back from an injury, I stay as long as I can,” he explained. “At the end of the day, man, all I care about is wins and getting to that Grey Cup. It’s been my seventh year now, and I haven’t gotten to that Grey Cup. I’m making sure I do whatever I can do from my position.”

The B.C. Lions (9-6) will host the Ottawa Redblacks (0-15) on Friday, October 9, with kickoff scheduled for 10:00 p.m. EDT. The Redblacks are coming off a loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, while the Lions have won seven of their last eight matchups.

The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1200 in Ottawa and 730 CKNW (English) or Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 (Punjabi) in Vancouver.