Mike Miller calls Shawn Lemon ‘future Hall of Famer,’ wants him back with Toronto Argos

Photo: Guang Quan/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

Shawn Lemon has nothing if not ambition, age be dammed.

The 38-year-old believes if he played an entire regular season games with the Toronto Argonauts in 2026, he would have led the Canadian Football League in sacks.

“I do not doubt him. Anything Shawn Lemon talks about, he understands the game and what he’s capable of for sure,” head coach Mike Miller said.

“If I have a whole 18 games this season,” Lemon said, “I’m 1,000 percent confident that I lead the league in sacks. I play ball, if I’m available to play, and I play a whole season, I feel like I can catch anybody.

The six-foot-two, 248-pound pass rusher recorded nine sacks in 11 games with the Double Blue, plus one knockdown, two forced fumbles and 19 defensive tackles. He finished tied for fourth among the three-down league’s quarterback takedown leaders. Clarence Hicks led the way with 12 in 18 games, second was Malik Carney with 11 in 17, third was Noah Taylor with 10 in 17 and fourth was Mathieu Betts with nine in 17.

Lemon has the 10th most sacks in CFL history with 112. He’s likely the most productive pass rusher in his Canadian football era. That said, there are bigger goals for the 15-season veteran. The Charleston, South Carolina native wants to catch his former Calgary Stampeders teammate on the all-time sack list.

“I want Charleston Hughes,” he said.

Lemon sits 24 sacks behind Hughes. It would likely take two high quality seasons for him to reach the newly minted Canadian Football Hall of Famer. That would mean playing professional football as a 40-year-old.

1) Grover Covington — 157.0
2) Elfrid Payton — 153.0
3) Bobby Jurasin — 140.0
4) James ‘Quick’ Parker — 139.5
5) Charleston Hughes — 136.0
6) Joe Montford — 135.0
7) John Bowman — 134.0
8) Vince Goldsmith — 130.5
9) Stewart Hill — 126.0
10) Shawn Lemon — 112

The Lemonator joined the Argos in late July and helped the team’s pass rush improve drastically. Toronto finished the campaign with 44 sacks, most in the CFL. Saskatchewan (41) and Edmonton (40) were second and third. Canadian Jonathan Kongbo posted a single-season career-high six sacks playing at the other defensive end spot.

“You talk about Shawn Lemon, I think he’s a future Hall of Famer. The guy’s done a fantastic job. In our locker room, especially, a great voice. That leader, he’s been there, he’s encouraging. Helps whether it’s helping another d-lineman out with some technique or talking to a young rookie about the league and how to prepare. It’s very valuable,” Miller said.

Lemon enters the offseason as a pending free agent, but he would “love” to be back in Toronto.

“Those things are not up to me. I love the game of football. Football’s been a part of my life since I was five years old. The rest of my life I’m gonna be doing something with football. I would love to play, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. 

Miller stated he “would definitely be interested” in Lemon returning to the Argonauts for the 2027 season.

“He’s fantastic. He takes great care of his body. He trains very hard,” the 56-year-old bench boss said. “Let’s face it, this guy’s got a great skill set. He’s got a great passion to play this game, and you see it on the field.”

The 2026 East Division all-star seems to have lots of juice left to squeeze.