Edmonton Elks discussing kicker Boris Bede’s future with off-season bonus looming

The Edmonton Elks have had an explosive off-season but their next big decision will determine how many booms they have in 2025.

Kicker Boris ‘Boom Boom’ Bede is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, having finished dead last in the CFL with a field goal percentage of 79.4 in 2024. In his first season in Edmonton, the native of Toulon, France connected on just 27 of his 34 attempts despite having the second-fewest tries from outside of 40 yards of any qualifying kicker and was benched twice.

The 35-year-old signed a lucrative two-year deal with the Elks last off-season and is scheduled to make $125,000 in hard money against the cap next year, plus another $7,000 in marketing. With the first $28,000 of that due in the form of a roster bonus on February 1, the Green and Gold have just a week remaining to determine if the kicker’s deal is still a worthwhile investment.

“Boris has had success in this league and having a down year doesn’t necessarily mean that his time in Edmonton is over,” general manager Ed Hervey told the media earlier this month. “His bonus coming up really has more to do with his contract structure. I’ll have a chance to speak with his people about his future and if it makes sense.”

Inconsistency has been something of a hallmark for Bede throughout his nine-year CFL career. After an outstanding rookie season with the Montreal Alouettes in 2015 where he hit at a 90 percent clip, the Laval product famously got the yips in his second year and connected on just 52.4 percent of his kicks. Six years later, he again saw his accuracy falter to just 78.2 percent with the Toronto Argonauts in 2022.

That last slip foreshadowed what would be the best placekicking season of his career in 2023, as he went 94.9 percent to earn his third East Division all-star selection. The Elks may choose to bank on a similar bounce-back, buoyed by the hiring of long-time special teams guru Mark Kilam as head coach.

Also working in Bede’s favour is his versatility to perform all three jobs. The six-foot-four, 225-pounder regularly leads the CFL in kickoff average, managing a whopping 69.2 yards last year and scoring seven rouges — five more than any other player. And while he hasn’t pulled double duty for a full season since 2021, he also boasts a career gross average of 44.5 yards on punts.

With record-setting punter Jake Julien bound for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, keeping Bede could allow the Elks an easy in-house replacement.

“Boris is very talented. I know he has the biggest leg in the CFL playing against him for all these years. He’s a guy that could do both,” Kilam acknowledged, though he would not commit one way or the other.

Having Bede handle both kicking and punting duties would cost the Elks an additional $1,000 per game based on contract incentives but would help justify his sizeable deal. If he returns to form as a field goal kicker and finishes above 90 percent, he’ll earn a $3,000 bonus. If he finishes amongst the top three in the league, another $4,000 will be added. With standard all-star and awards incentives, he could make up to $163,000 in 2025 — money well spent for that type of season.

Nevertheless, Edmonton has options if they feel the price is too steep to gamble on Bede’s return to form. Global punters ready to play on the league minimum are a dime a dozen in the draft and the team has two of the top young Canadian kicker prospects already under contract in 2024 fourth-round pick Vincent Blanchard and 2023 sixth-round pick Campbell Fair.

If the organization believes an open competition amongst youngsters can effectively determine the future of that position, paying off-season money to Bede doesn’t make much sense. That could force a renegotiation or release prior to that first payment on February 1.

“When it comes to these bonuses that the players have, I always try to be careful with how I speak to it before we actually have a chance to talk with the player,” Hervey said. “I have some time before making a decision, but definitely would like to see where that conversation can go before we make anything final.”

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