Tyson Philpot wants to stay with Montreal Alouettes but contract extension ‘has to make sense’
Courtesy: Graham Hughes/CFL.
Tyson Philpot is a pending free agent and though the budding star loves playing for the Montreal Alouettes, the team will have to make a financially competitive offer if they hope to retain his services for 2026 and beyond.
“Something I learned from the veterans coming in as a rookie was, ‘Make sure you get your worth.’ The football game doesn’t last very long. I’m entering my prime — I snap my fingers and I’m in year four already — it’s surreal to me. (My contract status is) honestly not my focus right now. This whole year me and (general manager) Danny (Maciocia) have been pretty good, just like, ‘Let’s put it to the side.’ We knew where we were going to be at the end of the year, and we knew it was all going to take care of itself. I would love to establish myself as an elite receiver and get paid like one, but at the end of the day, it’s win this weekend and then we’ll figure that out,” Philpot told 3DownNation.
“I love what this city brings, the way they’ve embraced me these last four years. I truly feel like I’m from Montreal, the way the fans all know me. I can ride the metro and they know who I am. That’s something growing up in B.C. I never really (experienced). Obviously, Geroy (Simon) and those big-name guys (were well-known) but I never really got to experience anything like that, so seeing that is like, ‘Why would I ever want to leave a place like this?’ Montreal has my heart, but (their financial offer) has to make sense.”
The 25-year-old native of Delta, B.C. caught 61 passes for 804 yards and five touchdowns this season, the first two of which were new career-highs. Philpot has yet to record a 1,000-yard season, though he’s played only 21 regular-season games over the past two years due to injury. Based on his per-game statistics since 2024, his production is on pace for a little over 1,350 yards per season.
Philpot lit up the Roughriders in September when he caught nine passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Alouettes to a 48-31 upset win at Mosaic Stadium. Saskatchewan was without both of their starting cornerbacks in that game, though both have since returned to the lineup and will start the Grey Cup.
“After the game (against Saskatchewan), all I heard was, ‘You went up against their backups,’” said Philpot. “I can’t wait to get that challenge, that one-on-one with Tevaughn Campbell and Marcus Sayles (on Sunday).”
The five-foot-eleven, 190-pound target noticed that most pundits have picked the Roughriders to win the Grey Cup on Sunday, a similar story to when the Alouettes were underdogs against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2023. Philpot caught the game-winning touchdown in that contest, earning the Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Canadian award.
Even after a first-place finish in 2024 and back-to-back playoff wins over the Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats the last two weeks, Philpot still isn’t surprised his team is going overlooked by fans and the media.
“People just sleep on us. They see all the shiny toys over there in Saskatchewan and the big names and that kind of stuff — that’s what draws the attention, but something we think about as a team is we want everything to be a challenge,” said Philpot.
“We do our weekly challenges from Coach Maas and anytime we find there’s some kind of difficulty, our motto is ‘good.’ You give us a challenge? Good. All of you pick Saskatchewan to win? Good. That is something that we strive for as a team and we want it to be difficult, so honestly, when we saw that (pundits picked the Roughriders), we loved it. We got together and we said we love that as a team.”
“We understand that nothing’s going to be given to you, nothing’s going to be easy, so you want to make it a challenge. We’ll embrace that challenge.”
Philpot’s twin brother, Jalen, remains under contract with the Calgary Stampeders for 2026, which could lead to speculation that the two will try to play together in Cowtown. The brothers played together collegiately at the University of Calgary and the CFL’s other set of high profile twins, Tre and Tyrell Ford, reunited with the Edmonton Elks earlier this year.
Though Tyson is more open to playing with his brother than ever before, it sounds like he’d sooner recruit Jalen to Montreal than the other way around.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a high priority (for us to play together). Our first motto was, ‘No, we don’t want to play together, we want to be the farthest away from each other, and we want to establish a name for each other.’ Now we’re getting to year four — and this is me talking, not him — I haven’t seen him win a playoff game yet. I haven’t seen him get to the big game and that’s something I want for him so bad,” said Philpot.
“I want him to experience (being in the Grey Cup), so I’m gonna do my best job to recruit him over here, as long as I’m here, too. I still wouldn’t say it’s a priority, but I would love to play with him, I’d love to get him in the big game, and I’d love to see him hoist that trophy with me.”
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-6) and Montreal Alouettes (12-8) will meet in the 112th Grey Cup at Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg on Sunday, November 16 with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Alouettes defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final by a score of 19-16, while the Roughriders came back to defeat the B.C. Lions in the West Final by a score of 24-21. The teams split their two regular-season meetings, though Montreal franchise quarterback Davis Alexander missed both games due to a hamstring injury.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of two degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally.
This marks the fifth time the Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg and the second time it will be hosted at Princess Auto Stadium. The venue’s first Grey Cup was held in 2015 when the Edmonton Football Team defeated the Ottawa Redblacks by a score of 26-20 and Michael Reilly was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
