The BC Lions announced on Wednesday they have reached an agreement with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to extend him through the 2026 season. Prior to the extension, Adams was signed through the 2024 season.
Per Justin Dunk, the contract is expected to deliver $200,000 in a signing bonus with $395,000 in hard money in 2024. This will go up in 2025 to $500,000 in hard money and $505,000 in 2026 with half the base salary guaranteed in the final year.
QB Vernon Adams Jr. – Oregon (31 y/o, 5’11, 200 lbs)
Vernon Adams Jr. is coming off of a strong season in which he led the league in passing yards by a wide margin with over 500 more yards than 2nd place. He completed 333 of his 488 passes (68.2%) for 4,769 yards and 31 touchdowns with 18 interceptions over 16 regular season games. His 105.5 QBR was good enough for third in the league among starting quarterbacks. He added 324 rushing yards on 48 carries and a rushing touchdown.
“It’s a huge honour for me to be under center for this great organization for at least three more years.” stated Adams Jr. “When you factor in the key players who have committed to the franchise combined with a few great additions in free agency, it just further proves our commitment to winning and taking the next step in what is shaping up to be an exciting year for the Lions.”
2023 was somewhat of a season of ups and downs for Vernon Adams Jr. with 6 of his 18 interceptions coming in the week 4 loss to Toronto. Another 5 interceptions came in a 2 game span across weeks 15 and 16. His touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio over the other 13 games was 21-7. From weeks 10 to 15 Adams had a highly impressive stretch putting together 6 games in a row with 300 plus yards passing. The only other time a BC Lions’ QB had more than 4 300+ yard passing games in a row was Doug Flutie in 1991 when he had 6 consecutive 300-yard games.
VA had arguably the most impressive game for a quarterback in the playoffs when he completed 28 of his 39 passes for 413 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Western Semi-Final victory over Calgary. Adams broke Roy Dwalt’s record for most passing yards by a Lion set at 375 in 1983 in that game. He also rushed for 54 yards and 3 touchdowns on 7 rushes.
Unfortunately for the Lions, the success was not replicated in the Western final as Adams Jr. completed 13 of his 26 passes for 221 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions in the 13-24 loss to Winnipeg. It was a game filled with adversity as Adams Jr. was visibly playing through knee pain and lost receiver Keon Hatcher early in the game. He was also sacked 9 times which tied a CFL record for most sacks in a playoff game which was a number not reached in 31 years.
Adams Jr. entered the league in 2015 with the Montreal Alouettes. He was traded tot eh Saskatchewan Roughriders midway through the 2017 season and later signed again by Montreal in June of 2018. He was traded to the BC Lions early into the 2022 season shortly after an injury in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2023 CFL Draft.
VA has played in 99 regular season games completing 64.24% of his passes and amassing 13,261 passing yards and 80 touchdowns with 45 interceptions.
Adams Jr. was a CFL All-Star in 2019 when he passed for 3,942 yards and 24 touchdowns with 13 interceptions over 16 games and added 394 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns with Montreal.
VA spent his first 4 years of college with Eastern Washington where he was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014 before transferring to play his final year with Oregon. He was the PAC-12 Newcomer of the Year in 2015 as well as an All-PAC-12 Honorable Mention. He was named the 2016 offensive MVP in the East-West Shrine Game.
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