The BC Lions announced the extensions of 2 key players on Thursday by extending American running-back James Butler through the 2027 season and American offensive tackle Dejon Allen through the 2026 season. Both players would have become free agents had a deal not been reached by February 10.
RB James Butler – Iowa (5’8, 215 lbs)
James Butler will enter his 6th CFL season, where his CFL career started as a BC Lion. He rushed 229 times in 2025 for 1,213 yards (5.3 average) and 11 touchdowns. He also caught 46 passes for 439 yards and a touchdown. He was the highest graded runningback by Pro Football Focus this past season.
In the 2 playoff games, he rushed 19 times for 83 yards (4.37 average) with 3 missed tackles (forced by my count) and caught 7 passes for 69 yards with an additional 3 tackles forced.
“JB is one of the most complete running backs in this league, excelling as a runner, catching passes out of the backfield, and holding up in pass protection,” stated Lions’ general manager Ryan Rigmaiden. “He will continue to give coach Pierce a reliable weapon for his offense and another strong leader in our locker room.”
Butlers career began with BC in 2021, where he played in 28 regular season games over 2 seasons before playing in 27 regular season games for Hamilton in 2023 and 2024. He has appeared in 72 CFL regular-season games, rushing 885 times for 4,408 yards (4.98 average) and 29 touchdowns. He has also caught 244 passes for 1,965 yards and 8 touchdowns.
He is 13th all-time in BC Lions rushing yards with 2,770.
Butler played his collegiate ball with Nevada from 2014-16, where he rushed for 3,316 yards and 27 touchdowns with 49 receptions for 438 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was named the program’s offensive player of the year in 2016. He played his final NCAA season for Iowa in 2017, where he rushed for 396 yards and a touchdown.
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Oakland Raiders in 2018, where he played in 7 preseason games over 2018 and 201,9 rushing 62 times for 160 yards and a touchdown and catching 10 passes for 79 yards.
Butler played in the XFL in 2020 with the Houston Gamblers, rushing 46 times for 221 yards (4.8 average) and 4 touchdowns over 5 games with 4 starts, and catching 11 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
OT Dejon Allen – Hawaii (6’2, 300 lbs)
Dejon Allen was limited to just 5 games this past season due to an arm injury, but will be back for another year with the BC Lions in 2026. Allen was a force with Toronto from 2021 to 2024, where he won 2 Grey Cups prior to moving to BC. With the Argos, he was named an East Division All-Star in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and a CFL All-Star in 2023 and 2024. He was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Lineman in 2023.
Allen was the 4th highest graded offensive tackle by Pro Football Focus in his previous healthy season in 2024.
“Offensive line is always going to be an area of focus for us. This will be Dejon’s second year in Coach Charbonneau’s system, and we expect him to take the next step forward. He will be a big part of a unit that took major strides last year,” stated Lions’ GM Ryan Rigmaiden.
Allen played his collegiate ball with Hawaii, where he was named First-team All-Mountain West in 2017 and Second-team All-Mountain West in 2016.
He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in 2018, where he spent time on the practice roster over that season. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers in late August of 2019, but was waived not long after. He played in 4 preseason games with Chicago and 1 with Green Bay.
