As the Hamilton Tiger-Cats started preparing for their third game of the 2025 CFL season, all messages from Hamilton’s coaching staff were that things would stay as they were in the first two games. Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich said that he was looking to make some tweaks rather than sweeping changes during the first bye week of the season. To start the week, the Tiger-Cats signed American linebacker Ozzie Harris to their practice squad, indicating that some of the tweaks made would likely involve the linebacker position group in Hamilton.
Two days out from the Tiger-Cats facing a Montreal Alouettes team that is at the top of the Eastern division standings, Hamilton made another move at linebacker. According to the CFL Transactions list and an official press release from the Tiger-Cats, Hamilton has decided to release veteran American linebacker Kyle Wilson. Wilson was viewed by many as the obvious choice to replace iconic linebacker Simoni Lawrence after Lawrence retired last spring.
The 6’0″, 231-pound Wilson leaves the Tiger-Cats after spending the first five seasons of his CFL career in Hamilton. In 2021, Wilson was a part-time player who primarily played special teams and appeared in only four games for Hamilton, recording four solo tackles. Wilson’s role expanded in 2022, as he filled in for an injured Lawrence and ended up playing in 17 games, stacking up 42 solo tackles.
During 2023, Wilson experienced his injury issues and played in only 10 games for Hamilton, registering 11 solo tackles. Heading into the 2024 season, Wilson was poised to take over at the linebacker position, and he had a career season, playing in 18 games. During that 2024 season, Wilson recorded 88 solo tackles, 2,0 quarterback sacks, and one interception.
As the Tiger-Cats worked to rebuild their defensive front seven during free agency heading into the 2025 season, it was reasonable to assume that Wilson would be the cornerstone of that rebuilt front seven. Unfortunately, the Tiger-Cats started the season 0-2, a standard start for the team over the last five seasons. More importantly, despite the Tiger-Cats’ changes on the defensive side of the ball, Hamilton continues to struggle to stop their opponents’ rushing attack, and now Wilson becomes the first casualty of that poor start to the 2025 season.
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