Alouettes’ Philpot embraces pressure as CFL’s highest-paid Canadian receiver

Montreal Alouettes' Tyson Philpot hoists the cup as the team arrives at Mirabel airport after winning the Grey Cup, in Mirabel, Que., Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Tyson Philpot is comfortable as the CFL benchmark at his position.

Last December, the Montreal Alouettes signed Philpot to a two-year extension that made him the league’s highest-paid Canadian receiver. The deal called for $275,000 in hard money for 2026 and $285,000 next year and included a $100,000 signing bonus.

The 25-year-old Delta, B.C., native, entering his fifth CFL season, expects to be the standard others are judged against.

“What comes with being the best is having people who’re breathing down your neck, and I think that’s what makes you great,” Philpot said recently. “That’s what’s always allowed me to rise to the highest occasion, taking that all in and running with it.

“But that’s not really something I think about. It’s putting my best foot forward every day and attacking the year every year.”

Excluding quarterbacks, Winnipeg running back Brady Oliveira will be the CFL’s highest-paid Canadian this year at $290,000, and he’ll reportedly earn $300,000 in both 2027 and ’28. Among the national receivers chasing Philpot is his twin brother, Jalen, of the Calgary Stampeders.

“I couldn’t be happier, he’s so deserving of that,” Jalen Philpot said. “He has set the bar for us Canadian receivers to come and match or set a new bar.”

Tyson Philpot established career highs last year in catches (61) and yards (804) while registering five TD receptions for a third straight year. The five-foot-11, 190-pound receiver appeared in just 12 games as Montreal used four different quarterbacks, with hamstring issues limiting Davis Alexander to seven regular-season starts.

Montreal was a different team with Alexander, who won all seven games to improve to 11-0, the best mark in league history by a quarterback to begin his CFL career. After leading the Alouettes to playoff wins over Winnipeg and Hamilton, Alexander suffered his first loss, a 25-17 Grey Cup decision to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Despite throwing three interceptions and tweaking his hamstring in the fourth quarter, Alexander led Montreal from its 23-yard line to the Saskatchewan 54 with under a minute remaining. But his Hail Mary pass to Philpot on the game’s final play was broken up by defender Marcus Sayles, who also recovered Shea Patterson’s goal-line fumble with 2:40 to play.

The prospect of starting 2026 with a healthy Alexander is an exciting one for Philpot.

“When I look back at last season, all I think about is Davis not being healthy,” Philpot said. “We had a great team and were able to rise to the occasion without him, but I think about when we have him what our team looks like.

“Just the confidence he brings, not just to the offence but the team overall. Everybody in that locker room knows he’s going to give his all every time, and I think that allows you to get behind him and just want to go to war.”

Montreal’s Grey Cup loss has helped fuel Philpot’s off-season. Just two years earlier, he caught the winning TD pass and was named the top Canadian in the Alouettes’ 28-24 championship win over Winnipeg.

“There’s no worse feeling than arriving on the tarmac without the trophy, having to answer media questions knowing the team you just played is celebrating,” he said. “You see them lift that trophy and get their parade … it lights a different kind of fire in your belly, a fire I probably haven’t had since draft day.

“It’s something you want to bring back to the fans of Montreal, but also for yourself because you work so hard every year. To go through all we did last year and still be that close, I think it proves to you, man, we’ve got the team to do it.”

Philpot’s ideal ’26 scenario would be Montreal facing Calgary in the Grey Cup at McMahon Stadium. Jalen Philpot has yet to record a playoff win or appear in a CFL championship game in his pro career.

Tyson Philpot says if Montreal doesn’t reach and win the Grey Cup, he’d want his brother to do so. But if the two teams meet Nov. 16, all bets are off.

“I’d love for him to win a playoff game and get to a Grey Cup,” Tyson Philpot said. “And I don’t think there’s a better year for him to do that than this year.

“I’ll be cheering hard for them (Stampeders) unless we have to play them … then it’s every man for himself.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2026.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press