Recapping a Holiday Season’s worth of Edmonton Elks moves

I want to start this article by apologizing for the lack of articles here at elksnation.ca from me over the last month and a half or so. It’s been a busy holiday season as it has for everyone, and as is evidenced, I haven’t had a chance to get my pieces out. I’m sorry for the lack of articles but I want it said that I really, really love everything about ElksNation, I love doing the two weekly podcasts, I love writing these articles, I love covering the team, and I really believe in what we’re doing here at ElksNation. Now that schedules have returned to normal, I wanted to take a look at the moves the Elks have made over the holiday season and give my takes on said moves. 

Cody Fajardo re-signs

This is it isn’t it? The silver tuna. The big one. It’s QB1. Since the conclusion of last season I had been a big pusher of the narrative that, despite the shortcomings Fajardo may have, he is no doubt the best available, while most realistic, option at quarterback for the Elks for the 2026 season. He had said in his post-season presser that “If he played football in 2026, it would be for Edmonton.” He also said that he was “75 percent going to retire.”

Instead, general manager Ed Hervey worked his magic, head coach Mark Kilam surely had his say (he had been very open about wanting Cody back), and Cody comes back as the QB1 for 2026. He had told Eddie and me on ElksCentral that he got a $190K signing bonus. After a year where he had to take a pay cut to be here, he got what he felt he was owed, and I love it. He was the best option for what truly could have happened at the position. He galvanized the team when he took over for Tre last year. He had the offence-sustaining drives in a way we hadn’t really seen in some time. He had intangible leadership qualities we hadn’t seen in years before him. He, in a lot of ways, brought some hope back to the fanbase. He said he wants to be the QB to take the Elks back to the playoffs, and with the makeup of this team, I believe he can be. 

JJ Ross extension

Ross is one of my favourite players, not just on the team, but in the league. I love everything about JJ’s game. It’s getting to the point where if he falls off a cliff and has one of the worst seasons a corner can have, it might actually look worse for me than it does for him. I’ve written about his journey starting on the practice squad, Leonard Johnson starting a game before him, and the incredible stat line he puts up in 13 games after becoming the starter, so I won’t harp on it again.

What I will say is that I think the cornerback position is the hardest position to play in football outside of quarterback, and that he plays the position with no glaring weaknesses. Is he the prime Deion Sanders? No, I’m not saying that, but what I am saying is that you will often find CBs who have certain strengths in their game and then subsequently weaknesses in others. JJ doesn’t really have that. Again, I’m not saying he’s a 10/10 create a player at every level, but he just doesn’t do anything poorly. He covers well, tackles well, is good in zone and man coverage, and he’s physical. He was number one on my “resign him ASAP” wishlist, if you will. Hervey came through. I expect bigger and better things from him in 2026. 

Nyles Morgan traded to Ottawa

I wanted to talk about this before I talk about the re-signing of Brock Mogensen, because naturally, they kind of go hand in hand, but Morgan being traded provides necessary context. Nyles was never going to be a guy on the roster in 2026. Anyone with two eyes could’ve seen that. Anyone who knows Hervey’s history with linebackers knew that. It was funny, actually — in the postseason media availability, Ed had given the politically correct response for every answer that came at him for about 30 minutes, until we got to Nyles and I asked about his future on the team. “

You guys know how I feel about linebackers. They’re replaceable.”

The writing was on the wall, and we all knew it. I thought he was going to be cut. The fact that Hervey got something for him is frankly awesome. The Elks move up from 23rd to 21st and from 41st to 35th in this year’s draft. For a guy I believed was going to be cut outright, you’ll certainly take that. I also want to be clear — Morgan is not by any stretch a bad football player. Not by a long shot. I think he still has a good bit left in the tank. It’s just that other guys emerged for the Elks. He is a little older. But he gave five good years. I truly wish him the best in Ottawa, and I fully believe he’ll contribute there.

Brock Mogensen extension

So, as I mentioned, it was the emergence of Morgensen that partially led to the Morgan trade. Truthfully, I don’t even think his emergence was needed for Nyles to be gone. It was Nick Anderson’s ability to play the Mac, coupled with Joel Dublanko’s ability to play the Will linebacker spot, that made it seem like a foregone conclusion that Morgan would be gone. The emergence of Morgensen was a nice little bonus, and he certainly did emerge. He started six of the seven final games, had at least four tackles in every game, and had the general manager singing his praises after the season.

I asked who stood out for him this year as far as guys who maybe “didn’t have the fanfare or the pop going into the season, but you always knew could show out,” and Kenny Logan, followed by Brock Mogensen, were Hervey’s answers.

Kilam as well, early in the season, after practices, had mentioned how Morgensen was a guy they had been high on. His performances in games showed why, and this extension is an extra representation of that. As far as a player, I really like him. My question is how does he work in? More specifically, is he better than Nick Anderson? I don’t believe he is. Not that that’s a slight. Nick is an unbelievable player. But in a 4-3 defensive structure, you have Joel Dublanko as your WLB, Nick Anderson as your MLB, and one of Chelen Garnes, Kordell Jackson or Kenneth Logan Jr. as your SLB, right? One would think anyway. But perhaps this signing is a telltale sign that Anderson isn’t so locked in to that MLB position. Eddie Steele had made the point that it’s going to be a real battle in camp for that MLB position. I had assumed it would just be Anderson’s.

This extension would suggest that, maybe that isn’t the case. Whether it’s Anderson or it’s Mogensen, the position is in good hands. And whoever isn’t starting MLB will still certainly see reps. It’s certainly better to have two than it is to have one, and I look forward to the camp battle and how both of them are used, and perform in the 2026 season. 

Vincent Blanchard extension

Hey you need a kicker right? Blancard had a good rookie season. He struggled a little from the right hash, but went 35-45 with a 52-yard field goal his longest, and 39-40 on PAT’s. It was a very strong rookie season. As he gets more comfortable and understands other teams’ defensive field goal units tendencies, he’ll grow as a kicker as well. He showed a lot of raw talent. He had some moments you would’ve liked him to show up in where he didn’t, but like I said, he was a rookie kicker. Eddie loves this signing by the way. I’ll probably never be over the moon about a guy who’s sub 80 percent on FGs, but like I said, I do like the signing. I think he only gets better. I don’t think this is the case of a guy who comes out next season and is all of a sudden a 60% guy on FGs. Plus, like I said, lots of raw talent in the leg.

There are other moves I’ll touch on in other articles here in the coming weeks and months. I have an idea for a piece about the defensive line unit as a whole that I’m looking forward to working on. But again – I just wanted to say I really love doing this, I appreciate you right now if you’re reading this, I love ElksNation, I love being a part of it, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the offseason has in store for us. Have a great week everybody.