Free agent receiver Eugene Lewis embraces challenge of CFL record pursuit

Edmonton Elks' Eugene Lewis celebrates his touchdown during first half CFL football action against the Calgary Stampeders, in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Eugene Lewis will have plenty riding on the start of the 2025 CFL season.

The veteran receiver heads into the campaign needing touchdown catches in his first two games to tie Hall of Famer Terry Evanshen’s CFL mark for consecutive matches with a TD grab (10). Lewis had touchdown receptions in Edmonton’s final eight contests last year, breaking the club record of seven and tying the franchise mark for consecutive games with any type of TD.

“It’s definitely important but I don’t sit there and think about (records) all the time,” Lewis said. “When records do come my way, I understand how important they are and the urgency of it all because it’s hard to break records and it’s hard to get into those situations.

“When you have the opportunity to make real, live history that can keep going on generation after generation, I think that’s spectacular.”

The six-foot-one, 200-pound Lewis had 74 catches for 1,070 yards and league-best 10 TDs playing in all 18 regular-season games. He had 48 receptions for 844 yards and three touchdowns in 12 contests in 2023, spending time on the six-game injured list with a knee ailment.

“I knew coming into 2024 I was completely healthy and that, ‘Listen, if y’all just give me a chance...,’” Lewis said. “I always knew God gave me the ability to do this but sometimes it’s about having people that trust you and give you the leeway to do it.”

Lewis cracked the 1,000-yard plateau for the third time in seven CFL seasons and earned a third league all-star designation — key achievements that boost his market value as he enters CFL free agency next month.

Lewis, 31, was the league’s highest-paid receiver last season with a reported $320,000 salary. More importantly, in a league where contracts are restructured all the time, Lewis was able to see his two-year deal with Edmonton to fruition.

“When you have a receiver getting money like a quarterback, many people don’t agree with it,” Lewis said. “In my mind, I always told myself when I got this contract, I didn’t want to take a pay cut and I shouldn’t have to if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Lewis would readily welcome chasing Evanshen’s record with Edmonton.

“I love Edmonton, I love the fans, I love the people there,” he said. “But we have all new coaches, all new people upstairs and so it’s also about do they want me back, am I somebody they want?

“When you go through that as a vet, you start understanding and seeing, yeah, it’s a business but it’s like I just want to know how do you feel about me because when I give you my all, you’re going to get my all. That’s all I know.”

Edmonton hired former Calgary assistant Mark Kilam as head coach last month. GM Ed Hervey rejoined the organization in November after Chris Morris was hired as president/CEO.

Hervey said Tuesday he hasn’t talked to Lewis’s representative about an extension. But he added if Lewis remains in Edmonton, it will be for less.

“I’m saying the strategy I prefer to take in this instance is to allow the market to show what’s true value,” Hervey told reporters during a CFL Zoom call. “If someone’s willing to pay him 300 (thousand dollars), great.

“I can tell you unequivocally I’m not paying 300. You can quote it and put it any which way you want. We will not be doing that.”

Lewis joined the Elks in free agency following the ’22 season. That year, he was the East Division’s outstanding player with 91 catches for 1,303 yards (both career highs) and 10 TDs with Montreal.

Lewis feels he’s capable of more.

“Listen, where I’m at now I’m in my prime ... the game has slowed down for me,” he said. “I’ve still got so much to give.

“In 2022, I was the MOP of the East and I’ve got another (season) like that in me, plus some.”

Lewis developed chemistry last year with quarterbacks Tre Ford and McLeod Bethel-Thompson. Ford will be Edmonton’s starter after signing a contract extension and Bethel-Thompson being dealt to Montreal.

“I definitely have to give a lot of credit to MBT and Tre,” Lewis said. “That’s why football is the ultimate team sport.

“You’ve got to trust people will do their job and they have to trust that you’ll do yours. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

Lewis added one reason he signed with Edmonton was the challenge of recording 1,000-yard seasons with East and West Division teams.

“There were people saying it was harder to do in the West because you’ve got to go against these teams,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Listen, it doesn’t really matter to me.’

“I actually had fun, it was fun going against all of those dudes.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2025.