The BC Lions have announced that they have extended the contract of kicker Sean Whyte for an additional year, ensuring he will remain with his hometown Canadian Football League (CFL) team for the 2026 season. Whyte, a native of White Rock, British Columbia, enjoyed a stellar 2025 season, leading the league with an impressive field goal percentage of 95.1, successfully converting 39 of 41 attempts.
At 40 years old, Whyte is set to enter his eighth season with the Lions and his 18th overall in the CFL. Reflecting on his career, he expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to continue playing in front of family and friends. “It”s fantastic. I didn”t think I”d play for this long… to play for my hometown and just to see the excitement with my family — it”s pretty cool,” Whyte stated on January 7. He added, “I don”t want to go anywhere else. I just feel very lucky that I get an opportunity to keep playing the game I love. Very lucky.”
Whyte”s performance has solidified his position in the CFL record books. Heading into 2026, he stands as the all-time leader in field goal accuracy with 88.8 percent, having made 557 of 627 attempts throughout 241 regular season games. His career total of 2,282 points and 557 field goals places him ninth on the CFL”s all-time list. Since rejoining the Lions before the 2022 season, he has successfully converted 175 of 186 field goal attempts, maintaining a remarkable 94.0 percent success rate.
In recent years, he has consistently led the league in field goal percentage and has been recognized as the West Division nominee for the CFL Most Outstanding Special Teams Player, earning All-CFL selections in both 2023 and 2024. With 828 points scored during his time with the Lions (spanning from 2009-2010 and 2022-present), Whyte ranks third on the franchise”s all-time scoring list, following Hall of Fame inductees Lui Passaglia and Paul McCallum.
Before his current tenure with the Lions, Whyte played for the Montreal Alouettes from 2011 to 2014 and achieved East Division All-CFL honors in his third year. He later moved to Edmonton, where he further established himself as one of the top kickers in the league. His contributions included helping the team secure a Grey Cup victory in 2015, during which he successfully converted 90.2 percent of his field goal attempts.
Looking ahead, Whyte remains focused on maintaining his performance level and is determined to continue training hard in pursuit of a perfect season. “My goal for this year is just to get stronger. This offseason I”m really going to train hard,” he commented. “I still have the fire in me to compete and playing at home for the BC Lions… (there”s) nothing better.”
