One day after signing quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a two-time Grey Cup champion, the Edmonton Elks made it clear on Monday why they pursued the football player and what role they see him playing.
“We signed him … to come and be our starter,” Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones told reporters in a news conference held via video-conference call.
“We’re in a situation where we need to win and we need to win in a hurry and he’s excited about that.”
Bethel-Thompson last played in the CFL in 2022 when he helped guide the Toronto Argonauts to a league championship.
“Edmonton was a place that felt like home and a place we can go chase a Grey Cup,” Bethel-Thompson said, noting that other CFL teams expressed interest in him.
“Edmonton ended up coming the hardest and strongest and ended up feeling the most comfortable and made the most sense.”
The 35-year-old, who hails from California, will replace Tre Ford as the Elks’ starting quarterback and be tasked with helping to develop the 25-year-old Canadian player.
Ford began last season as the Elks’ third-string quarterback but emerged as the team’s starter. He electrified fans and football commentators and helped the team to begin to win games.
Ford, a six-foot-one, 185-pound quarterback from Niagara Falls, Ont. brought about a new renewed sense of optimism to the Elks, despite the fact they finished with a 4-14 record and missed the playoffs. He also developed a reputation for creating highlight-reel moments when escaping pressure from defences.
When asked about Sunday’s signing and how it impacts the Elks’ plans for Ford, Jones said he and the football club still think very highly of him.
“He’s a dynamic, dynamic young player,” Jones said. “He’s got a tremendous bright future in front of him.
“I think he can benefit tremendously from being around McLeod.”
Bethel-Thompson said he spoke with Ford on Monday morning and suggested while the younger player certainly would have wanted a chance to continue to start games for the Elks beginning next season, he hopes he can help Ford become even better.
“He’s going to be a great player in this league for a long time,” Bethel-Thompson said. “You see the magic, you see what he can do offscript … It’s about me helping him build a script on a play-to play basis so he has something to fall back on … (so that) when things do break down, he can do his magic and the offscript stuff at a high level.”
When Jones was asked if he would ever consider trading Ford if a team made an offer for him, he suggested while you could never rule out such a possibility entirely, trading the youngster is not something he plans to do.
“Tre Ford’s in our plans,” he said. “McLeod’s our guy and we’re going to develop the heck out of Tre.
“He’s got a tremendous bright future in front of him. I think he can benefit tremendously from being around McLeod. McLeod is excited about that opportunity to try to help develop him.
“(Ford is) very much like (Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback) Zach Collaros … Zach’s development didn’t happen in the first year either … (Ford is) only going to get better.”
Bethel-Thompson said Ford “hasn’t had a veteran yet to kind of show him the ropes and he’s done so well just off natural ability.”
“I’m so excited to get in the building with him and pick his brain and see how he sees the game and see how I can help. I made a thousand mistakes — maybe half of those he doesn’t have to make.”
Bethel-Thompson listed off an impressive list of both CFL and NFL quarterbacks who developed into the star players they are by spending time being mentored by a veteran playing the same position.
Jones said he and the Elks began to talk about the possibility of signing Bethel-Thompson once the 2023 season ended. He said he met with the former Argos QB in Houston a few weeks ago.
“I told him exactly what we needed out of him and he was excited about the opportunity,” he said.
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Bethel-Thompson spent the 2023 season with the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League, where he led the league in passing yards with 2,433 and led the club to a 7-3 record.
On Monday he said part of the reason he chose to play in the USFL was because it worked better for his family last year, as his wife was working in Atlanta. He also said he played in the USFL to help him pursue a dream of playing games in the NFL.
He said while a number of NFL teams expressed interest in him, a number of factor, including his age, meant that he would likely only end up on a practice roster if he signed with a team in that league.
“It warmed my heart to hear the respect the league had for me,” Bethel-Thompson said of fielding calls from CFL teams this offseason. “I’m so grateful for this league and what it’s provided for my career.
“I want to treat the game right. I love the CFL game, I love the CFL culture, I love the CFL players, and I will bring my all to it and I promise to make it a better league.”
Bethel-Thompson said his goal with the Elks this season will be to win a Grey Cup, noting that he has seen CFL teams go “from not very good records to very good records to contenders” in a short amount of time.
Bethel-Thompson will enter the 2024 season with a CFL career completion percentage of 66.8 and a passer rating of 92.4.
When asked how long he plans to play, he said he will make that decision with his family but the “crazy man” in him feels like he could play “until they rip the cleats from my body.”
Regardless of how long he plays, Bethel-Thompson said he wants to help the Elks create a situation where the club can thrive in the long term.
“That’s what you do as a leader … You make it sustainable. You build a culture that can go on beyond you and can be held up by someone else.”
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