Ex Atlanta Falcons QB Becomes Highest-Paid Player in Canadian Football League

The Atlanta Falcons released quarterback Nathan Rourke from their 90-man roster Sunday. Two days later, he signed a new contract with the B.C. Lions to become the highest-paid player in the Canadian Football League in 2025 and 2026.

Rourke will make $749,200 in 2025 and $815,000 the year after, with several thousand dollars available in bonuses, according to The Sports Network’s Farhan Lalji.

With the CFL having already played for 10 weeks, Rourke’s contract will be smaller in 2024 — he’s set to make $250,000 for the second half of the season, per Lalji.

Perhaps most noteworthy, Rourke remains interested in pursuing an NFL career after a brief and unceremonious stint in Atlanta.

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Rourke spent 10 days with the Falcons, signing a one-year deal Aug. 1. He participated in four practices before playing the entirety of the fourth quarter in last Friday’s preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins.

Across four drives of work, Rourke went 3-of-13 for 37 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions while adding two carries for 24 yards, including a 21-yard scramble in the closing minutes. Two of the Falcons’ possessions with Rourke under center ended inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line.

Now, Rourke gets a chance to return to where his professional career began.

Rourke, 26, was drafted in the second round of the 2020 CFL draft. The former Ohio University standout went 307-of-406 for 4,103 yards and 28 touchdowns across two seasons. In 2022, he was named the CFL Most Outstanding Canadian.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Rourke played at such a high level that NFL opportunities arose. He spent the past two years bouncing around NFL practice squads, working with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and New York Giants.

Despite signing less than a week before kickoff, Rourke is expected to start for the B.C. Lions in Sunday night’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The quick turnaround will be difficult, but with his familiarity to the organization and similarly brief exposure in Atlanta, it’s nothing he hasn’t done before.

The Falcons, meanwhile, have turned to undrafted rookie John Paddock as their No. 4 quarterback. Paddock spent all of OTAs and minicamp and the start of training camp with Atlanta before being released for Rourke.

But after the preseason game, Atlanta decided to reverse course on the move — and Rourke, looking to reignite his career, has done the same, with the Victoria, Canada, native returning north of the border with hopes of proving himself once again.