Courtesy: Evan Siegle, Green Bay Packers.
Taylor Elgersma has never been afraid to throw a pass into a tight window. Each attempt comes with risk, but the pay-off is substantial.
“As a quarterback, you can never be shy to shoot your gun,” the Canadian signal-caller explained in his first address to the Winnipeg media on Friday.
“That’s one thing that I learned early on playing this position, is that you can’t be afraid to make throws. Obviously, there’s a time and place for everything, and you have to be smart with the football, but you have to have ultimate confidence in yourself. If I see a window, I’m going to throw it in there.”
The six-foot-five, 227-pound QB made his much-anticipated introduction from a booth at a roadside McDonald’s in Arkansas, a pit stop on his drive home after officially signing with the Blue Bombers on Thursday night. That humble backdrop, blurred behind a Zoom filter, served as a reminder that his last attempt at threading the needle was broken up by a defence comprised of close-minded NFL decision makers and slow-moving U.S. bureaucrats.
Opinions differ as to whether that incompletion was the result of an ill-advised throw or a wise gamble in the pursuit of greatness, but the reality is that Elgersma faces boo-birds in Winnipeg before ever setting foot on the field at Princess Auto Stadium.
Fans were fine to wait for their homebrew heir apparent when he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers, but the expectation was that he would eagerly head north the moment he was released. When that didn’t take place, his patient pursuit of further NFL workouts irked some diehards. When he elected to play for the Birmingham Stallions in the United Football League, it grew the resentment and fueled the narrative of a player acting too big for the CFL.
Now that he’s finally Manitoba-bound, Elgersma will make no apology for the delay — nor should he.
“I’m a lot better player, I’m a lot better pro today than I was coming out of college a year ago. Has this process maybe taken a little bit of time to get to this point? Sure, but I’m better now for it because of what I’ve gone through, not only in Green Bay, but through workouts, through the Combine and then, obviously, through the last couple of weeks down in Birmingham,” he insisted.
“It’s not really up to me to change my decisions based on people’s opinions. The timeline and the American game were kind of the only reasons why that route happened, and I’m super excited to be here. I’ve been fired up about this place (Winnipeg) and this situation since the moment my name got called last year at this time.”
It has been nearly a year since the Bombers selected Elgersma in the second round of the 2025 CFL Draft, a timeline for arrival that the QB points out is no different than any other U Sports prospect who elects to return to school for a fifth season of eligibility. Rather than matriculating for another shot at the Vanier Cup, the Hec Crighton Trophy winner was pursuing the far more elusive goal of making it in the NFL.
Despite his impressive resume from Wilfrid Laurier and the raw arm talent that earned him an invitation to the prestigious Senior Bowl all-star game, Elgersma faced a stigma from NFL teams due to his Canadian football origins. It delayed his signing as an undrafted free agent and was one of the reasons why the Packers elected to move on, even after he outperformed incumbent third-stringer Sean Clifford in the preseason.
The only way to combat that perceived deficiency was to prove on tape that he could be trusted 11-on-11. The UFL offered the opportunity to play the American game on a schedule that would have allowed him to return to the NFL this season — two things the CFL could not offer. Knowing that his window to earn another contract was quickly closing, the decision was logical and rational, not disrespectful.
“I always knew that I had a home here (in Winnipeg), and that I was excited to be here. I’ve said it a lot of times, but this was never a backup for me. Growing up, I always envisioned myself being a pro football player, period,” Elgersma explained. “After I got drafted, I was ecstatic, and then the opportunities down south opened up. There’s kind of a shorter timeline being a guy who hasn’t played the game, so I just saw that as an opportunity to get that film, potentially keep that door open.”
Despite the warm and fuzzy feelings being shared in the aftermath of his new contract, Elgersma would still be jamming his foot into that door in the UFL if not for factors outside of his control. The league failed to secure him a U.S. work visa in a timely fashion, with delays and “hiccups” forcing him to sit out the first three games of the season.
With no resolution guaranteed, it was time for the quarterback to move on and ensure that he wouldn’t suffer the same cross-border whiplash other Canadian football players have experienced returning from the NFL.
“With (Winnipeg) being two weeks off from training camp, it was time for me to make it clear that this is where I was going to be, this is where I wanted to be, despite what was going on there with the work visa. Now I can get back, get settled in, start learning, and have enough time to prep myself for training camp. I put myself in the position to succeed going in,” he explained.
“Me thinking that because I played this game in college or whatever, it’s not going to be an adjustment, would be naive. It’s about putting the hard work in right now to get to camp and learn these guys, learn the offence, learn the looks of the defences that we’re going to go against.”
That doesn’t mean that the time spent in Birmingham was a waste, however. Despite his ongoing visa issues, Elgersma was allowed to practice fully with the Stallions on an unpaid basis, learning from head coach A.J. McCarron and starter Matt Corral. While the rest of the Bombers’ roster will need to be whipped into game shape in training camp, Elgersma is already there, potentially giving him a leg up in a heated battle for the backup quarterback job behind Zach Collaros.
“From a football perspective, it was definitely valuable. Instead of training by myself, I’m there going through an entire training camp, learning another offence. I’m competing against pros that play the game at a very high level,” he said. “I took reps throughout my entire time there in Birmingham, not only throughout training camp, but also throughout each week, prepping for the game. The coaching staff over there was very much trying to keep me involved in the game plan, even when the work visa stuff was up in the air.”
The 24-year-old has been given no assurances from the Bombers as to where he’ll fall on the team’s depth chart, with incumbent Terry Wilson, former UFL MVP Bryce Perkins, and Auburn alum Payton Thorne all expected to compete for the number two job. He is ready for that fight and is headed back to Waterloo, where he’ll train with Ottawa Redblacks receiver Ethan Jordan and 2026 CFL Draft prospect Layomi Ojutalayo in advance of training camp.
Elgersma is eager to work with Collaros and acknowledges that replacing him as a CFL starter one day would be “a dream come true.” As for his NFL aspirations, they have been placed on the back burner for now, with the window for entry narrowing and being pushed further into the distance.
“I’m never going to close the door; we’ll see what the Lord has in store for me. But for me, my focus is on being Bomber right now, and becoming the best version of myself and helping this team win,” he said. “This is where I am, and this is where I’m excited to be. I see a long future here, and this is where my mindsets on. If doors reopen sometime down the line, I think that would be a situation that I’d have to consider then.”
