paid: Habakkuk Baldonado resets CFL standard for Global players with record contract

Habakkuk Baldonado has pushed confidence in Global athletes in the Canadian Football League to a new level.

The 26-year-old maximized his earning potential for the 2026 CFL season, becoming the highest-paid Global in three-down league history by a considerable margin. He represented himself through the free agency process and negotiated a contract with the Ottawa Redblacks worth $185,000 in hard money plus an additional $9,000 possible in sacks, all-star and award incentives.

“It’s an indication that I’m going the right way and I’m doing the right things. The work is not done, there’s a lot more that needs to be done, but you gotta celebrate the small wins. This is a small win for me,for the Global movement,and for a lot of other people,” Baldonado told 3DownNation.

“I was in the NFL and then I was in the CFL, but both times I was under rookie contracts, so I never had to deal for new contracts. You have to know your worth, be realistic with it, there’s no point in being unrealistic, then stand your ground, ask for what the market says and what other people say your true worth is.”

Baldonado started five games for the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the 2025 regular season. He recorded 17 defensive tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble in his best CFL season to date. The six-foot-four, 251-pound pass rusher started the West Final and 112th Grey Cup for the Green and White, helping the Riders win the franchise’s fifth CFL championship.

“The game before I got a high ankle sprain and I tore a ligament in my ankle, so I wasn’t even supposed to play. In my opinion, it wasn’t even that good of a game because I was hurt, so I couldn’t really push it. I had my ankles taped, I had a lidocaine shot in the ankle, I pushed it through. The team needed me and other players, so I made it work,” Baldonado said.

“The whole week I walked with a boot. I tried to not wear the boot every time that there were cameras around. I did a little bit of practice because they wanted to make sure that I was gonna be able to play in the game. Initially, the doctors told me it was gonna be impossible, I was not gonna be able to play, but I did a little more every day until the game, and I showed up.”

Despite playing through an injured and frozen ankle, Baldonado stood out on coach tape from the Grey Cup win to talent evaluators around the league. He registered two tackles as Saskatchewan beat Montreal 25-17 while being moved around as a versatile chess piece within Corey Mace’s defence. In two playoff starts, the University of Pittsburgh product notched six tackles and one sack, taking down Most Outstanding Player Nathan Rourke.

Saskatchewan selected Baldonado in the second round, 12th overall during the 2023 Global Draft. He played out his three-year rookie contract with the Roughriders, displaying improvement each season and wanted to sign an extension to stay with the Green and White. The Rome, Italy native had become comfortable in Regina, developed relationships with his teammates and coaches, plus he knew the defensive playbook. Those reasons would have made it easier for him to remain with the Riders.

“It’s a business, of course, so I understand how some teams approach it, but at some point, teams become disrespectful. You have to know your value, you can’t allow people to disrespect you and try to sell you short for what you actually worth,” Baldonado said.

“That’s how they always start — I was blown with them. They tried to shoot some super low offers at the beginning. Some players that don’t have experience, which I didn’t have for example, but some of my friends didn’t have as well, they got them with the low offers. This is our job, this is our livelihood. I understand the business part, but there’s a personal part as well, where I feel sometimes those lines cross too much.”

After the three-down league’s negotiation window opened, Baldonado stated he heard from a “couple teams” but declined to share specific franchises. Even though he felt disrespected by Saskatchewan’s low offers, No. 95 said he gave the Roughriders a chance until the last second at a discounted rate, but it didn’t work out. Less than 20 hours after signing his contract with the Redblacks, according to the rising defensive end, an undisclosed NFL team called and wanted to “bring him in,” however it was too late.

“A goal of mine has been to try to expand the game and make all these levels recognize there’s a lot of great players around the world, it’s not just Americans and Canadians. I’m actually proud to be able to say I’m trying to raise the standard and set the bar higher because there’s a lot of great international players,” Baldonado said.

“Being global is not always the easiest, it can be a little bit of a handicapbecause you might not get the looks that you deserve or you might not get the same opportunities or the same paycheques because of ratios or because of reasons or because you’re just labeled as a Global. I love that I’m setting this standard and I wanna keep fighting for the Globals and international players.”

Baldonado has proven he can adapt and thrive playing football in new countries and cities. Ottawa, our nation’s capital, becomes his latest stop on a football journey that’s taken him from Italy to Florida to Pennsylvania to Saskatchewan and now Ontario.

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