VANCOUVER — The BC Lions announced Thursday that they have released American offensive lineman Dejon Allen.
The Lions acquired Allen in a trade with the Toronto Argonauts in January 2025, sending national linebacker Ryder Varga and their second-round pick in the 2026 Canadian CFL Draft to Toronto.
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Allen is a two-time All-CFL selection (2023, 2024), an All-CFL East Division honoree three years in a row (2022-2024) and a two-time Gray Cup champion (2022, 2024). From 2021-24, he played in 63 regular season games for the Boatmen, seeing action at both left and right tackle. In BC, Allen played 10 matches, but was forced to miss time due to injury.
Following a 2023 season in which he allowed a CFL-low 11 quarterback pressures in 499 pass-blocking situations and the Argonauts gave up the fewest sacks, Allen won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award.
The 32-year-old Los Angeles native appeared in 50 games and 49 starts for the University of Hawaii between 2014 and 2017. Allen was a two-time offensive MVP for the Rainbow Warriors, allowing just one sack during his time with the program.
He signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and the team waived him in May 2019 before a brief training camp in Green Bay. Allen spent 2020 in the XFL with both the St. Louis BattleHawks and New York Guardians before moving north to the Argonauts ahead of the 2021 campaign.