STAMFORD, Conn. -- Former Ohio State star Cardale Jones was among eight quarterbacks assigned to XFL teams Tuesday in advance of the league's inaugural draft.
Jones, who spent the past three seasons as an NFL backup, will play for the D.C. Defenders.
As it prepares for its February 2020 kickoff, the XFL is largely targeting players who have been released from the NFL or are otherwise unsigned. Commissioner Oliver Luck said earlier this month that the XFL will have a "very small number" of players who have college eligibility remaining. Those players will be subject to a supplemental draft in November.
Jones spent one season as a reserve for the Buffalo Bills and two with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2016 to 2018 and fits the profile of some of the other quarterbacks assigned Tuesday. Each is considered his team's presumptive starter.
Dallas Renegades: Landry Jones, who spent six seasons as NFL backup and will be reunited with Renegades coach Bob Stoops, Jones' college coach at Oklahoma.
Houston Roughnecks: Phillip Walker, who starred at Temple and then spent parts of three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.
Los Angeles Wildcats: Luis Perez, a former professional bowler who played at Division II Texas A&M-Commerce and later in the Alliance of American Football (AAF).
New York Guardians: Matt McGloin, a prolific passer at Penn State who started seven games between 2013 and 2016 for the Oakland Raiders.
St. Louis Battlehawks: Jordan Ta'amu, a starter at Mississippi for two seasons who went undrafted by the NFL in 2019.
Seattle Dragons: Brandon Silvers, another AAF veteran who was briefly signed by the New York Jets this spring.
Tampa Bay Vipers: Aaron Murray, a third AAF veteran who also spent four seasons as an NFL backup.
During a two-day draft this week, each XFL team will add 71 players from a list of hundreds of players who accepted invitations into the draft pool and passed background checks. There will be 52 players on final rosters, to be determined in January, and 46 active for games.
The first pick of Phase 1 of the draft, which consisted of skill position players, was James Madison receiver Rashard Davis, who was selected by DC. The second pick was the only quarterback taken in the first round of Phase 1 -- Former Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, who spent two seasons as a backup with the Raiders prior to practice squad stints with the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals.
Other notable skill position players taken in Phase 1 included running back Christine Michael (BattleHawks), receiver Sammie Coates (Roughnecks), quarterback Tyree Jackson (Defenders) and running back Andre Williams (Roughnecks).
Former Colts and Browns running back Trent Richardson was not selected in Phase 1 of the draft, during which 39 receivers, 20 running backs, 15 tight ends and six quarterbacks were taken by the eight teams.
Players will be paid base salaries of $2,080 every two weeks, according to information distributed this month to agents and confirmed by a source. There will be a $1,685 bonus for being on the active roster for a game, and a $2,222 bonus for every team win. So a player who is active for all 10 games and is on a team that goes 5-5 in the XFL's schedule would earn $55,000 for the year.
Quarterbacks are expected to earn higher salaries, but their exact financial terms are unknown.