One of spring football's top players is returning for another season. Quarterback AJ McCarron agreed to terms Friday with the St. Louis Battlehawks, one of four surviving XFL teams that will make up the new United Football League this spring.
McCarron started nine games for the Battlehawks in 2023, throwing an XFL-record 24 touchdown passes while leading the league with a completion rate of 68.8%. He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals and spent the final six weeks of the season on their active roster following starter Joe Burrow's season-ending wrist injury.
McCarron, 33, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2014 following a storied career at Alabama. He has appeared in a total of 19 NFL games for the Bengals, Raiders and Texans.
The Battlehawks will join three other XFL teams and four former USFL teams Feb. 26 for a joint training camp in Arlington, Texas. The UFL's 10-week season opens March 30.