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Former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron plans to take the field with the UFL this spring after parting ways with the Cincinnati Bengals.
NFL reporter Howard Balzer wrote that McCarron “asked to be released by the Bengals” in order to “re-sign with the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks” on Thursday. McCarron, 33, played for the Crimson Tide from 2009 and 2013 and won three national titles in that span.
This won’t be McCarron’s first foray into spring pro football. He played for the Battlehawks in 2023 with the XFL as the MVP and led the league in touchdowns, completion percentage, and passer rating. McCarron threw for 2,150 yards and 24 touchdowns versus six interceptions in nine games last year.
“Huge for the city. QB1 back in action,” Pro Football Newsroom insider James Larsen wrote.
UFL players begin training camp on February 24, and the season kicks off on March 30, Balzer reported. As the case in 2023, McCarron can return to the Bengals after the UFL season as he did after the XFL campaign. The XFL merged with the USFL to form one spring league this season.
A.J. McCarron’s NFL Career Began With the Bengals
QB AJ McCarron actually requested to be released from the #Bengals so he could rejoin his former UFL team the St Louis Battlehawks, per @HBalzer721
Gotta respect his love to play 👏
McCarron began his pro career with the Bengals as the team’s fifth-round NFL Draft pick in 2014. He sat behind starter Andy Dalton from 2014 to 2017 before stints with the Buffalo Bills and then-Oakland Raiders in 2018.
Afterward, McCarron spent time with the Houston Texans in 2019 and 2020 before a 1-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, which resulted in an ACL tear. The Battlehawks gave McCarron a chance for a comeback when the team drafted him in 2022, and it led him to his Bengals return in 2023.
McCarron had success early in his NFL career when he stepped in as a rookie in place of Dalton during the 2015 season. In three starts, McCarron went 2-1 and threw for 854 yards and six touchdowns versus two interceptions amid seven game appearances overall.
Another start didn’t come McCarron’s way until the 2019 season in Houston after he only threw 19 more passes in a Bengals uniform from 2016 to 2018. McCarron lost his lone start with the Texans as he completed 56.8% of his passes for 225 yards, and he got picked off once.
Despite his experience, McCarron only appeared in two games for the Bengals this past season despite starter Joe Burrow‘s season-ending wrist injury. McCarron threw five passes overall as Jake Browning took on the starter role in place of Burrow.
A.J. McCarron Enjoyed a Successful College Career at Alabama
A Heisman Trophy runner up in 2013, McCarron enjoyed significantly more success in Tuscaloosa. McCarron completed 66.9% of his passes as he threw for 9,019 yards and 77 touchdowns versus 15 interceptions in four seasons with the Tide.
An Alabama native, McCarron emerged as a local star with St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, Alabama. McCarron earned All-State honors in football and baseball there before former Tide head coach Nick Saban recruited him. The former Tide quarterback McCarron praised Saban after his retirement in January but said he saw it coming.
“He accomplished everything he set out to do,” McCarron said about Saban in an interview with AL.com in January. “I’m not sure what else he could do.”
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Former Alabama Quarterback Will Play in UFL After Bengals Release