Former Cleveland Browns quarterback P.J. Walker has officially called it a career.
The Calgary Stampeders announced Thursday that Walker, 31, informed the team he is stepping away from football after nine professional seasons. Walker’s agent confirmed the retirement.
“The Stampeders have been informed by QB P.J. Walker that he has decided to step away from football after nine years of playing professionally,” the Stampeders wrote on X.
Walker spent time with the Browns during the 2023 season, appearing in six games and starting two. He completed 49% of his passes for 674 yards, one touchdown and five interceptions. Walker joined Cleveland’s practice squad in August 2023 after being waived by the Chicago Bears. He was elevated to the active roster multiple times throughout the year. The Browns signed him outright in late December.
Over the course of his NFL career, Walker appeared in 21 games across four franchises — the Carolina Panthers, Bears, Browns and Seattle Seahawks. He finished with 2,135 passing yards, six touchdowns and 16 interceptions on a 54.6 completion percentage. He went 5-4 as a starter.
PJ Walker Worked Hard for NFL Opportunities
Walker went undrafted out of Temple in 2017 and spent two seasons on the Indianapolis Colts‘ practice squad. His breakthrough came in the 2020 XFL season. He led the Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 record, topping the league in completions (119), passing yards (1,338) and touchdowns (15) in five games before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.
Walker’s XFL run opened doors. He signed with the Panthers in 2020, where he spent three seasons backing up multiple quarterbacks.
After his time in Cleveland and a brief stint with the Seahawks in 2024, Walker headed north and signed with the CFL Stampeders. He appeared in 13 games in 2025, completing 59.3 percent of his passes for 395 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.
Browns Still Sorting Out QB Situation
The Browns are once again working to sort out their quarterback situation — a long-standing issue that has plagued the franchise for decades. Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot reported that Deshaun Watson emerged from last week’s voluntary minicamp with an edge over Shedeur Sanders and now holds the inside track to be named the team’s starting quarterback.
“Deshaun Watson emerged from the Browns voluntary minicamp last week with an edge over Shedeur Sanders in the two-man quarterback competition — and has the inside track to be named the Browns QB1, sources tell cleveland.com,” Cabot wrote.
Cabot added that head coach Todd Monken hopes to identify — if not officially declare — a starter by the end of minicamp in June. Sanders has roughly six weeks to close the gap.
Watson missed all of the 2025 season recovering from two Achilles surgeries. In his Browns career, he has appeared in just 19 games, passing for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Cleveland went 9-10 in games he started.
Sanders was a fifth-round pick in 2025. He started seven games as a rookie and posted a 3-4 record with 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green round out the Browns’ quarterback room. They are not considered candidates for the QB1 role at this stage.
Ex-Browns Starting QB Announces Retirement