Quarterback P.J. Walker has decided to step away from professional football after nine seasons, the Calgary Stampeders announced.[1][2] The team stated on X: "The Stampeders have been informed that quarterback P.J. Walker has decided to step away from football after nine years as a professional."

Walker, 29, signed with the Stampeders on February 11, 2025, ahead of the CFL season.[1][3] He was expected to compete for the starting quarterback role in 2026 prior to the retirement decision.

A product of Temple University, Walker set school career records with 12,167 passing yards and 78 touchdowns from 2014 to 2016, and became the first quarterback in program history to lead the Owls to consecutive bowl games.[4][5]

Undrafted out of Temple in the 2017 NFL Draft, Walker signed with the Indianapolis Colts as a free agent and spent three seasons on the practice squad without regular-season appearances.[6]

Walker earned league-wide attention in the 2020 XFL season with the Houston Roughnecks, passing for 2,068 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions on 67-of-101 attempts (66.3 percent) over five games.[6][7]

That spring, he joined the Carolina Panthers and appeared in four games in 2020 with 542 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.[6] In 2022, his third season with Carolina, Walker played six games for 1,468 yards, five touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

One highlight came on October 30, 2022, when Walker threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium; the longest air-yardage completed pass of the season (55.4 yards) before a penalty nullified it.[8][6]

Walker made two starts across four appearances for the Cleveland Browns in 2023.[6] In 2024, he appeared in the Seattle Seahawks' preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns at Lumen Field on August 24.[9][10] He later joined the Chicago Bears' practice squad.[11]

Sources

1. Calgary Stampeders, "Stampeders sign quarterback P.J. Walker", February 11, 2025, https://stampeders.com/2025/02/11/stampeders-sign-quarterback-p-j-walker/
2. Fox News Digital, "P.J. Walker joins a growing list of players stepping away from football", January 2026 (publication date approximate based on draft context), https://www.foxnews.com/sports
3. CFL.ca, "Stampeders add veteran QB P.J. Walker", February 11, 2025, https://www.cfl.ca/2025/02/11/stampeders-sign-quarterback-p-j-walker/
4. Temple Owls Athletics, "P.J. Walker - 2016 - Football", accessed October 2024, https://owlsports.com/sports/football/roster/p-j--walker/7154
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com, "P.J. Walker College Stats", accessed October 2024, https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/pj-walker-1.html
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com, "P.J. Walker NFL & AFL Football Statistics", accessed October 2024, https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WalkPJ00.htm
7. XFL Official Site (archived), "2020 XFL Stats - P.J. Walker", 2020, https://xfl.com/stats
8. NFL.com, "P.J. Walker's 67-yard bomb to Cordarrelle Patterson is longest air-yardage pass of the season", October 31, 2022, https://www.nfl.com/news/p-j-walker-s-67-yard-bomb-to-cordarrelle-patterson-is-longest-air-yardage-pass-of-the-season
9. NFL.com, "Seahawks vs. Browns Preseason Week 3 Boxscore", August 24, 2024, https://www.nfl.com/games/seattle-seahawks-at-cleveland-browns-preseason-week-3-2024-08-24/
10. Seattle Seahawks, "Seahawks-Browns Preseason Game Notes", August 24, 2024, https://www.seahawks.com/news/game-notes-seahawks-vs-browns-2024-preseason-week-3
11. Chicago Bears, "Bears sign QB P.J. Walker to practice squad", August 29, 2024, https://www.chicagobears.com/news/bears-sign-qb-p-j-walker-to-practice-squad-claim-te-bronson-tuuvao