CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders announced on Monday that they have signed quarterback P.J. Walker.
The Stampeders acquired the negotiation-list rights to the five-foot-11, 221-pound pivot in a Sept. 26 trade with the Toronto Argonauts. Walker then signed with the Stampeders on Oct. 8 and spent the final three weeks of the 2024 season on Calgary’s practice roster.
“Calgary is a beautiful city with a great football culture and a great fanbase,” said Walker. “The opportunity to continue to grow as a player and compete helped me make my decision to sign with the Stampeders.”
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“We made the trade for P.J. for a reason,” said Stampeders general manager and head coach Dave Dickenson. “We’re doing everything we can to make our team better and that includes having a strong quarterback room. P.J. is going to be a big part of that.”
An Elizabeth, N.J., product, Walker played 21 National Football League games from 2020 to 2023 and made nine starts – seven for the Carolina Panthers and two for the Cleveland Browns. He completed 185 of 339 passes for 2,135 yards and six touchdowns while rushing 31 times for 80 yards.
He led the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks to a 5-0 record in 2020 and was leading the league with 1,338 passing yards and 15 touchdowns when the season was cancelled because of the global pandemic.
In college, Walker played 49 games and made 47 starts over four years at Temple and finished his collegiate career as the Owls’ all-time leader in completions (830), passing yards (10,668) and touchdown passes (74).
Walker was the most outstanding player in the 2016 American Athletic Conference championship game (a 34-10 win over Navy) and was the first Temple quarterback to lead the school to multiple bowl-game appearances.
For his university career, Walker completed 830 of 1,456 passes for 74 touchdowns and also had 342 carries for 763 yards and nine majors.