Blitz
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
- 2,127
- 0
Getty Images
Despite having the season cut short to just five games due to the spread of COVID-19, Houston Roughnecks quarterback P.J. Walker made a strong enough impression to draw interest from NFL teams.
While the exact process of XFL players being made available to the NFL is still unresolved, a handful of teams are apparently already kicking the tires on the possibility. According to Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston, the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos have all contacted the Roughnecks about Walker.
Walker passes for 1,338 yards with 15 touchdowns and four interceptions in his five games for the Roughnecks.
The NFL sent a memo last week to its teams advising that “that they were not permitted to discuss possible employment with players under contract to the XFL” with a reminder that such measures remain in place. However, the note also contained instruction that the league is working to set procedures to enable such movement of players currently under contract with the XFL.
The Seahawks had scouts in attendance to take a look at Walker when Houston played the Seattle Dragons in the last game before the shut down. They don’t currently have a backup to Russell Wilson on the roster as Geno Smith is now an unrestricted free agent. Walker would be an obvious candidate for the job.
Denver and Arizona both already had reserve quarterbacks on their rosters in Brett Rypien and Drew Anderson, respectively. The Broncos also are adding Jeff Driskel to their quarterback roster as well.
The exact nature of the expressed interest in Walker from the teams isn’t clear. Whether any overtures made would conflict with the league advisory also is uncertain. However, whenever the path is cleared for those discussions to move forward, Walker will clearly be a sought after commodity.