Former Auburn quarterback John Franklin III has signed with the Edmonton Elks, the Canadian Football League team announced on Wednesday.

Franklin spent the past two seasons in the USFL, although he played in only one game for the Memphis Showboats in 2023 before going on injured reserve.

Franklin completed 14-of-26 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and ran for 430 yards and two TDs for Auburn in 2016 after joining the Tigers from East Mississippi Community College, where he was featured on the first season of the Netflix reality show “Last Chance U.”

Franklin switched from quarterback to wide receiver during spring practice in 2017 and caught four passes in the A-Day Game. But Franklin did not play for Auburn in 2017 as he transferred to Florida Atlantic.

Franklin played primarily wide receiver at FAU. In 2017, he had seven receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown, 16 rushing attempts for 229 yards and two touchdowns and one pass completion for a 49-yard gain.

Franklin caught on with the Chicago Bears after auditioning as a tryout player at rookie minicamp in 2018. A cornerback for Chicago, Franklin spent time on the Bears’ practice squad before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad on Nov. 13, 2019.

In Franklin’s only NFL regular-season appearance, the Bucs used him as a wildcat quarterback in the 2019 regular-season finale. He took the first two snaps of the second half and ran for 11 yards on his first NFL rushing attempt.

In 2020, Tampa Bay switched Franklin from cornerback to wide receiver, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp.

In 2021, the Buccaneers released Franklin as they began to reduce their preseason roster to the regular-season limit.

With the Tampa Bay Bandits in 2022, Franklin had 14 receptions for 170 yards and three touchdowns, 12 rushing attempts for 34 yards and nine kickoff returns for a 24.7-yard average.

Last year, Franklin had an 11-yard reception, an 8-yard run and a 36-yard kickoff return in his only game for the Showboats.

CFL teams open training camps in May. Edmonton will kick off its 75th season on June 8 with a home game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Elks went 4-14 in 2023 and finished last in the CFL’s West Division.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.