The other shoe dropped for AJ McCarron on Friday when the St. Louis Battlehawks announced the former Alabama All-American was returning to the team for another spring season.

The announcement followed Wednesday’s announcement by the Cincinnati Bengals that the NFL team had released the quarterback, making him a free agent able to sign immediately with any club.

As the St. Louis QB last season, McCarron led the XFL in touchdown passes, completion percentage and passing-efficiency rating.

St. Louis was among four XFL franchises that joined four USFL franchises to form the United Football League. The UFL teams start training camp later this month, and the inaugural season kicks off on March 30.

The Bengals signed McCarron for their practice squad on Sept. 23. When starting quarterback Joe Burrow sustained a torn ligament in his right wrist in Cincinnati’s 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16, McCarron moved into the backup role for Jake Browning for the remainder of the season.

In two games, McCarron completed 4-of-5 passes for 19 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions for the Bengals in 2023.

For the Battlehawks last year, McCarron completed 203-of-295 passes for 2,150 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in nine games.

An All-State football and baseball player at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, McCarron served as the starting quarterback for two BCS national-championship teams at Alabama. While with the Crimson Tide, McCarron won the Maxwell Award, finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and set the Crimson Tide’s career records for passing yards and yards of total offense, among other marks.

A fifth-round draft choice of the Bengals in 2014, McCarron played with Cincinnati, the Oakland Raiders and the Houston Texans in the NFL before he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an Atlanta Falcons’ preseason game on Aug. 21, 2021.

McCarron was out of football after the injury until joining the Battlehawks.

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