A.J. McCarron led the Battlehawks to a 7-3 record by passing for 2,150 yards and 24 touchdowns last season. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Jason Barnes
Staff Writer

Now that many of the offseason issues have been taken care of — the two spring football leagues merged into one, the Dispersal Drafts were held, and the 2024 season schedule has been announced — St. Louis Battlehawks fans are now focused on one issue that’s been lingering for the team all offseason.

Will star quarterback A.J. McCarron return to St. Louis to play another season?

Training camp will begin in less than a month, and to this point, no one is sure if McCarron will play this year.

Last year, McCarron was one of the top players in the XFL. He completed 203-of-295 passes for 2,150 yards and 24 touchdowns.

His completion percentage was 68.8 percent, which was the best in the league, and the yardage total and touchdowns were both second-best.

Those numbers earned McCarron a chance with the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL, where he was a backup QB for much of last fall.

McCarron had been out of football before joining the Battlehawks last year. He took a pay cut to do so, so his sons could see him play.

Now the question is, does McCarron want to do it again? This time though, he’d have to do it in the newly formed United Football League, which has some new rules McCarron is concerned about.

McCarron sat down with Matty Fresh of Springball Boulevard to discuss the merger of the XFL-USFL, what concerns he has about the new league and if he would return.

Below are some key takeaways from the interview:

McCarron Concerns Over Player Union, Pay

McCarron voiced concerns over the regarding pay and how contracts would be structured differently in the UFL compared to the XFL last year.

“Everybody works for money, right? Listen, I understand. I love the game. I took a pay cut last year and played in the XFL and was really doing it for my boys, but at the same time, playing well and knowing what you are risking at the same time for the amount of money. The fact that I got back to that point, I would say for the entire league and the guys that have reached out to me, there’s a lot of guys that are worried that basically the pay got cut from a contract standpoint. There’s no win bonus. Things like that.”

McCarron did take time to reach out UFL executives including Russ Brandon, Daryl “Moose” Johnston and Doug Whaley to express concerns and ideas regarding the league. He shared that he wanted each team to have a representative for each team to speak to the executives about ideas on how to improve the league.

McCarron was also concerned the players union that UFL players would have to be part of. USFL players voted to unionize with the Steelworkers prior to the 2023 season, while the XFL players voted against a players union. Now as part of the UFL contract, XFL players have concerns about signing the contracts as they would have to join the union and pay dues.

“I understand they needed to cut costs, but I felt like there was a better way. If us as players weren’t a union with the Steelworkers union, we had a voice from each team and went and spoke to ownership of the UFL ourselves, we would have gotten more out of this.”

Players will be getting a stipend of $1,600 a month, with players reaching out to McCarron about not being able to afford living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at that rate. Players will also have the option to live in the team hotel, but the cost of that would be over $3,500 a month without any special discounts.

McCarron did mention the league hired a third-party company to help players, but still had concerns with the idea of a union. He felt the USFL players should have been more patient with unionizing, saying the UFL should grow first and have individual owners for each team before unionizing.

Will McCarron Return for 2024 UFL Season?

The interview concluded with what McCarron was going to do for the 2024 season. He had brought up that a decision had not been made and he would make one in the next couple of days.

“I’m still talking with my agent, family, and still deciding what is the best route for me. Listen, I absolutely love St. Louis. There’s only one team I would come back and play for and that’s St. Louis, Coach (Anthony) Becht. He’s an unbelievable head coach.”

The Battlehawks will begin the new season on March 30, when they’ll go on the road to play the Michigan Panthers.

The home opener is scheduled for April 6 at the Dome at America’s Center against the Arlington Renegades.

2024 ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS SCHEDULE

DATETimeTeams (Away at. Home)NETWORK
Saturday, March 303:00 PMSt. Louis Battlehawks at Michigan PanthersFOX
Saturday, April 67:00 PMArlington Renegades at St. Louis BattlehawksABC
Sunday, April 142:00 PMSt. Louis Battlehawks at San Antonio BrahmasABC
Saturday, April 2011:30 AMMemphis Showboats at  St. Louis BattlehawksABC
Sunday, April 2811:00 AMSt. Louis Battlehawks at D.C. DefendersESPN
Saturday, May 42:00 PMHouston Roughnecks at St. Louis BattlehawksFOX
Saturday, May 113:00 PMSt. Louis Battlehawks at Birmingham StallionsFOX
Sunday, May 1911:00 AMD.C. Defenders at St. Louis BattlehawksABC
Saturday, May 2511:00 AMSt. Louis Battlehawks at Arlington RenegadesABC
Saturday, June 13:00 PMSan Antonio Brahmas at St. Louis BattlehawksFOX
Saturday, June 82:00 PMConference ChampionshipABC
Saturday, June 8TBAConference ChampionshipFOX
Sunday, June 16TBAUFL Championship GameFOX