Arizona Cardinals 2010 season Skelton was selected by the
Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the
2010 NFL draft. He was signed on July 14. After
Matt Leinart was released, he was named the third-string quarterback for the Cardinals. Skelton's first NFL game experience was a 2010 preseason game against the
Houston Texans where he led the Cardinals to two touchdown drives in two possessions as Arizona rallied for a victory. He completed five passes out of six attempts for 84 yards and achieved a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Skelton entered in the fourth quarter of a game against the
St. Louis Rams to make his NFL debut, and he completed three of his six passes for 45 yards with a passer rating of 75.0. The Cardinals still failed to win, losing to the Rams 19–6. Skelton was named the starting quarterback thereafter. In his first career NFL start, Skelton led the Cardinals to a 43–13 victory over the
Denver Broncos, snapping a seven-game losing streak for the Cardinals. He completed 15 of his 37 passes with 146 passing yards. He was nominated for Rookie of the Week after this game, but
Rob Gronkowski of the
New England Patriots wound up winning the award. In Skelton's third NFL start, on Christmas Day, he led the game-winning drive, bringing the Cardinals in field goal range where
Jay Feely was able to kick the game winning
field goal. The Cardinals won 27–26 against the
Dallas Cowboys. Skelton would lose the last game of the season against the
San Francisco 49ers for the Cardinals throwing both a touchdown pass and an interception. He would finish his rookie season with two touchdown passes and two interceptions, a total of 662 passing yards, and a QB rating of 62.3.
2011 season In
2011, Skelton stepped into the starting quarterback position for an injured
Kevin Kolb. He helped end the Cardinals' six-game losing streak in his first game as starter against the
St. Louis Rams in week 9, winning 19–13. For the rest of 2011 he threw for 1,913 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 68.9. Skelton started seven games in total and the team had a 5–2 record during his starts.
2012 season On August 31, 2012, Skelton was named the starting quarterback for the Cardinals for game one against the
Seattle Seahawks on September 9. Shortly after, Skelton lost his job due to an ankle injury in week 1. He started four games following Kolb's injury before being benched in favor of 6th round rookie
Ryan Lindley. Skelton started one more game due to poor play from Lindley only before being benched for the season after a four interception performance in a rematch against the Seahawks on week 14. On April 1, 2013, Skelton was released.
Cincinnati Bengals On April 3, 2013, the
Cincinnati Bengals claimed Skelton off waivers. Skelton was waived by the Bengals on August 31, 2013.
San Francisco 49ers On October 2, 2013, Skelton was signed by the
San Francisco 49ers. He was waived on October 9 after the 49ers acquired
McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Tennessee Titans On November 18, 2013, Skelton was signed by the
Tennessee Titans. Skelton was waived by the Titans on December 17, 2013.
Montreal Alouettes On February 6, 2015, Skelton was signed by the
Montreal Alouettes of the
Canadian Football League. He was released in May 2015. The
Montreal Gazette reported that "Three days of rookie training camp undoubtedly taught the Alouettes some things – namely, quarterback John Skelton couldn’t make the transition to Canadian Football League play." ==Career statistics==