How Texans' Brett Rypien Signing Changes Their QB Room

The move comes after the Texans suffered a season-ending injury to second-year quarterback Graham Mertz, who went down with a torn ACL in Thursday's preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Along with the move to sign Rypien, the Texans als placed Mertz on injured reserve.

Without Mertz, the Texans were down to just two quarterbacks on their 90-man roster with two weeks of preseason to go: C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills.

Houston was expected to add a quarterback, and now they do in the form of Rypien, a pretty experienced journeyman signal-caller who will now try to find his way to a 53-man roster spot with the Texans.

What Brett Rypien Brings to the Texans

Rypien, 30, has been in the league dating back to 2020, coming out of Boise State with an assortment of teams: the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, and Cincinnati Bengals.

Three other teams have signed him to their practice squad throughout his career, but he's only been active in a total of 11 games throughout his career, along with four starts.

In the games that he has played throughout his NFL career, Rypien has a completion rate of 58.3% in 168 total pass attempts, and has thrown for 950 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Rypien saw his most starts in a single season with the Denver Broncos in 2022. He had a 1-1 record in his time as a starter, and throughout the four games he played that season, he threw for 483 yards on a 60.2% completion rate, paired with two touchdowns and four interceptions.

But he's been in a ton of different situations and quarterback rooms throughout his time in the league: Matt Stafford with the Rams, Joe Burrow with the Bengals. He's even been in the New York Jets' quarterback room for a stint in 2023-24.

And now, after spending the past several months in free agency, Rypien finds his latest stop in Houston just a few weeks before the 2026 season kicks off, joining a quarterback room consisting of C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills.

Where He Fits In Texans' QB Room

Now, while a necessary signing at this point in the preseason, Rypien is by no means locked into a spot on the 53-man roster heading into Week 1.

He'll have the next two weeks of preseason, where he's likely to get a good share of snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders and maybe the Carolina Panthers, to prove that he's a sturdy enough QB3 to make it past the cut at the end of the month.

Tthe Texans, throughout most of last season, did carry three quarterbacks on their roster. Even if that third name on the depth chart––Graham Mertz––wasn't always active on game day, Houston did have that additional depth at the position.

Rypien could be in line to claim that same role, and be a bit more of a veteran option than what they were set to have at QB3 in Mertz, who might've not been locked into his own respective roster spot when healthy in the first place.

So these next couple of weeks mark a big opportunity for Rypien––because if he steps up to the plate and shines, expect the Texans to give him a long look as their QB3 to enter Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.