The Houston Texans were, at one point, a speculative landing spot for Baker Mayfield. Now, a former Texans quarterback has joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to ostensibly replace Mayfield for an undetermined amount of time.
“Bucs are signing veteran QB Brett Rypien to their practice squad, giving them a third healthy quarterback while Baker Mayfield is sidelined,” Fox Sports’ Greg Auman reported on X on September 29. “He played for Rams in 2023 when Zac Robinson was the QBs coach there, so has some familiarity with the offense.”
Auman compared Rypien, a college free agent in 2020, to Easton Stick in a follow-up post.
“Took three snaps with Bengals last year,” Auman said. “He’s 30, has a 2-2 record as an NFL starter, four career TDs, nine INTs. First career passes came against Bucs in 2020.”
Buccaneers Sign Former Texans QB Brett Rypien
The Buccaneers will turn to rookie undrafted free agent Jalon Daniels in Mayfield’s stead. However, Rypien has an outside chance of seeing the field as QB3.
“Easton Stick, likely elevated from the practice squad, should be the Bucs’ QB2 this week behind Jalon Daniels,” Auman said in another follow-up. “Brett Rypien is just joining the team and would be emergency depth Sunday.”
The Texans turned to Rypien with a similar plan in mind.
Rypien completed 57.6% of his passes for 145 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions in two preseason games with the Texans.
The Texans notably remain without a third quarterback on their roster. They lost 2024 sixth-round pick Graham Mertz to a season-ending knee injury. That was the impetus for bringing Rypien in. They cut ties with the now-Bucs QB and his replacement, Mark Gronowski.
The Texans will not face the Buccaneers this season, barring a run to the Super Bowl.
Both teams are 0-3 on the season. That makes such a meeting an unlikely occurrence, even when projecting this far out from the big game.
Former Texans Quarterback Joins Buccaneers Amid Baker Mayfield Injury