After two seasons as a regular along the Texans’ defensive interior, Roy Lopezis now eligible to find a new home. Houston waived the former sixth-rounder from injured reserve, as noted by KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Lopez, who has been dealing with a strained hamstring, negotiated a four-week injury settlement as part of the move which will see him hit the waiver wire on Monday. If he goes unclaimed, he will be free to sign anywhere as a free agent. Wilson adds that the 26-year-old is drawing interest from multiple teams, so he will likely not need to wait long to find a new home.
The Arizona product has logged 29 starts across his 33 appearances in Houston. With snap shares of 46% and 48% during that time, his absence will certainly be noticeable this season on a new-look Texans defense. DeMeco Ryans‘ squad has seen a number of changes take place along the defensive interior, including the arrivals of Sheldon Rankins and Hassan Ridgeway in free agency. Their presence will go a long way in making up for Lopez’s lost playing time.
The latter has recorded similar production in each of his two campaigns to date, totaling 67 tackles (including 11 for loss), two sacks and nine QB pressures. Those numbers has not resulted in high PFF evaluations so far, however, with tackling issues representing a cause for poor overall grades. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how many teams are prepared to put in a waiver claim on Lopez or show interest in adding him via free agency.
Of course, a reunion with the Texans could still be possible, but that would require Lopez remaining on the open market for the course of the four-week period. Houston also moved on from offensive lineman Keaton Sutherlandvia an injury settlement, after the latter suffered an adductor strain.
The Texans are in the midst of a rebuild, but that doesn’t make their roster decisions any easier. The organization ultimately settled on 53 players today:
Three veteran tight ends were let go in Mason Schreck, Eric Tomlinson, and Nick Vannett. Vannett has the most epxerience of the bunch, having seen time in 86 career games. He spent the 2022 seasons with the Giants and Saints, hauling in six catches. Tomlinson has appeared in 85 career games, including 34 over the past two seasons. He started 12 of his 17 appearances for Denver in 2022, serving mostly as an extra blocker.
Adam Humphries was an 800-yard receiver with the Buccaneers in 2018, but he’s compiled only 985 yards in three years since. He didn’t get into a game during the 2022 season, but he did haul in 41 catches for Washington in 2021.
The Lions made a minor trade for Mims earlier this month, ending the former second-round pick’s unremarkable Jets tenure. But Mims struggled to catch on in Detroit as well. The Baylor alum is now headed toward free agency, should no one claim him. The Lions waived Mims with an injury designation, due to the fourth-year wideout encountering multiple ailments.
Parker landed on IR earlier this month. The Raiders will cut their former third-round pick loose. Depending on the terms of the settlement, Parker could return to the Raiders later this year. The sixth-year veteran could also land elsewhere, as this transaction will move him off Las Vegas’ IR. But the 32-game Raiders starter missed all of last season due to injury and moved out of the right tackle competition via injury once again this year.
The Eagles have circled back to Johnson quickly. After cutting the fifth-year veteran Wednesday, the defending NFC champions have him back in the fold on a two-year contract. The 26-year-old lineman had recently been promoted to second-team left tackle. Johnson started eight games for the Bengals from 2019-21.
Ta’amu and Laulile become the 55th and 56th players from the 2023 XFL season to sign an NFL contract. Ta’amu has spent time with five different NFL squads since going undrafted out of Ole Miss in 2019. In 2022, Ta’amu lead the USFL in both passing yards and touchdowns. In this past XFL season, Ta’amu was awarded Offensive Player of the Year honors for his efforts in DC. After gaining starting experience in the USFL and XFL over the past two years, Ta’amu will hope to make his first NFL appearance with his sixth NFL team.
Andrews joins Philadelphia as a potentially strong depth piece on the offensive line. The seven-year veteran has played 48 games over the years with five different teams, so rejoining the Eagles, even with a new staff from when he left, shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Last year, he started five of the six games he played with the Saints.
18 teams had their seasons come to an end yesterday, and their front offices have already turned the page to the 2023 NFL seaon. This started today, as a number of players were signed to reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts:
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These 49ers, Cardinals, Rams and Seahawks moves are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.