The Houston Texans signed veteran Brett Rypien to a contract on Saturday and placed fellow quarterback Graham Mertz on season-ending injured reserve.
The move comes two days after Mertz tore his ACL during the Texans’ 27-7 preseason loss to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
Rypien, 30, will be the third quarterback on the depth chart behind starter C.J. Stroud and veteran backup Davis Mills.
Rypien has made four NFL starts since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019 with the Denver Broncos. He has passed for 950 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions in 11 games with the Broncos, Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
Rypien played college football at Boise State and holds the Mountain West career passing yardage record of 13,578. He is the nephew of Mark Rypien, who played 11 NFL seasons (1988-97, 2001) for five teams and was MVP of Super Bowl XXVI for Washington.
A sixth-round draft pick in 2025, Mertz sustained a knee injury during a scramble late in the second quarter. Before leaving, he completed 4 of 7 passes for 23 yards.
Mertz, 25, spent most of his rookie season on the injured list. He dealt with a leg injury during his senior season at Florida.
Mertz, who played at Wisconsin (2019-22) and Florida (2023-24), did not appear in a regular-season game in 2025.