Houston Texans sign veteran Canadian-American quarterback Brett Rypien

Photo courtesy: Andy Kenutis/Minnesota Vikings

The Houston Texans have signed Canadian-American quarterback Brett Rypien to their training camp roster.

The move comes after projected third-stringer Graham Mertz suffered a torn ACL that will cause him to miss the entire season. Starter C.J. Stroud and backup Davis Mills are the other two quarterbacks on the roster.

Rypien was born in Spokane, Wash., but is eligible for dual citizenship. He is the nephew of Calgary, Alta., native Mark Rypien, who spent 15 seasons at quarterback in the NFL and was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXVI.

The six-foot-two, 202-pound passer started his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Denver Broncos in 2019. He spent four seasons there, throwing for 778 yards, four touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He went 2-1 as a starter.

Rypien spent the 2023 season between the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and New York Jets, seeing action in two games with the Rams. He threw for 172 yards and one interception, going 0-1 as a starter.

The 30-year-old spent the entire 2024 season as a backup with the Minnesota Vikings, though he didn’t take any regular-season snaps. He split the 2025 campaign between the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Vikings, but dressed for just a single game.

In total, Rypien has completed 58.3 percent of his passes for 950 yards, four touchdowns, and nine interceptions over seven NFL seasons, earning just over $5.7 million.

A four-year starter at Boise State University, Rypien passed for 13,578 yards with 90 touchdowns and 29 interceptions at the collegiate level. He was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference three times and was once the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Rypien’s exclusive rights cannot be claimed by a CFL team because he has never gone through the draft process.