Report: Texans Almost Poach QB Brett Rypien Off Broncos' Practice Squad
The Denver Broncos are experiencing consistent, quality quarterback play for the first time in what feels like many, many moons. Teddy Bridgewater has made long-suffering Broncos fans forget about the depredations of the past five years as he's led the team out to a 3-0 start.
Drew Lock, relegated to being a backup for the first time in his quarterbacking career, serves as a high-upside fail-safe in the event that any injury misfortune should befall Bridgewater. All things considered, the Broncos don't need to keep more than two QBs on the roster but on Tuesday, the team had to make a decision under pressure that saw the active-squad room grow in number.
According to 9NEWS' Mike Klis, the Broncos signed Brett Rypien to the active roster from the practice squad due to an outside team trying to 'poach' him — or in other words, sign him to its active roster. We learned later, per the reporting of KTVB's Jay Tust, that it was the Houston Texans who came very close to swooping Rypien out from under the comfy wing of Broncos' offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Here's what Klis reported:
Once Broncos general manager George Paton was presented the scenario of losing Rypien, he offered a promotion to Denver's 53-man roster.
Rypien was presented with a decision Tuesday and chose to stick with the Broncos rather than move to a new team.
There's little chance Rypien will see the field in Denver but he opted to remain in the Orange and Blue and it's worth wondering why. Although it was ex-OC Rich Scangarello who purportedly fell in love with Rypien as an undrafted prospect out of Boise State in 2019, the current coordinator in Denver has taken a shine to the young quarterback.
Last year, Rypien was pressed into action and called upon to start in the Broncos' Week 4 road game at the New York Jets after Lock had been injured two games prior and the No. 2 — Jeff Driskel — had wilted over four-and-a-half quarters of play. Rypien beat the Jets, giving Vic Fangio his first win of the season and Shurmur his first victory as Broncos' OC.
All in, Rypien has appeared in three games as a Bronco. A four-year starter at Boise State, the QB is known for his big brain and football acumen — traits that coaches are drawn to magnetically.
Rypien remains a Bronco for now but once the perceived din, or demand, for his services around the NFL dies down, it wouldn't be surprising to see him get waived if injuries continue to befall this team. Rostering three quarterbacks is, after all, something of a luxury, especially when a team's top-2 signal-callers are both under age-30.
Meanwhile, the Texans are still navigating their strange existence at the QB position after all of Deshaun Watson's alleged off-field misdeeds came to light. Tyrod Taylor started the season off hot but went down with injury and the team doesn't have a clear timetable for his return.
Rookie Davis Mills is likely to get the nod to start as the Texans seem committed to keeping the wildly expensive Watson on the bench. Rypien would have come in handy but like a rock-and-roll prophet once said, "you can't always get what you want."
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