The Welshman signed a new deal with the NFL franchise earlier this year
12:18, 30 Apr 2025Updated 12:24, 30 Apr 2025
Rees-Zammit has seen his roster status at the Jacksonville Jaguars changed
Louis Rees-Zammit has seen his roster status with the Jacksonville Jaguars change in an overnight announcement by the NFL side.
The former Wales rugby star joined the Jaguars’ practice squad in August last year after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs, who he signed for after progressing through the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) programme. Having changed positions from running back to wide receiver to join the Jags, he spent all of the 2024 season on the practice squad as he continued to learn the ins and outs of the sport.
At the end of the season, Rees-Zammit’s contract was initially not renewed, leaving him as a free agent. However, he was soon offered a new deal by the franchise and, after weighing up his options, he was signed to the pre-season active roster, which has nearly 100 players on it.
In a new announcement, the Jaguars have now confirmed that they have changed the Welshman’s roster status “from Active to Exempt/ International Player”. It comes as the team agreed terms with two undrafted players, who both play in Rees-Zammit’s position of wide receiver.
A Jags statement read: “We have changed WR Louis Rees-Zammit’s roster status from Active to Exempt/International Player. We have agreed to terms with two undrafted free agents: WR Darius Lassiter and WR Dorian Singer.
“The Jaguars currently have 91 players on the roster, including one roster exemption (Rees-Zammit).”
But what does this mean in practice for the 24-year-old?
Under IPP rules brought in in 2024, players who come through the pathway programme are eligible to fill a 17th roster spot on the otherwise-16 man practice squad of any of the 32 NFL teams.
That spot is reserved exclusively for international players and means that they are not available to be signed by any other teams while they are in the practice squad.
It also means that they can be elevated to their side’s active roster up to three times over the course of the season.
However, the international exemption only counts during the off-season ahead of the roster being cut to 53 players, and it does not exist once the regular season gets underway.
Rees-Zammit had been widely expected to fill the Chiefs’ single allotted roster exemption for an international player last year, but that spot ultimately went to Jason “Chu” Godrick, who also came through the IPP to join their practice squad.
His new status change with the Jaguars could mean that he is held in high regard by the coaching staff there and they feel optimistic about his chances of making the 53-man roster, who will now not be able to be poached by another team in the coming months.
However, it could also mean that they are preparing for the eventuality that the Welshman leaves the franchise.
Whatever happens, Rees-Zammit is more determined than ever to succeed in his dream of playing in the NFL, explaining that he is “not ready to give this up” 18 months on from walking away from rugby.
“No, I didn’t give [rugby] up just to leave it after a year,” he told TalkSPORT after signing his new deal with the Jaguars. “That was never really in my head at all.
[The delay in signing the contract] was more I hadn’t really had a break since the Rugby World Cup two years ago, so it was just about refreshing the mind and body, go away for four weeks and then make a decision. I did that and I am forever grateful to Jaguars for offering it to me.”
Rees-Zammit later told BBC Sport Wales: “I’ve never thought about going back to rugby. It hasn’t been in my head that I’m not going to do this. I’ve always wanted this.
“The second it [returning to rugby] creeps into your head you start doubting yourself and that’s not going to happen with me.”