With the NFL teams making their roster cuts for the 2024 season Tuesday, plenty of moves followed on Wednesday. And the latest word on the street is the Jacksonville Jaguars are helping Trevor Lawrence with a weapon the Kansas City Chiefs decided not to have around Patrick Mahomes.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Jaguars are finalizing a deal to sign running back Louis Rees-Zammit, who was released by the Chiefs after spending training camp in Kansas City.
The former rugby union star will therefore get another chance to prove his worth in the NFL after switching to football this summer. The Welsh got his first taste in the league with none other than the reigning champs, but in the end, the Chiefs didn’t look impressed enough to count on him as a possible weapon for Mahomes in 2024.
Rees-Zammit, however, will get to try his luck in the league with another exciting quarterback. Lawrence has yet to fulfill his potential in Jacksonville, with an offense that made strides in the last two seasons but has so far struggled to succeed.
Rees-Zammit’s path before embarking on NFL journey
The 23-year-old spent six seasons as a wing/full-back for rugby union side Gloucester in the English Premiership, where his impressive performances caught the eye of the Welsh national team.
Rees-Zammit earned 32 caps with Wales, scoring 14 tries on the international stage. Though his rugby career looked promising with an early success in the 2021 Six Nations followed by a call-up to the British & Irish Lions and a Rugby World Cup participation in 2023, he decided to quit the sport in 2024 to pursue a career in the NFL.
After declaring for the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program in January, Rees-Zammit joined the Chiefs as a running back and worked on special teams during training camp. In the end, he didn’t make the cut to play with Mahomes. But the Jags are now giving him another chance to help Lawrence reach new heights.