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Ex-Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit has been thrown a lifeline as he continues to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL.
Rumours quickly swirled that the 24-year-old could return to rugby union after his contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars concluded.
However, his hopes of finally making his NFL debut have been boosted after he signed an active roster deal with the Jaguars for the forthcoming 2025 season.
Rees-Zammit joins Jaguars’ active roster
Rees-Zammit initially joined the Kansas City Chiefs and spent time in their training camp before signing to Jacksonville’s practice squad last August having made the career switch through the NFL’s International Player Pathway (IPP) Program.
While he was a running back at the Chiefs when he made the move to Jacksonville, he was listed as a wide receiver and has signed on in the same position for the 2025 season.
“I’m excited to extend my stay in Jacksonville by signing for another year,” the ex-Wales winger said in a statement issued by the Jaguars.
“While I know it was a tough season on the field for the team, I think I made some great progress with my own game and I’m looking forward to continuing the hard work and advancing my skills even more, and believe that Jacksonville is the place for me to do that.”
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NFL teams are permitted to start training camps with up to 90 players and Rees-Zammit will now look to stake his claim and earn his spot in the active squad by the end of the pre-season, when teams cut down to 53 players.
The move from the practice squad to the active roster is effectively a promotion for the ex-Wales and Gloucester flyer as he continues his bid to realise his dream.
Rees-Zammit will fancy his chances of making the cut before the end of the pre-season particularly because the Jaguars will have a new head coach after Doug Pederson was fired at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.
The Jaguars endured a poor campaign from his side in which they won just four matches and lost 13.
He has since been replaced by Liam Coen who was previously the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Offensive coordinator.
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Positional switch
In October last year, Rees-Zammit said that he believed that his positional switch from running back to wide receiver would bolster his chances.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out at the Chiefs, playing running back we figured out that wasn’t the best position for me,” he told reporters.
“Coming here and the Jags giving me the opportunity to play receiver – I feel like that position suits me more. It allows me to use my speed a lot more than at running back.”
When Rees-Zammit’s contract with the Jaguars expired at the end of last season, he was touted for a return to rugby and reportedly weighed up his options.
READ MORE: Warren Gatland gives his thoughts on Louis Rees-Zammit’s rugby union future after NFL stint
