Shaq Mason's return to the league just got a green light. The veteran guard has been informed by the NFLPA that the NFL is closing the book on his 2025 legal matter with no discipline attached, clearing him to sign and suit up for a team immediately.
Veteran G Shaq Mason has been informed by the NFLPA he will not be disciplined by the NFL and the investigation into his legal matters from 2025 has been closed, per his agent @DerykGilmore. Mason is free to sign with and play for a team immediately.
The case stemmed from an arrest last August in Tennessee. Mason's attorney, Worrick Robinson, says all charges from that arrest were actually dropped back in April 2026 — the NFL's clearance is really just the league catching up to what the courts had already decided months ago.
Mason’s attorney Worrick Robinson says all charges against Mason from an August 2025 arrest were dropped in April.
For a guy with Mason's resume, this is a real story around the league even in a quiet news cycle. He's a two-time Super Bowl champion who spent 7 seasons anchoring New England's line after the Patriots took him in the 4th round back in 2015, good enough that they handed him a 5-year, $50 million extension in 2018.
He's been on the move since — a trade to Tampa Bay, then three years in Houston, where the Texans cut him loose in March 2025 in a post-June 1 release that saved them cap money down the line. He hadn't played since, and this legal cloud is a big part of why nobody had signed him.
That cloud is gone now. Mason is repped by agent Deryk Gilmore, and per Aaron Wilson there's already real interest from around the league — makes sense for a guy who's started 35 straight games when healthy and has a Super Bowl pedigree at a position teams are always short on depth.
Don't be shocked if this moves fast. Rosters that got dinged up on the offensive line in camp or Week 1 now have a proven veteran guard sitting on the open market with zero red tape attached — and after a year away, Mason's got every incentive to jump on the first legit offer.