Need To Know! Meet New Cardinals’ Dt Roy Lopez Iii

After losing 26 games in the past two seasons, the Arizona Cardinals had a ton of holes to fill. Some of it would come in April’s NFL draft, while the remainder would become solid in this year’s free agency.

And now, here it is: 2026 NFL free agency tampering period. Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort has been very busy with several key signings.

One thing he needed to address was the defensive tackle. Calais Campbell is a free agent, and so far, no news of him inking another one-year deal. Last year’s first-round rookie Walter Nolen looked pretty good – when he wasn’t hurt. Dalvin Tomlinson was released. P.J. Mustipher is an exclusive rights free agent, so he may be in camp this year. Or not.

RELATED: CARDINALS FREE AGENCY TRACKER

So, Ossenfort wasted no time in bringing in quality help. He brought back DT Roy Lopez, III and inked him to a two-year, $11.5 million deal with $7 million in guaranteed money.

Sound familiar? To any Cardinals fan, yeah. Yeah, he sounds familiar. He should. He played for Arizona back in 2023 and 2024, then scooted to the Detroit Lions last year. So, maybe it is like divorcing your partner and then marrying them again? Whatever analogy you have, Lopez III (6’-2”, 312 pounds) is back in the building.

He is just 28 years old, so he has a ton of football left in him. Lopez III left the Cardinals and signed a one-year deal with the Lions in last year’s free agency period. With Detroit, he had 30 total tackles with two sacks.

What is Lopez III’s story? How can he help this Cardinals defense?

Beginnings

Lopez III is homegrown. He grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, and went to Mesquite High School.

He was already 6’-3” tall and weighed 295 pounds, so football was perfect for him. He was always the biggest kid. When he signed up for football at the age of eight, they placed him with the eighth graders because of his size, and they didn’t want him to hurt little kids.

His father, Roy Jr., is a longtime football coach, spending 33 years at the high school level in the State of Arizona and twice named Coach of the Year.

Lopez III could bench 395 pounds, clean jerk 355, and squat 565. Needless to say, Lopez III was very strong. He played defensive tackle and center. In his senior season, he totaled 53 sacks with six sacks and 17 tackles for loss.

Lopez, III, was named to the honor roll several years in a row. He is one of three siblings, but the only male. He was a wrestling star, going 113-3 in his high school years and a two-time state wrestling champion. He is also known as a high-character player.

Despite being named the “Arizona Defensive Lineman of the Year,” he had few schools interested in him playing football at their program, especially being a two-star recruit, and ended up at New Mexico State to play defensive tackle.

As a freshman, instead of being redshirted, they played him in all 11 games with seven starts. The following year, he was now the full-time starter playing in all 13 contests with 39 tackles. In his junior season, he started all 12 matches and tallied 63 tackles and a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss, plus four sacks, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.

Throughout all of his football seasons at every level, Lopez III had been durable, but in his senior season, he sustained an injury and only played four games. Recorded 11 total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks on the year.

On to the NFL

Lopez III was projected as a Day 3 prospect, and sure enough, he was taken in Round 6 by the Houston Texans. He signed a four-year deal for $3.6 million, which included a $182,836 signing bonus and $182,836 guaranteed.

He had a terrific rookie camp but did not start right away. But in Week 2, he was named the starting DT next to Maliek Collins. Lopez III then started every game with the exception of the Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Chargers due to a soft tissue injury. In his second season, he played in every game with 14 starts.  

In his third training camp, Lopez III suffered a minor hamstring injury that just would not heal properly, so he missed almost every preseason game plus valuable practice sessions. Houston had a new head coach in DeMeco Ryans, who brought in Matt Burke as the DC. They signed DT Sheldon Rankins away from the New York Jets in free agency, who was a seasoned veteran. During camp, Rankins was named the new starting RDT.

On the final cutdown, Lopez III was released. The Texans waived him with an injury designation, but he went unclaimed on waivers and reverted to IR. One month later, the Cardinals signed him to their practice squad and then pulled him up three days later.

He was on the defensive line rotation, so he got plenty of playing time. In his two seasons with Arizona from 2023-2024, Lopez III had 30 games played with 21 starts, 70 total tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 4 QB hits, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble plus 1 fumble recovery, 3 batted passes, 13 pressures, 3 knockdowns, 9 hurries, and 4 missed tackles.

Detroit then signed him in last year’s free agency period to a one-year deal, where he had 30 tackles and 2 sacks.

So, why did the Cardinals bring Lopez III back, and then give him a two-year deal? Two words: Nick Rallis.

Arizona’s DC Rallis was with the team back when Lopez III played here for the first time. He wanted to keep the DT when he meandered off to Detroit for a calendar year. Rallis knew that Lopez III was never going to put up huge numbers and stats, but he is a beast against the run. His Pro Football Focus grade last year was 68.7, not great, but better than most. But more importantly, he will hunt down ballcarriers.

Like most defensive coordinators, Rallis will rotate his defensive line all game long, usually with four guys and sometimes a fifth. This allows his players to get some breathing time and remain hydrated, plus they will have decent legs in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the offensive line never subs in and out during a match.

Detroit fans are not happy with him leaving. They are still questioning why their GM did not sign him to an extension during last season when they had the chance.

Even with all the starts, Lopez III has never played over half the defensive snaps in a game. This is by design so that he isn’t dead tired late in the game. In his two seasons with Arizona, he had 395 snaps (45%) and 467 snaps (46%). Last year with Detroit, those numbers were 425 (39%).

And Lopez III will be making more money. His one-year deal with the Lions was for $3.5 million, and with the two-year contract Ossenfort signed off on, the NFL Network is reporting the package is worth up to $11.5 million if Lopez III checks all the boxes.

Not to mention, Lopez III is a community guy. He loves the state, he loved the Cardinals growing up, and he is now home with a new head coach. He also has his own charity called “The Roy Lopez Foundation,” and he offers a youth football camp each year.

His heritage is Mexican-American. His mother is a Phoenix Police Officer, and his grandfather started the Latino Peace Officers’ Association more than three decades ago.

Social media contacts: Instagram – @roylopez_, and X – @RoyLopez_.