After a year of not playing football while legal trouble stemming from an August 2025 arrest hung around him, two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, Shaq Mason, has been cleared by the NFL to continue his journey.

Mason, who had been a starter for all of his NFL career, with 147 starts in 152 games that he played as an offensive guard, sat out the entirety of 2025. He was arrested on August 27, 2025, in Franklin, Tennessee, on charges of aggravated assault, along with three other charges, including aggravated burglary, harassment, and driving on a suspended license. While the first two were felonies, the other two were regarded as misdemeanors. But all of the charges lodged against him have since been dropped.

“Veteran G Shaq Mason has been informed by the NFLPA he will not be disciplined by the NFL,” Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reported on X on September 4. “And the investigation into his legal matters from 2025 has been closed, per his agent Deryk Gilmore. Mason is free to sign with and play for a team immediately.”

Garafolo further reported that, according to Mason’s attorney, Worrick Robinson, all the charges against Mason in the case were dropped in April.

Per WKRN.com, according to an affidavit filed in the Williamson County General Sessions court, the Franklin Police Department received a call from a Clare Park Drive home, where they were told that Mason allegedly hit a woman in the face.

According to the affidavit, Mason had allegedly broken into the house without the woman’s permission, and she reportedly said that he knew he “was not welcomed inside the residence.”

The incident took place at around 3:11 am. Mason reportedly knew the code to the woman’s bedroom door and entered the woman’s bedroom. He then allegedly choked her and also took her necklace as well. He then reportedly punched her in the face and later put his arm around the woman’s neck, applying pressure.

Officers also found a screenshot of a text message from Mason to the woman. The message appeared to be a screenshot of blue light emitting from the rear window of his car, along with Mason’s face, in what appeared to be a selfie, with a message written as “I’m gonna kill you,” according to the affidavit. He was later arrested and booked on a $150,000 bond.

Police officers also stated in the affidavit that they saw a “fresh laceration” on the woman’s bottom lip during the investigation.

But all charges have since been dropped, opening the path for his potential return to the NFL.

From Fourth-Round Pick to Super Bowl Winner: Shaq Mason’s NFL Story

Being a fourth-round No. 131 overall pick from the 2015 NFL Draft by the Patriots, Shaq Mason achieved twice what every professional football player dreams of during their career, winning the Super Bowl in the 2016 and 2018 seasons, that too with the GOAT himself, Tom Brady.

But his skill set didn’t appear suddenly; instead, it came from his highly illustrious high school career, where he served two years as a captain of the Columbia Central High School team, also helping them reach the state 5A title games in 2009 and 2010, winning the title in 2010, and was also an All-American in 2014 at Georgia Tech.

After a seven-year stint with the Patriots, Mason was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2022, where he played for a year before being traded to the Houston Texans for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was later released in March 2025 to free up salary cap space.

Now that he’s back on the free-agent market, it is important to evaluate whether he could reunite with the Texans. With rookie Keylan Rutledge and veteran Ed Ingram being the starting guards, and free-agent signing Wyatt Teller and rookie Febechi Nwaiwu as their backups, Mason could see a practice squad spot at best.

While Mason will probably not be in his prime, being away from professional reps for a year and turning 33 recently, he can be the proven veteran presence a team needs and also be a depth option. For now, even a practice squad spot could be a good opportunity to restart his NFL career.