Reuben Foster gets new team as UFL waiver claim

Waived by the Houston Roughnecks on Monday, former Alabama All-American Reuben Foster was awarded to the Arlington Renegades on Tuesday.

The Roughnecks released six players on Monday, and Foster and defensive tackle Keonte Schad got new homes in the United Football League as waiver claims, with Schad going to the Michigan Panthers.

Foster was the Class 6A Lineman of the Year and a Parade and Under Armour All-American at Auburn High School in 2012. At Alabama, Foster started for the CFP national championship team in 2015 and earned unanimous All-American recognition and the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker in 2016.

A first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Foster’s football future came into question when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in his left knee during an offseason practice with the Washington Redskins on May 20, 2019.

Foster didn’t play again until he joined the Pittsburgh Maulers for the 2023 USFL season. Pittsburgh wasn’t among the four USFL teams that joined four XFL teams to form the United Football League in 2024, and Fosterwent to the Roughnecks in the UFL dispersal draft.

The UFL transactions report for Tuesday also included two player signings by the Birmingham Stallions with quarterback J’Mar Smith and wide receiver Marlon Williams returning. Williams, a former McGill-Toolen prep star, and Smith have been members of the Stallions’ three league championship teams – the USFL in 2022 and 2023 and UFL in 2024.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.