Roy Lopez holds the NT · Starter spot in Arizona Cardinals’s nose tackle room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Roy Lopez played 17 games in 2025 with a 39% snap share.

Roy Lopez is a nose tackle for the Arizona Cardinals. The Tempe native attended Mesquite High School in Gilbert before playing college football at the University of Arizona, where he started all five games as a graduate student in 2020. Houston selected Lopez in the sixth round (195th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. He appeared in 17 games across two seasons with the Texans (2021-22), then signed with Arizona's practice squad in 2023 before joining the active roster. After one season with Detroit in 2025—where he appeared in all 17 games and recorded 2.0 sacks—Lopez returned to the Cardinals on a two-year contract in 2026. Through five NFL seasons, he has 167 tackles, 5.0 sacks, and 21 tackles for loss across 80 games.

Arizonathrough 2020

Texans2021 – 2022

Cardinals2023 – 2024

Lions2025

Cardinalspresent

CollegeArizonaDraftRound 6 · No. 195 overall · 2021 · HOUAcquiredAcquired from Houston Texans · drafted thereHometownTempe, AZ