Texans Officially Make 20 Roster Moves

The Houston Texans activated several players from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday for Week 17, according to Aaron Wilson. 

The full list includes:

1. K Ka’imi Fairbairn
2. WR Brandin Cooks
3. OL Justin Britt
4. G Lane Taylor
5. LB Kamu Grugier-Hill
6. OLB Jordan Jenkins
7. DB Eric Murray
8. LB Neville Hewitt
9. DL Roy Lopez
10. DE Derek Rivers
11. DT Jaleel Johnson
12. DE Jonathan Greenard 
13. LB Eric Wilson

Other roster moves from the Texans:

• Texans placed WR Phillip Dorsett and C Cole Toner on injured reserve.
• Texans placed LB Ron’Dell Carter, WR Chris Moore and K Dominik Eberle on the COVID-19 list.
• Texans signed OL Sam Cooper to their practice squad.
• Texans activated DB Cre’Von LeBlanc from the practice squad COVID-19 list.

Cooks, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Saints back in 2014. He was entering the final year of his four-year, $8.4 million contract when he was traded to the Patriots in 2017. 

New England later picked up his fifth-year option for the 2018 season before trading him to the Rams for first- and sixth-round picks. From there, Cooks agreed to a five-year extension worth $81 million with Los Angeles only to be traded to the Texans last year. 

Cooks is set to make base salaries of $2.5 million and $12.5 million over the next two seasons. His deal voids after the 2022 season, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2023. 

In 2021, Cooks has appeared in 14 games for the Texans and caught 80 passes for 945 yards receiving and five touchdowns to go along with 21 yards rushing.

Johnson, 27, was a fourth-round pick of the Vikings in 2017 out of Iowa. He played out the final year of his four-year, $3.07 million contract that included a $678,360 signing bonus.

Johnson was testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career and signed on with the Texans back in April. However, Houston released him during final cuts.

The Saints signed Johnson to their practice squad, but he later opted to join the Texans a few weeks into the regular season. 

In 2021, Johnson has appeared in 11 games for the Texans and recorded 21 tackles, no sacks and a fumble recovery.