The Houston Texans activated LB Zach Cunningham from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday and designated LB Kevin Pierre-Louis to return from injured reserve, according to Aaron Wilson.
Cunningham, 26, is a former second-round pick of the Texans back in 2017. He was in the final year of his four-year, $4.471 million contract and set to make a base salary of $1.07 million for the 2020 season when he signed a four-year, $58 million extension.
Cunningham was set to make base salaries of $8.5 million and $10 million over the next two seasons when he agreed to a restructured contract back in March to convert $7.51 million of his 2021 base salary into a signing bonus and prorated it over the remaining four years of his deal.
In 2021, Cunningham has appeared in three games and recorded 28 total tackles, no tackles for loss, and one pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 71 overall linebacker out of 78 players.
Pierre-Louis, 29, was originally a fourth-round pick by the Seahawks in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Boston College. The Chiefs later traded LB D.J. Alexander to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Pierre-Louis.
Pierre-Louis played out the final year of his four-year, $2.605 million contract with the Chiefs before agreeing to a two-year, $6 million contract with the Jets in 2018. However, the Jets declined his 2019 option and he eventually signed a one-year deal with the Bears.
Washington brought Pierre-Louis in a one-year contract worth up to $3.45 million for the 2020 season. This offseason, he signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Texans.
In 2020, Pierre-Louis appeared in 13 games for Washington and recorded 56 tackles, one sack, a forced fumble and two passes defended.
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