The Houston Texans will close out their 2025 preseason slate when they visit the Detroit Lions at Ford Field for a Saturday afternoon collision. The Texans are coming off a one-sided 20-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers this past weekend, and fans would love nothing more than for head coach DeMeco Ryans' team to add to its momentum before the final roster cuts arrive.
Even though the 53-man roster deadline is a week away, that didn't stop the Texans from adding to their squad on Tuesday. As wide receiver Xavier Johnson tries to recover from his broken hand, Houston has signed wideouts Juwann Winfree and Cornell Powell "after successful workouts," according to KPRC 2 Houston's Aaron Wilson.
#Texans wide receiver Xavier Johnson broke his hand and is out indefinitely, per a league source.
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 19, 2025
Team is signing wide receivers Juwann Winfree, Cornell Powell after successful workouts:https://t.co/VLAboiEPZM@KPRC2
Replacing Johnson with a healthier wideout isn't surprising, but signing two WRs in the wake of his injury? That's the type of move that signals that the Texans are clearly preparing to move on from another receiver, and one name is an obvious candidate.
Quintez Cephus Will Be Odd Man Out After Texans Sign 2 WRs
The Texans can't keep every WR that they're rostering, and some names will need to be sent packing between now and the Aug. 26 roster deadline. With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if recent signing Quintez Cephus will be one of the odd men out when all is said and done.
Cephus, 27, is a veteran WR who was drafted 166th overall by the Detroit Lions in 2020. The ex-Wisconsin Badger played three seasons in the Motor City before being suspended for the 2023 campaign after violating the NFL's gambling policy. Since then, he's spent time with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers, and even spent just over a month with Houston last summer.
Cephus has had some solid moments during practice; however, he's failed to extend that success into a preseason game. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound wideout has only been targeted once through two exhibition contexts and failed to catch that ball. As a result, he sits with Pro Football Focus grades of 53.5 for receiving and 53.6 for overall offense so far.
Not only does the lack of targets spell bad news for him, but Cephus' outlook is also marred by the other WRs in the Texans' possession. Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, and Jaylin Noel are essentially roster locks. Xavier Hutchinson is also showing improvements, while offseason additions Braxton Berrios and Justin Watson have also shown early promise this summer.
That's seven WRs right there, and that's without mentioning the injured Tank Dell. It's just hard to imagine Cephus earning a roster spot over any of those names, especially when he's failed to prove his in-game worth with only one preseason game remaining.
If he doesn't have the performance of a lifetime this weekend, chances are that Cephus won't be with the Texans for much longer.