The Houston Texans haven't made a ton of moves to address the cornerback spot this offseason, as they are set with Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter, and Jalen Pitre leading the way.
However, the Texans still felt the need to add more depth to the position group, signing veteran Ronald Darby to a one-year deal in March and then taking Jaylin Smith in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Darby and Smith wouldn’t be expected to start, but could find their way onto the field.
That said, the Texans’ cornerback depth took a hit as Darby shockingly announced his NFL retirement earlier this month. With the former Super Bowl-winning defender out of the picture, Houston needed a CB3 on the outside.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans & Co. have held workouts over the last couple of weeks to find secondary help, and have settled on a player who’s looking to make an NFL comeback.
Texans Sign CB Damon Arnette Jr. After Minicamp
According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC-2, the Texans have signed former first-round pick Damon Arnette Jr. The 28-year-old cornerback recently worked out for the team after finishing up his first year in the UFL with the Houston Roughnecks.
Sources: #Texans signing @XFLRoughnecks corner #Raiders first-round draft pick Damon Arnette Jr. @KPRC2 https://t.co/GV1O1HtFNw
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 18, 2025
Arnette had a good first season with the Roughnecks. He racked up 19 combined tackles and posted an interception. His lone interception on the season was a 50-yard pick-six against the Birmingham Stallions.
The former first-round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders didn’t waste his opportunity to play spring football after dealing with a myriad of off-the-field issues in the NFL.
Arnette had a ton of talent coming out of Ohio State, but couldn’t stay out of trouble when he made it to the league. He only appeared in 13 games with the Raiders before they parted ways on November 8, 2021. The Kansas City Chiefs signed Arnette in January 2022, but they moved on nine days later.
Fortunately for him, Arnette has seemingly turned things around, leading him back to the NFL.
Since he’s just played a full season of football, the former Roughnecks cornerback is already in game shape. We’ll see if Arnette can show the Texans coaches that they didn’t make a mistake in bringing him in for training camp.