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Adam WellsDecember 8, 2021.
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AP Photo/Darryl Webb
According to reports, the tenure with the Houston Texans has ended.
The fifth-year linebacker will be placed on waivers on Wednesday.
The Texans signed Cunningham to a four-year, $58 million contract extension in August 2020.
Ian Rapoport is on the RapSheet.
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There were a lot of reasons for the Texans to try to make it work with Cunningham, who the previous regime gave a 4-year, $58M contract. It did not happen. Next year, the team has a dead cap hit. There is so much to fix in Houston.
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The Texans restructured Cunningham's contract before the start of the season, which means that any team that claims Cunningham will only absorb a $275,000 cap hit.
Cunningham's deal has no more guaranteed money left after 2021, making him more likely to find a team via waivers, according to Yates.
Cunningham will be an unrestricted free agent if he makes it through waivers.
Cunningham failed to appear for the players' regular COVID-19 test when he was inactive for Sunday's 31-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Kevin Pierre-Louis, who made his first start of the season against the Colts, will likely move into Cunningham's spot as Houston's primary strong-side linebacker.
Cunningham has been reprimanded by the Texans twice this season. He was benched during the team's Week 2 loss.
Bill O'Brien was still the head coach and general manager in Houston when Cunningham's extension was signed. O'Brien was let go after an 0-4 start.
Nick Caserio and David Culley are trying to rebuild the Texans roster. Cunningham agreed to restructure his deal in March.
Field Yates has an account with Field Yates.
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The Texans LB converted his base salary into a signing bonus, which created $5.6325M in cap space.
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Over the past five seasons, Cunningham has appeared in 72 games for the Texans. He had more than 100 combined tackles in each of the previous three seasons.
He led the league with 106 solo tackles. He played every defensive snap in five of the 10 games he played for the Texans.
