Former Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah agreed on Monday to a one-year, $4.75 million contract with the Houston Texans, according to multiple reports. The deal, which will allow him to return to his home state and play with former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, reportedly includes $2.5 million in guaranteed money and comes with a maximum value of $6 million.
This marks the third NFL team that Okudah — a Grand Prairie, Texas, native — has been on since being drafted by the Detroit Lions with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. Okudah spent his first three seasons with the Lions, a beginning to his NFL career that was defined by inconsistent production and injury. He started 23 games for the franchise across those three seasons and recorded 124 tackles, 10 pass deflections, two interceptions and a defensive touchdown.
Okudah was then traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round pick after the 2022 season, where he started nine games and recorded 44 tackles and three pass deflections.
Now, the former Buckeye will have a chance to revitalize his career with his hometown team in a Texans secondary that also includes 2022 first-round draft selection and starting cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. along with former Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond King, among others.
Before his time in the NFL, Okudah, 25, was one of the premier cornerbacks in college football with the Buckeyes. The former five-star cornerback, who played for Ohio State from 2017-19, most notably served as a lockdown cornerback for the defense in 2019, recording three interceptions and nine pass deflections while also adding 34 tackles. His efforts that year allowed him to be named a unanimous All-American — the first time a cornerback has earned that honor in program history — as well as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award for the nation’s top corner.
