Houston, Texas: Texans Sign Defensive Tackle Naquan Jones Off the 49ers Practice Squad

The Houston Texans are bringing back a defensive tackle they know. Houston is signing Naquan Jones to its active roster off the San Francisco 49ers practice squad, according to KPRC 2 reporter Aaron Wilson, in a move reported on Sunday night and carried by several outlets on Monday.

Wilson reported that Houston has been looking for reinforcements at defensive tackle and is reuniting with Jones. Jones was on the 49ers practice squad after a short and busy stay in San Francisco, and signing him off another team's practice squad means Houston puts him on its active roster, not on its own practice squad.

A familiar face on the defensive line

Jones, 28, is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 313 pounds. He played at Michigan State from 2016 to 2020 and went undrafted in 2021, when the Tennessee Titans signed him as a free agent. His career since then has taken him through the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston, a brief stay on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad and San Francisco. Houston knows him well. The Texans claimed him off waivers from the Chargers, re-signed him to a one year deal in 2026 and cut him in August before he moved on to Minnesota and then San Francisco.

That history is part of the point of the move. A defensive tackle signed in the middle of the season has no time to learn a new building from zero. Jones has already been in Houston's building this year, through training camp, so the Texans add size inside with a player who does not need an introduction to the staff or the scheme.

What he did in San Francisco

The 49ers signed Jones on September 23, first to help a defensive line hit by injuries. He appeared in three games for San Francisco this season and recorded two tackles, playing 21 percent of the team's defensive snaps in the games covered by Niners Wire. His last appearance came in Week 5. San Francisco released him on October 20, when the team needed a roster spot, and signed him back to the practice squad two days later. He stayed there until Houston came for him, two days after the Indianapolis Colts signed defensive tackle Kevin Givens off the same San Francisco practice squad on Friday.

For San Francisco, the two departures in three days thin out the practice squad options on the defensive line. For Houston, the move is a low cost way to add a veteran body at a position where the team had been looking for help, in Wilson's reporting, rather than waiting for the market to change.

What happens next

Jones now has to turn a familiar address into playing time. His role and his game day availability still have to be set by the Texans coaching staff, and the reports of the signing do not include contract terms beyond the roster move itself. What is clear is the shape of the decision. Houston wanted another defensive tackle, it wanted one quickly, and it chose a 28 year old it had already employed this year over an unknown name. Jones gets a fresh chance on an active roster in Houston, the city where his 2026 season started in training camp before the August cut sent him moving again.