Keith Cooper Jr. Is Back on an NFL Roster: Dickinson's Own, a Former Houston Cougar, Rejoins the Dolphins
Miami signed the 23-year-old defensive lineman off Carolina's practice squad on Wednesday, filling a spot opened when Zach Sieler went on injured reserve. Cooper's road ran Tulane, one 46-tackle season at Houston, an undrafted spring, three franchises - and back to the team that kept him first.
The transaction wire carried a Houston name home on Wednesday. The Miami Dolphins announced they have signed defensive lineman Keith Cooper Jr. to the active roster from the Carolina Panthers' practice squad - a return engagement for the 23-year-old from Dickinson, Texas, whose single season with the Houston Cougars made him a professional.
The opening came from injury. Miami placed defensive tackle Zach Sieler, lost for the season to a biceps injury, and quarterback Malik Willis on injured reserve on Tuesday, and Cooper - 6-foot-5, 285 pounds - takes one of the spots. Head coach Jeff Hafley, whose defense absorbs the Sieler loss, kept the welcome short in his Wednesday remarks: 'It was good to get Coop back. The guys were excited.'
Cooper's file explains the affection. He played three seasons at Tulane before transferring to Houston for 2024, where he started all 12 games, made 46 tackles and earned All-Big 12 honors. Undrafted in 2025, he passed through Detroit and Cleveland before Miami signed him to a futures contract on January 9, 2026 - and he rewarded them by making the initial 53-man roster, appearing in three games with 29 defensive snaps and a tackle. Waived September 28 and released October 8, he landed on Carolina's practice squad October 12, which is where Miami found him again this week.
Practice-squad signings rarely rate a trend, but 'keith cooper jr.' sat at No. 2 on the national search board Thursday - a measure of how many fan bases have a piece of his story. Houston's piece is the middle chapter: the Dickinson kid who bet his final college season on the Cougars, turned it into all-conference honors, and has now talked two NFL front offices into the same conclusion - that there is room on a roster for him.
