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The Denver Broncos had two linebackers on their practice squad this season who had been Alabama high school stars and had led the NFL in solo tackles – Oxford’s Kwon Alexander and Pinson Valley’s Zach Cunningham. Neither is there now.
The Broncos signed Cunningham for their 53-man active roster on Monday, and Alexander is signing with the Detroit Lions.
Alexander’s move to Detroit wasn’t on the NFL’s transactions report for Friday, and the Lions have not announced it. But ESPN and NFL Network reported Alexander was changing teams, and collaboration came from the linebacker’s Instagram account.
Detroit is adding Alexander to its 53-man active roster after linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez sustained a knee injury during the Lions’ 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday.
Detroit already has put linebackers Alex Anzalone, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Derrick Barnes on injured reserve this season. In his 10th NFL season, Alexander played three times, with two starts, after Denver elevated him from its practice squad.
Alexander played for the Broncos in Weeks 7, 8 and 9. Because no player can be elevated more than three times from the practice squad to active duty, Denver could no longer use Alexander in that way after their 41-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 3.
The Broncos then elevated Cunningham to active status for their games in Weeks 10, 11 and 12, exhausting the options for both linebackers before signing Cunningham to the active roster and losing Alexander to the Lions.
Cunningham led the NFL in total tackles with 106 for the Houston Texans in 2020. Alexander led the league with 108 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016. The next season, he made the Pro Bowl. Injuries began affecting Alexander’s career in 2018, and he’s played the entire schedule only once – in 2016.
In 2020, the first of Alexander’s two seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Lions coach Dan Campbell was the Saints’ assistant head coach and tight-ends coach and Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn was New Orleans’ defensive-backs coach.
Last season, Alexander had played in nine games, with two starts, for the Pittsburgh Steelers when he ruptured an Achilles tendon on Nov. 12 and finished the campaign on injured reserve. Alexander became a free agent on March 13 and signed with Denver on Sept. 25.
After recording 144 tackles and 17 sacks for Oxford as a junior, Alexander was a finalist for the High School Butkus Award, an ESPN All-American team member and an Under Armour All-American Game participant in 2011, even though he missed most of the season with a knee injury.
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