Denver Broncos linebacker Zach Cunningham plays in an NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 24, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.(AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)
Former Pinson Valley High School standout Zach Cunningham signed with the Detroit Lions on Tuesday, the NFL team announced.
Detroit will start the final phase of its offseason program on Wednesday and won’t have linebackers Alex Anzalone or Malcolm Rodriguez on the field. Anzalone isn’t attending the voluntary offseason workouts as he seeks a new contract, and Rodriguez is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that caused him to miss the Lions’ final six games last season.
Anzalone, Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes are expected to be Detroit’s starting set of linebackers in 2025.
In his eighth NFL season, Cunningham appeared in seven regular-season games and one playoff contest for the Denver Broncos in 2024, when he played 15 defensive snaps and 43 special-teams plays.
At Pinson Valley, Cunningham earned All-State recognition as a linebacker in 2011 and 2012 and received the Class 5A Lineman of the Year Award in 2012, when he made 197 tackles, including 41 behind the line of scrimmage, and blocked four punts.
Cunningham gives Pinson Valley four alumni on current NFL rosters as he joined Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson, New Orleans Saints cornerback Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry and Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
Cunningham became Vanderbilt’s first unanimous All-American in 2016, when he was the Commodores’ first consensus All-American in 32 years.
A second-round selection of the Houston Texans in the 2017 NFL Draft, Cunningham made 90 tackles as a rookie, 107 in 2018, 142 in 2019 and, after he had signed a four-year, $58 million contract extension, an NFL-best 164, with a league-leading 106 solo tackles, in 2020.
But 10 games into the 2021 season, the Texans released Cunningham, with coach David Culley saying Houston’s problem with the linebacker lay off the field.
Cunningham joined Tennessee as a waiver claim and played for the Titans in the final four regular-season games and one playoff contest to close the 2021 campaign.
An elbow injury limited Cunningham to six games in 2022 as he made two trips to injured reserve.
A salary-cap casualty in Tennessee, Cunningham joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, when he started 11 games, including a playoff contest, and recorded 94 tackles.
