Tight end Alan Cross, one of four undrafted rookies who originally made the 53-man roster, has returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a member of the practice squad.
The Buccaneers had two open spots on their 10-man practice squad as the week began and filled them on Tuesday by signing Cross and former Los Angeles Rams linebacker Cameron Lynch. That continued the Week Two roster shuffling that began with the move of defensive end Jacquies Smith to injured reserve on Monday and continued with the signing of free agent running back Jacquizz Rodgers earlier on Tuesday.
Cross originally signed with the Buccaneers in May. He joined defensive tackle DaVonte Lambert, defensive end Channing Ward and tackle Leonard Wester as the four undrafted rookies to make it through the roster cutdown to 53 players on September 3. However, the Buccaneers waived Cross on Saturday in order to promote Josh Keyes from the practice squad and address a shortage of healthy linebackers.
A former walk-on at Memphis, Cross (6-1, 235) finished his collegiate career with 42 career starts and the Tigers' record for most touchdowns by a tight end. In four preseason games with the Buccaneers in August he caught three passes for 27 yards.
Lynch was also waived in the league-wide cutdown on September 3 after making the Rams' roster as an undrafted rookie out of Syracuse in 2015. The 6-0, 229-pound linebacker played in all 16 games last year, primarily on special teams though he did contribute four defensive tackles. A team captain for Syracuse as a senior in 2014, he led the Orange with 97 tackles and added 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
