Former Park Crossing High School quarterback Malik Cunningham returned to the NFL on Tuesday by joining the Detroit Lions’ practice squad.

Cunningham most recently was on an NFL roster with the Baltimore Ravens. He spent the 2024 season as a member of the Baltimore practice squad without appearing in a regular-season game. The Ravens waived Cunningham on Aug. 26 when they reduced their preseason roster to the 53-player regular-season limit.

The Lions play the Ravens at 7:15 p.m. CDT Monday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

Cunningham has converted to wide receiver since coming to the NFL in 2023.

While joining Detroit’s wide-receiver corps, Cunningham also may give the Lions a scout-team option to mimic Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Detroit’s quarterbacks are Jared Goff and Kyle Allen on the active roster and C.J. Beathard on the practice squad. They have combined for 984 rushing yards in their NFL careers, and Jackson ran for 915 yards last season.

Cunningham passed for 2,913 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,015 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior at Park Crossing in Montgomery. During his college career at Jackson’s alma mater of Louisville, Cunningham had 9,660 passing yards, 70 touchdown passes, 3,179 rushing yards and 50 rushing touchdowns.

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Cunningham spent most of the 2023 season on New England’s practice squad. The Patriots signed Cunningham as an undrafted rookie with the stated purpose of converting him to wide receiver. But New England didn’t eliminate Cunningham’s quarterback option completely.

The Patriots elevated Cunningham to active status for two games and had him on their 53- player roster for two more. He played in one game for New England, getting six snaps in a 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 15. He ran three pass routes and took two snaps. Cunningham wasn’t targeted as a receiver, didn’t have a pass or a rushing attempt, but was sacked once.

The Ravens got Cunningham by signing him off the Patriots’ practice squad on Dec. 12, 2023.

Cunningham spent four regular-season games and two playoff contests on Baltimore’s active roster. He played four snaps at wide receiver in a 17-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale on Jan. 6, 2024, but was not targeted in his only action.

To create a roster spot to sign Cunningham, the Lions released former James Clemens High School standout Monty Rice from their practice squad. After signing with Detroit last week, Rice was on the field for 19 special-teams plays as a practice-squad elevation in the Lions’ 52-21 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Also losing an NFL practice-squad spot on Tuesday was former Samford tight end Qadir Ismail, who was released by the New York Giants.

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