Almost six years after this final game at Auburn, tight end Sal Cannella is on the doorstep of his NFL regular-season debut.

On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns elevated Cannella from their practice squad, making him eligible to play in Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With tight end David Njoku already ruled out because of a knee injury and tight end Harold Fannin Jr. a limited practice participant on Friday because of a groin injury, Cleveland called up Cannella.

The Browns signed Cannella on June 19 after he earned All-UFL recognition for the Arlington Renegades in the 2025 season, when he had 44 receptions for 474 yards and one touchdown. Cannella ranked second in receptions and fifth in receiving yards in the United Football League’s second season.

At the end of the preseason, Cleveland cut Cannella after he had caught nine passes for 67 yards in the Browns’ three exhibition games. He had also been at training camp with the Miami Dolphins in 2021, Green Bay Packers in 2022, Seattle Seahawks in 2023 and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024 without reaching the regular-season roster. But unlike those teams, Cleveland kept Cannella by signing him for its practice squad.

Each NFL team can have a practice squad of 16 players. Members of the practice squad do everything the players on the active roster do except play in games. But two practice-squad members can be elevated to active status for each game, which is what Cleveland did with Cannella on Saturday.

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After Cannella closed his Auburn career with a 37-yard touchdown on a pass from quarterback Bo Nix against Minnesota in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2020, the tight end played two years in the Spring League, then earned All-USFL recognition with the New Orleans Breakers in that league’s Birmingham-based revival in 2022, after a short stay in the NFL at the Miami Dolphins’ 2021 training camp.

Cannella had 34 receptions for 368 yards and two touchdowns in 10 regular-season games with the Breakers, then had 12 receptions for 154 yards in a 31-17 loss to the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL semifinals.

After the 2022 USFL season, Cannella went to training camp with the Green Bay Packers. He caught three passes for 31 yards in the Packers’ final two preseason games, but Green Bay waived him as it reduced its preseason roster to the regular-season limit of 53 players.

In 2023, Cannella played with Arlington in the XFL’s comeback season. In the Renegades’ 35-26 victory over the D.C. Defenders in the XFL Championship Game, Cannella had four receptions for 71 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown catch.

Cannella got a late look in the Seattle Seahawks’ training camp in 2023 but was waived by the NFL team before the start of the regular season.

Cannella returned to the Renegades in 2024, but now as a United Football League team after the merger of the USFL and the XFL. Cannella led the UFL with six touchdown receptions in 2024. He finished third in the league with 53 receptions and fifth with 497 receiving yards.

After that season, Cannella spent training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had two receptions for 16 yards in the preseason. But he was waived before the start of the NFL regular season and returned to the Renegades.

Former Auburn offensive tackle Jack Driscoll also was elevated from the Steelers’ practice squad for the third straight game. Driscoll dressed for the previous two games but did not play. Because a player cannot be elevated more than three times in a season, for Driscoll to be in uniform on game day again after Sunday, he will need to be signed to Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster.

Also elevated on Saturday was former Alabama offensive lineman Amari Kight by the Seattle Seahawks. Kight has reached his third elevation, too.

The former Thompson High School standout made his NFL debut with two offensive snaps and six special-teams plays in a 23-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 25 and appeared for two special-teams plays in a 38-37 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 18.