Report: Former Broncos LB to Sign With Super Bowl Contender

Former Denver Broncos inside linebacker Zach Cunningham is signing with the Detroit Lions as "veteran depth," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday.

Terms of the (likely one-year) deal are yet to be announced.

A 2017 second-round pick, Cunningham appeared in seven games for the Broncos last season after starting ILB Alex Singleton was lost to a torn ACL. Promoted from the practice squad, he notched four combined tackles across 56 total snaps, 41 of which came on special teams.

Prior to arriving in Denver, Cunningham spent his first five years with the Houston Texans (leading the league in solo stops in 2020), the following two with the Tennessee Titans, and the 2023 campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"We brought in both those players because they have a lot of experience," Broncos head coach Sean Payton said last October of Cunningham and fellow 'backer Kwon Alexander. "They’ve played at a real high level, and they give us some flexibility."

As their backups go, the Broncos chose not to retain Cunningham, 30, this offseason in favor of re-signing ILB Justin Strnad. The club also positioned third-year man Drew Sanders as a potential future NFL starter.

“We think Sanders can be a starter in this league at linebacker," general manager George Paton said at the Scouting Combine in February. "Now let’s see how it goes. We’re going to keep adding good players. Competition—we just want competition at all of the positions. We’re not anointing anyone starters, but we just want to keep bringing in competition and we’ll get good results.”

Starting-wise, Denver landed ex-49ers star Dre Greenlaw to play opposite a returning Singleton in the middle of its defense. Greenlaw suffered a quad injury before the 2025 Draft but is expected to be fully recovered in time for Week 1.

“It’s huge [with] everything he provides," Payton said in March. "He’s a tone setter. He’s a tone setter of the defense. You watch him on tape—now, [San Francisco] had a good defense [and] had a really good program, but you watch him on tape, he sticks out. It’s very contagious when you watch him play the game.”