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Former Notre Dame DT Howard Cross III to sign with Cincinnati Bengals as undrafted free agent

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•04/26/25•

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Howard Cross III
Notre Dame defensive lineman Howard Cross III. (Chad Weaver/Blue & Gold)

Before there was Howard Cross III in the NFL, there was Howard Cross Jr. The latter’s time has way come and gone, though. It’s his son’s time now.

Following in the footsteps of his father, an Alabama grad who was a sixth-round NFL Draft selection as a tight end in 1989, Cross III is getting his chance at the next level with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent signee, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Cross will reunite with his collegiate defensive coordinator of three years at Notre Dame, Al Golden, who’s going into his first season as the Bengals’ DC.

A six-year veteran of the Notre Dame defensive line, Cross always punched above his weight class in college. He was listed at 6-1, 288 pounds for his final season in blue and gold. He was a team captain despite a smaller stature he couldn’t care much less about, and, outside of the time he missed with an ankle injury in the second half of the season, he was one of the Irish’s most important defensive players.

Nobody on the Fighting Irish defensive line played more in the national championship game vs. Ohio State than Cross; he was on the field for 59 defensive snaps. That wasn’t just a natty thing, either; it was a College Football Playoff thing. In Notre Dame’s biggest games of the season, Cross was the guy the Irish turned to the most in the interior of the defensive line. He led the unit in snaps against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and against Penn State in the Orange Bowl.

The best season of Cross’ career was undeniably 2023, though. He was a Second Team All-American according to the Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp, the Associated Press and Sporting News. He started all 13 games for the Irish that year and finished second on the team with 66 tackles. That was top-five among Power Conference interior defensive linemen.

Cross was at Notre Dame for two seasons before now-head coach Marcus Freeman ever got there as the defensive coordinator in 2021. That year, he inherited a player who hadn’t started any games for the Irish. By the end of Cross’ career, Freeman had himself a captain, a complete warrior, a 34-game starter and a player with 169 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 4 pass breakups and 3 forced fumbles.

He had himself someone he needed on the field at all costs.

The best of the 34 starts came when Cross totaled 13 tackles against Duke in a game Notre Dame won by a touchdown in 2023. The Irish needed all of those baker’s dozen to steal the lead and the game in the final minute, and Cross got them while enduring a gnarly sinus infection. He caused a sack-fumble of none other than future Fighting Irish teammate Riley Leonard on Duke’s last-ditch effort to tie or take the lead.

“You don’t not play unless you’re dying,” Cross said.

Or, if your ankle is severely turned and you need to get it right before the CFP. Regardless, and again, Cross is a complete warrior. That’s a trait that tends to bode well for NFL hopefuls.

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