What to Know: Packers sign DB De’Vante Cross to round out roster
By Paul Bretl
After making a slew of cuts to get their roster to the 85-player maximum by Tuesday’s deadline, the Green Bay Packers found themselves actually at 84 players and a roster opening.
To remedy this, the Packers signed defensive back De’Vante Cross from Virginia, according to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated.
What you need to know about the Packers’ newest safety, De’Vante Cross
The 6’2″ – 215-pound Cross went undrafted this past spring out of Virginia and initially signed with Washington. He is a very experienced player with over 2,100 snaps in his five-year playing career, according to PFF ($$).
During that span, Cross was targeted 117 times and allowed a completion rate of 63% and 18.7 yards per catch with 10 pass breakups and six interceptions.
Cross will bring versatility to this Packers defense as he lined up all over the field while at Virginia. Per PFF, Cross logged 464 snaps in the box, 305 as a free safety, 527 from the slot, and 793 on the boundary.
He was also on the field for 289 special teams snaps as well, spending most of his time on the kick coverage, punt return, and field goal block units. Cross’ 2021 season was cut short due to a knee injury.
For a closer look at Cross’ game, here is what Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network wrote about him in his pre-draft report:
"“Positives: Nice-sized defensive back who saw action at safety and corner. Physical, mixes it up with opponents, and fights hard to defend passes. Relatively instinctive, stays with assignments, and displays decent range. Shows good recognition in zone and possesses an explosive burst to the ball out of his plant.“Negatives: Lacks speed and quickness. Suffered a season-ending knee injury in November.”"
Cross was one of four defensive backs that the Packers had in for a workout on Tuesday as they currently find themselves a bit thin in the secondary.
Among the six cuts that the Packers made recently, one was cornerback Donte Vaughn, who had dealt with an injury. Green Bay is also going to be without safety Dallin Leavitt for some time as well after he left the San Francisco game with an injury of his own, while Darnell Savage, Innis Gaines, and Tariq Carpenter have all missed some time.
Next. Open roster spot after cutting Dafney and 3 others. dark
The Packers roster is now at 85 players. They will have one more joint practice with New Orleans on Wednesday before playing them in their second preseason game on Friday. Next Tuesday, the 23rd, there will be another round of cuts when rosters must go from 85 players to 80.