The NFL is a dog-eat-dog world, and a pair of former Notre Dame football players learned that the hard way when they found out that camaraderie with Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden couldn't let them avoid the Turk on Sunday evening.
The Turk is the most feared man in professional football, as it's the nickname for the person on each team who goes around the complex on cut-down day and informs players that the head coach wants to talk to them because they didn't make the team's 53-man regular-season roster. In Cincinnati, the Turk came for defensive linemen Howard Cross III and Isaiah Foskey.
The two former Notre Dame football stars were among the 16 defenders the Bengals waived this weekend as Golden worked to find the perfect combination for a defense that was one of the worst in the NFL last season. Cutting Cross especially shows that even when coaches and players have special relationships, they can't be allowed to override the team's needs and performance that don't cut the mustard at the professional level.
Before being signed by the Bengals last winter as an UDFA, not long after Golden took over as the new defensive coordinator, Cross III played in four games in 2025, tallying 4 tackles and a fumble recovery. The defensive lineman saw most of his playing time in the final weeks of the regular season, which might have given some onlookers from the outside some hope that Cross was in Golden's plans for 2026.
Howard Cross III’s Bengals opportunity ends after Notre Dame football reunion
Golden saw Cross plenty when both were at Notre Dame, and it's clear the defender's performance in South Bend was one of the reasons the Bengals were willing to give him a shot. With the Fighting Irish, Cross's best season was in 2023 when he totaled 66 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles. He followed that up in his final year by being named to the Associated Press First Team Preseason All-American team and the FWAA Second Team All-American.
Foskey played his final season at Notre Dame under Golden, tallying 45 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. That season, he was a Consensus All-American and team captain.
He was a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, but so far, his defensive line domination hasn't translated to the pros. He totaled just 10 tackles in 10 games during the 2023 season and followed that up with just 16 tackles in 17 games. In 2025, he caught on with the Bengals but only totaled 4 tackles in 8 games.
Now both former Notre Dame football stars will have to look elsewhere if they want to continue their NFL career while Al Golden knows he might be on borrowed time if the Cincinnati Bengals defense doesn't improve dramatically in 2026.
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