After helping the Arlington Renegades win the 2023 XFL championship, tight end Sal Cannella has returned to the team for a run at the 2024 UFL championship.

Since last season, the Renegades and three other XFL teams joined with four USFL teams to form a single spring-football league – the United Football League.

The UFL announced on Sunday that Arlington had re-signed the former Auburn tight end.

Cannella had 42 receptions and 415 receiving yards for the Renegades in 10 regular-season games in 2023. He added six receptions for 89 yards in Arlington’s two playoff victories, including a 41-yard touchdown reception in a 35-26 win over the D.C. Defenders in the XFL Championship Game on May 13.

Cannella signed with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 21. Even though Cannella had a reception in his only preseason opportunity, he was waived one week later when Seattle reduced its preseason roster to reach the regular-season limit.

Cannella played at Auburn from 2017 through 2019 as a junior-college transfer. He caught 25 passes for 330 yards and five touchdowns for the Tigers.

Cannella was not drafted after his Auburn career. In 2020 and 2021, he played in the Spring League, and he was in the Miami Dolphins’ NFL training camp in 2021, too.

Cannella was the All-USFL tight end for the 2022 season, when he caught 34 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns for the New Orleans Breakers in 10 regular-season games. In the Breakers’ 31-17 loss to the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL semifinals on June 25, 2022, Cannella had 12 receptions for 154 yards.

Cannella received a tryout invitation from the Green Bay Packers after that performance and earned a contract with the NFL team, but he was waived at the end of the 2022 preseason.

The Renegades will kick off the United Football League season against the Birmingham Stallions at noon CDT March 30 at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The eight UFL teams started training camp this weekend, with all the teams working out in the Arlington area.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.