The Tampa Bay Buccaneers activated safety Ifeatu Melifonwu from the practice squad on Saturday, making him eligible to play in Sunday's 2026 home opener against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
The weekly elevation process allows teams to activate up to two practice squad players for each game. By utilizing one of those options in Week Two, the Buccaneers have increased their game day roster to 54 players for their matchup with the Browns. They will be able to keep 48 of those player active for the game, naming six inactives prior to kickoff.
Each player on the practice squad can be elevated up to three times during the regular season and an unlimited amount of times in the postseason. After the game, elevated players automatically revert to the practice squad without having to pass through waivers. This is Melifonwu's second elevation after he also played in the season opener at Cincinnati last Sunday.
Melifonwu was signed by the Buccaneers at the start of this year's training camp, after he had spent the previous season with the Miami Dolphins, appearing in 16 games with eight starts. He played in all three preseason games and started two, tallying five tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass defensed, but was then released in the leaguewide roster cutdown for the regular seasonand re-signed to the practice squad the next day.
In five NFL seasons prior to joining the Bucs, the first four in Detroit, Melifonwu played in 53 games with 22 starts and has recorded 125 tackles, 5.5 sacks three interceptions and 14 passes defensed. In last weekend's season opener, he participated in 15 snaps on special teams. Though he was not used on defense, he provides much-needed depth at the safety position on game day. The Bucs only kept three safeties on their 53-man roster to start the season and one of those three, special teams ace Miles Killebrew, is questionable for the Cleveland game due to being in the NFL's concussion protocol.
The practice squad elevation option was introduced as part of the new collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The new rule was something of a compromise, as it did not expand the active rosters beyond 53 players but did give teams a few more options on game days.
