North Carolina State linebacker Caden Fordham was one of three undrafted rookies to make the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' initial 53-man roster on the night of Sunday, August 30, but his first run on that unit was short-lived. When the Buccaneers successfully claimed cornerback Kevin Knowles off waivers the next day, they waived Fordham in order to open a spot for that addition.
However, Fordham is now back with the team after he was signed to the practice squad on Monday. To make room on that 17-man crew, the Buccaneers had previously waived first-year cornerback Roman Parodie.
Fordham played in all three preseason games for Tampa Bay and recorded 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed on defense. Perhaps more importantly in terms of his initial push to make the active roster, he stood out on special teams, leading all NFL players with four solo tackles in kick coverage.
Despite his move from the active roster to the practice squad, Fordham could still figure into the team's plans on game day in the early going. Each player on the practice squad can be elevated to the active roster on game day a total of three times during the regular season, after which they revert to the practice squad without having to pass through waivers. The Buccaneers currently have four off-ball linebackers on the active roster, and one of them, Christian Rozeboom, was not practicing this week due to a leg injury. In addition, SirVocea Dennis only recently returned to practice after he also missed a stretch of work due to injury.
Fordham signed with the Buccaneers in May after ranking second in the nation in tackles with 143 in his final season at N.C. State. He was a third-team Associated Press All-America selection after also racking up 3.5 sacks, 10.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Parodie signed with the Buccaneers on August 10 and played in all three preseason games, recording eight tackles, an interception and two passes defensed. He was waived during the league-wide roster cutdowns on Sunday then signed to the practice squad on Monday.
