Patriots Open Roster Spot By Releasing Long-Shot Defender

Depth cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement was one of a handful of players not on the field for New England Patriots training camp practice Friday.

Turns out, the undrafted free agent is no longer with the team.

The Patriots announced Friday evening they released Ford-Dement, who initially signed with New England in May out of Texas State.

The 24-year-old was a long shot to make the roster and his best chance at sticking around would have been on New England's practice squad. It didn't help matters that the 5-foot-11, 178-pound corner, who also played at Kilgore College, Old Dominion and Washington State during his collegiate career, was trying to make the Patriots at one of their deeper positions.

The Patriots cornerback group is highlighted by Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones while Alex Austin, Shaun Wade, Marcellas Dial Jr., who the Patriots drafted in the sixth round this year, and Isaiah Bolden -- he missed all of last season after a promising camp -- battle for roster spots among others. That left Ford-Dement as the odd man out.

The Patriots now have two open roster spots as they move forward with training camp.