FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they have released DB Rashaan Melvin and LB James Vaughters.

Melvin, 26, was signed by the Patriots to a future contract on Jan. 26, 2016. The 6-foot-2, 193-pounder, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Tampa Bay out of Northern Illinois on May 2, 2013. He made the Tampa Bay 53-man roster as a rookie, but did not play in any games that season. Melvin was with Tampa Bay for the first three games of the 2014 season before being released and signing with the Miami practice squad. He was signed by Baltimore from the Miami practice squad on Nov. 8, 2014, and played in three games with two starts in the regular season and two starts in the postseason. He played in one of Baltimore's first four games in 2015 before being released on Oct. 13, 2015, and was claimed off waivers from Baltimore and awarded to New England on Oct. 14, 2015. Melvin played in eight games with the Patriots last season and accumulated three tackles and two special teams tackles before released by the Patriots on Dec. 8, 2015. He joined the Patriots practice squad on Dec. 10, 2015, where he remained for the rest of the season.

Vaughters, 22, was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as a rookie free agent out of Stanford on May 8, 2015. The 6-foot-2, 254-pounder, spent the first month of last season on the Green Bay practice squad before being released. Vaughters signed a future contract with the Patriots on Jan. 21, 2016. He played in 54 games with 18 starts and tallied 119 total tackles and 12½ sacks during his college career.