Bucs GM relieved after cutting Roberto Aguayo: 'We ripped the band-aid'
The Buccaneers did not finally give up on Roberto Aguayo, because finally would imply they waited a long time to bail on the kicker that they traded up to take in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. GM Jason Licht has been catching grief on a consistent basis, what with Aguayo struggling to do the one thing every kicker is paid to do.
After missing an extra point and a 44-yard field goal in Friday's preseason opener, the Bucs decided to cut Aguayo, leading to the Bears claiming him off waivers. The writing was on the wall, to hear if from Dirk Koetter.
"I keep saying it and I can't say it anymore. You're a kicker. You've gotta make your kicks," Koetter said Friday after the Bucs lost 23-12.
Asked about the move over the weekend by TheMMQB.com's Peter King, Licht -- who apparently "sounded defeated" over the phone -- said he was glad the Bucs "ripped the band-aid" and got it over with. "You never feel good when you shatter someone's dream," Licht said. "That is always tough, especially someone you had such high hopes for. You don't have good feelings about that. It is a little bit of a sense of, I don't want to say relief, but we've ripped off the band-aid, and we move on. We're moving forward."
This is what the Bucs had to do. The absolute worst thing, particularly with NFL Films chronicling the Bucs preseason for "Hard Knocks", would be prolonging the inevitable and creating an even bigger distraction. King reports this week's episode of "Hard Knocks" will feature the full scene of Aguayo being cut.
Of course, Licht feels like a bit of a punchline for the move. He traded up to draft a kicker in the second round. It went really poorly. But he's also right: he made a bold move that backfired. That's all. He's a GM in the NFL. It won't be the first time something backfires on him. The whiff on Aguayo isn't going to doom the Bucs this season and, by and large, Licht has done a really good job in Tampa. This won't define his career and, like any good leader, he's "owning up to it."
"I'm owning up to it," Licht told King. "I'm owning up to it by releasing him. It was a bold move and it didn't work out. I don't know what else to say. I know I have the support of my coach and my ownership.
"At the time, I was bound and determined to get the best kicker we possibly could. I thought Roberto had the chance to be a special kicker in the league for a long time. That's a position that had been a rough spot for us. What did I learn from this? I've said this before, but when we took him, we essentially anointed him. If I could do it again, I would have gone back and brought in competition to challenge him. I look back on that a lot. Roberto is a great kid, but the magnitude of that position, and the pressure on a 21-year-old -- his performance is affecting the lives of men who have families to support. That got tough."
The Bucs had already given the world notice that Aguayo might not be long for Tampa when they decided to bring in Nick Folk as competition this year. It was not a foregone conclusion for Aguayo to get cut, but if he failed to clean up the mental issues that were haunting him on the field (like a golfer with the yips), then it was going to be tough for him.
Ultimately it was a horrific experiment, a miserable draft choice and a total backfire. But credit to Licht for owning up to it -- now he just needs to move on. If the Bucs win nine or 10 games, no one will think twice about the decision in the draft.