In the NFL, it’s always better to admit a mistake than to compound it.
For the Buccaneers, the decision to burn a 2016 second-round pick on kicker Robert Aguayo has proven to be a mistake. The Buccaneers made the definitive admission of their error on Saturday, cutting Aguayo.
He exits with $428,000 in fully-guaranteed salary for 2017. If he kicks for someone else this year (and based on his performances to date there’s hardly a guarantee he will), the Bucs will get a dollar-for-dollar credit.
They get no credit for drafting Aguayo, but plenty of credit for realizing he’s not the guy. The first clear sense that maybe they’d screwed up came when veteran Nick Folk arrived with $750,000 in guaranteed pay. The last straw came last night, with a missed 47-yard field goal and a shanked extra point prompting the team to cut ties with Aguayo.
For Folk, it’s now his job to lose. And he already has done enough during camp to prompt speculation that maybe he will.