After yet another disappointing performance and a scolding from head coach Dirk Koetter, the Buccaneers have moved on from Roberto Aguayo.
Welp, there it is. Many have called for it and it looks like Jason Licht and Dirk Koetter have had enough. Roberto Aguayo – the second round pick from 2015 – has been released per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
Bucs have released PK Roberto Aguayo.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 12, 2017
After a horrendous performance Friday night in Cincinnati, Dirk Koetter wasn’t mincing his words about the kicker;
"“I keep saying it. I can’t say it anymore. You’re a kicker. You gotta make your kicks. He kicked off well, but that was a good situation for our competition that came up there at the end. Got in field goal range and the chance to kick one, go for an onside kick and, just, you’d like to keep your chances alive as long as you can to be in the game and that just ended our chances.”"
It was pretty apparent after the Buccaneers signed Nick Folk this offseason that Aguayo was on thin ice. Add to that a missed extra point and missed field goal in the first preseason game – while Folk was one-for-one with a 45 yarder, longer than any of Aguayo’s makes last season – and the writing was on the wall.
It’s a little surprising that they didn’t let the competition play its way through training camp but at the same time Folk is a reliable kicker and if need be, the Buccaneers can bring in another kicker to compete with Folk instead of handing him the job outright.
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It’s an unfortunate end for Aguayo but there is one thing at the very top of his job description he didn’t do and that was make kicks. What he did make was very interesting television Tuesday night when this inevitably plays a huge role on Hard Knocks.