Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Breaking down depth on special teams
By Cory Kinnan
Kicking woes coming to a close?
The Buccaneers have been unable to identify a kicker for years, and their search hit a climax in 2016 when they traded back into the second round to land Florida State standout Roberto Aguayo. He, unfortunately, lasted just one year and the preseason of his second before the Buccaneers decided to cut their losses.
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Last year the Buccaneers started the season with Chandler Catanzaro as their kicker, but was cut in November of 2018 starting they year 11-for-15, including 1-for-4 from beyond 40 yards; he also missed four extra points in that span as well. The Buccaneers then brought in Cairo Santos to finish the season for them at the kicking position.
After kicking the last seven games for the Buccaneers and hitting 9-of-12 field goals and all of his extra points, Santos signed a one-year extension this offseason to remain in Tampa Bay. His time with the Bucs after signing that extension is already ticking as rookie kicker Matt Gay from the University of Utah was drafted in the fifth-round of the draft and will be given every opportunity to win the job this summer.
"“Barring a preseason injury or meltdown, [the Buccaneers] are going to keep Gay and cut Santos. You know it. I know it. They know it” (Thomas Bassinger via Tampa Bay Times)."
Teams do not draft kickers in the fifth round of the draft just to cut them months later, and with that being said, the job is Gay’s to lose. Thus far in the offseason Gay has looked like a guy who can boom it from distance, and his college numbers support this. In two years with the Utes, Gay never missed an extra point (though significantly closer than the NFL) and converted on 86 percent of his kicks.