After questionably starting the season with linebacker Jack Cichy still on the roster, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finally decided to move on.
Jack Cichy making the 53-man roster at the start of the season was one of the biggest surprises for the Buccaneers. Cichy is a talented backer, but his injuries overshadow his play by a substantial margin.
Over the past three seasons, Cichy has played in a total of 15 games, never playing more than six in a single year. The Buccaneers are trying to build something in Tampa Bay, and they can’t do that with players who end up on IR every season.
Today, the Buccaneers made it clear that they no longer saw a future with the former Wisconsin player when Mike Garafolo reported that Tampa Bay had waived Cichy on his Twitter.
#Buccaneers are waiving LB Jack Cichy, source says. Solid special-teamer and backup when healthy. Should draw interest on waivers.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 2, 2020
Moving on from Cichy was something the Bucs should’ve done at the start of the season. After taking a chance on Chapelle Russell in the 2020 NFL Draft, holding on to Cichy as the ILB4 made very little sense.
The Buccaneers made it clear that Cichy was back, healthy, and ready to perform, but it still did not seem like the right decision. Russell had a much better training camp and appeared to be a better fit than someone like Cichy.
With limited playing time and almost no stats over his three years in the NFL, everyone should have seen the writing on the wall. Cichy is decent in the roles that he plays, but Russell and Kevin Minter are able to perform this role even better.
The Buccaneers now have some roster space to work around with before the playoffs. Cichy had already spent a decent amount of time on IR this season, but the Bucs should be able to evaluate other positions of need in a more effective way rather than keeping five inside linebackers on the roster.