Dwayne Haskins and the Buccaneers: Great fit or mistake?

Second chances are far from rare

As previously mentioned, Haskins ruined his chances in Washington. His departure is almost entirely on him and his decisions outside of football, but it is too soon to consider Haskins a backup.

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How many NFL players have made mistakes off the field and received second chances? Tom Brady and Antonio Brown are two players on the Buccaneers that have made mistakes that warranted suspensions by the NFL, yet Bucs fans celebrated their arrival with mostly open arms. Haskins has done nothing as severe as Brady or Brown, so the “he is a cancer in the locker room” argument holds absolutely no merit in this case.

In addition to Brady and Brown, many other players across the league have made mistakes that were far more egregious and are still getting a chance. Haskins is nowhere near some of the worst offenders in the league, and some of the worst mistakes were made by the most recognizable faces.

Haskins is guilty of being a kid, a mistake that many young NFL players make. First-round draft picks go from being college kids to multi-millionaires with the stroke of a pen, and there is undoubtedly a learning curve involved with handling the opportunity that comes with that amount of money.

Haskins has done nothing to warrant removal from consideration as a starter on other teams, and this situation could serve as a catalyst to get his career back on track. Sometimes, people have to experience life in the valley before they can recover from their mistakes, and Haskins is lucky that his current predicament is only the result of small errors and nothing serious.

The Buccaneers take almost no risk from a character standpoint in signing Haskins, no more than they already have with some of their players on the roster, so at least on that front, this pairing does make sense.