Buccaneers need to cut veteran after disastrous start to season

With most teams, keeping veterans on the roster is a good way to hedge against injuries, but the Buccaneers get more bad than good from Kyle Rudolph.

We get it. Calling for players to get cut after just five games might sound silly, but the Buccaneers do need to consider making a move like this with veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph.

Rudolph was initially signed to serve in a role alongside Cameron Brate in an attempt to stem the bleeding from the loss of Rob Gronkowski, but both options have failed to impress with their expanded roles.

Overall tight end performance from the Buccaneers tight ends has been pretty bad outside of Cade Otton and some keys blocks from Ko Kieft, and the Bucs need to make a change to keep their offense humming after the last two weeks.

Getting rid of Rudolph is essentially addition by subtraction in this situation.

Rudolph’s reps usually end in far more bad than good for the Bucs. Rudolph barely makes it onto the field as is for the Buccaneers, and when he does, the results aren’t all that impressive.

One catch on the season is nothing to write home about. Then, when you add in some bad drops and taking away reps from guys like Otton or even Kieft, you see that Rudolph’s staying on the field is a negative for Tampa.

Sure, he might make some sense as the third guy until Cameron Brate returns from injury, but Brate coming back should send Rudolph off the game day roster, and the Bucs would be wise to find someone else to sit on that bubble spot or on the practice squad.

The move for Rudolph made sense in the moment, but seeing this experiment in action has proven that this was not the move that we thought it was. There are better options out there.

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