One of the biggest, and frankly surprising, disappointments of last season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the crash out of punter Jake Camarda.
In less than a year, he went from being one of the most important players on the roster and a borderline Pro Bowler to being out of a job in the middle of the season. Camarda had been rock-solid reliable for the first two years of his career in Tampa, which is what made his fall from grace so stunning but also gave some hope that he'd bounce back.
That opportunity seemed to have come back in January, when the Buffalo Bills signed Camarda to a futures contract. It turns out that his time in Buffalo was short-lived, as he's one again looking for work.
As training camp got underway, the Bills announced that Camarda had been released. He now hits free agency at an absolutely critical time of the offseason, but one that could help him find work somewhere before position battles are won.
Ex-Buccaneers punter Jake Camarda suffers another career setback
Part of what made Camarda's crash out so stunning was how quickly it happened.
Over the previous two seasons, his leg helped flip the field and keep the Bucs in games they otherwise would have let gotten away. There were other factors that helped the team win back-to-back division titles, but Camarda's 2023 performance played a major role.
For some reason, he completely fell off a cliff.
Camarda's punting average plummeted to an unplayable 36.5 net yards, down from 41.4 net yards per punt and then 41.2 net yards per punt the previous two seasons. The result was the team first benching him for Trenton Gill before unceremoniously releasing Camarda in October.
Finding work during training camp isn't easy, but it's not impossible. Camarda has proven to be valuable enough in the past that a team would be wise to bring him in for a tryout to see if he can re-capture the magic he had in Tampa Bay.
The fact that we're even having that sort of conversation about a guy who looked good just a few seasons ago further illustrates how hard Camarda's fall has been.
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