After impressing on back-to-back one-year deals, running back Leonard Fournette was rewarded by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason with a new three-year contract extension.
Evidently, Bucs coaches aren’t thrilled with what happened next, though.
Fournette didn’t attend Tampa Bay’s organized team activities, and when he did show up for mandatory minicamp, coaches didn’t like what they saw, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (on the Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast):
“Coaches were not happy, and that’s an understatement, when (Fournette) didn’t participate in the OTAs, but then he shows up at the mandatory minicamp weighing damn near 260 [pounds],” Stroud said. “And that’s not a good sign for a guy that you’ve just spent a three-year contract on.”
Fournette established himself last season as a three-down weapon for the Tampa Bay offense, and a favorite target of Tom Brady in passing situations. Stroud also noted high expectations for third-round rookie Rachaad White, who excelled as a pass-catching specialist at Arizona State.
If White impresses in training camp, and Fournette doesn’t impress the coaching staff when he reports for duty this time around, Brady might end up looking to the rookie as his new go-to receiver out of the backfield.
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