The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the decision today to cut former first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves, just days after Bruce Arians benched the veteran cornerback for lack of hustle during Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Hargreaves was the team’s first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft (11th overall), and came into the draft ranked as one of the top two cornerbacks in his class. But, after playing all 16 games his rookie year, Hargreaves struggled to stay healthy over the last two seasons, playing a total of just 10 games entering 2019. This year, he’d started all nine of the team’s games, but cutting him was a smart business move by the Bucs given the defender’s history of getting hurt.
Still, biding farewell to Hargreaves further proves that the 2016 draft was a nightmare for both general manager Jason Licht and the Buccaneers franchise. In fact, only one player drafted by the team in 2016 is still on the roster.
Take a look at this tweet, courtesy of Jenna Laine of ESPN.
“Vernon Hargreaves’ departure means that just ONE of Jason Licht’s 2016 draft picks remain on the current roster: Ryan Smith, who has played just five defensive snaps this year. Noah Spence, Roberto Aguayo, Caleb Benenoch, Devante Bond and Danny Vitale were all cut.”
I think Bucs fans will always remember that draft as the Aguayo Draft.
It seemed for a while that Hargreaves may finally develop into the player the Bucs were hoping for, but his lack of effort in Week 10 was apparently the final straw.
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