The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went somewhat against the grain when they selected kicker Roberto Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
As many rookies typically do, Aguayo struggled in his first year on the team. He ranked 21st overall when it came to last year’s kickers. In extra points, he made 94.1 percent. That was not too shabby. But as far as field goals, Aguayo made only 71 percent of his attempts. This is the type of stuff that hurts the team.
Now, it appears that Aguayo may not be guaranteed a roster spot in 2017.
“We will do everything we can to bring in the best competition at that position,” Licht said, per Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report. “I think Dirk (Koetter) even said he’s not locked into this roster. He needs to have a great camp just like all of our players, but we will continue to find the best competition that we can and ultimately have the best kicker that we can on this roster – whether it’s him or somebody else.”
The current talk surrounding Tampa Bay suggests that the team could bring in veteran kicker Steven Hauschka. He would compete with Aguayo if that is the case. Hauschka is slated to become a free agent and the Seattle Seawhawks just signed Blair Walsh.
Hauschka’s numbers dropped a bit in 2016. But overall while playing in Seattle, Hauschka made 88.8 percent of his 197 field goal attempts. He also nailed 95.1 percent of his extra points.
Aguayo is going to have to step things up in practice in order to make the roster. That already seems to be pretty clear.