Ever since Roberto Aguayo was selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has received unending criticism amid Aguayo's poor performances.
He believes his penance has now been paid.
After releasing Aguayo on Friday, Licht admitted to Peter King of Sports Illustrated the decision to draft Aguayo in the first place was a "bold move," and that the decision to cut ties with the kicker was the final chapter in accepting responsibility for it.
"I'm owning up to it," Licht said. "I'm owning up to it by releasing him. It was a bold move and it didn't work out. I don't know what else to say. I know I have the support of my coach and my ownership.
"At the time, I was bound and determined to get the best kicker we possibly could. I thought Roberto had the chance to be a special kicker in the league for a long time. That’s a position that had been a rough spot for us. What did I learn from this? I’ve said this before, but when we took him, we essentially anointed him. If I could do it again, I would have gone back and brought in competition to challenge him."
Aguayo's 71 percent rate on field goals last season was the worst among qualified kickers, making him one of the biggest busts in NFL history, but the personal impact that comes with being released isn't lost on the man who ultimately hit the eject button.
"You never feel good when you shatter someone’s dream," Licht said. "That is always tough, especially someone you had such high hopes for. You don’t have good feelings about that. It is a little bit of a sense of, I don’t want to say relief, but we’ve ripped off the band-aid, and we move on. We’re moving forward."
Somewhat surprisingly, Aguayo's tenure on the open market only lasted one day, as the Chicago Bears claimed him off waivers Sunday.
