Saturday is the final cut day of the NFL preseason, with teams needing to cut their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET. That will surely result in some surprising names being let go. Players such as Brock Osweiler, Matt Jones and Victor Cruz fall into that category.
However, one cut that probably shouldn’t be a surprise is kicker Roberto Aguayo. The ol’ change of scenery didn’t work out for Aguayo, 23, who was cut earlier in the preseason by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but quickly signed by the Chicago Bears.
On Saturday, the Bears decided not to keep the former second-round draft pick and three-time All-American. That status obviously put great expectations on Aguayo. Kickers like Sebastian Janikowski and Jason Hanson who were high draft picks had long careers and became all-time greats for their respective teams.
At the very least, Aguayo should have been average. Instead, he was terrible. He made 71 percent (22-of-31) of his kicks and missed two extra points as a rookie. The Buccaneers had seen enough when Aguayo missed a field goal and extra point during their first preseason game this year.
Roberto Aguayo 49 yard field goal…..NOPE! pic.twitter.com/7JSCOGCn8G
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD2_) August 20, 2017
The Bears hoped they could get an upgrade over Connor Barth and benefit from Aguayo changing teams. But he missed his first field goal attempt (for 49 yards) with Chicago and reportedly struggled during practice as well. The Bears are on the hook for his 2017 salary ($428,000), however, after claiming him on waivers.
Another NFL team will almost certainly give Aguayo a chance, considering the volatility at the position throughout the league. Some coach or general manager will decide that he still has too much talent not to try out. But Aguayo’s short NFL career has been a baffling curiosity.
Whether or not he’s ultimately defined as one of the worst draft picks in NFL history is up to him, of course. But how many more opportunities can he squander?
