Breshad Perriman is 28 years old and on his third team this season.
That’s not particularly unusual, except for the teams in question; Perriman started training camp with the Lions, was waived before the season, and then joined the Bears for a few weeks. The Lions and Bears are both bad teams, and also not exactly overflowing with receiving depth. The Lions paid him a $2 million guaranteed before cutting him, and he never played a down for Chicago despite being healthy.
Then he went to…the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers? And immediately got into one game, then another, and then another. Today he was active again as Tampa tried to avoid blowing a lead to the Bills.
Perriman admittedly didn’t make a huge impact most of the night; this is just a journeyman 3rd/4th receiver we’re talking about, after all, albeit one with fantastic physical tools. But the one ball he caught was the biggest play of the game:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME, @B_Perriman11?!!!
📺: #BUFvsTB on CBS pic.twitter.com/t7ajzi5ctd
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 13, 2021
It wasn’t just a huge win for Tampa, it was also a milestone for Brady:
TD 7️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ FOR THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/TrSrBz1Uv3
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 13, 2021
But what a hell of a way for Breshad Perriman to pop up in a big moment. Obviously Tom Brady makes receivers better, and he hasn’t lit the world on fire in Tampa. But he’s still providing something to a Super Bowl contender, after he was deemed surplus to requirements to two teams who have combined for five wins so far this year.
That certainly isn’t the biggest indictment of franchises like Detroit and Chicago, but it’s hard not to look at it as a microcosm of why some teams are successful and some aren’t. Processes matter.
