The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have cut Roberto Aguayo, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (the team confirmed within minutes of that report). Aguayo missed two kicks against the Cincinnati Bengals last night, an extra point and a 45-yarder, connecting only on

Last year’s second-round pick, the highest-drafted kicker since Sebastian Janikowski went in the first round in 2000 Mike Nugent went higher in the second round in 2005, has struggled throughout his short NFL career with accuracy. Even though he was billed as the most accurate kicker in college football history (which depends on how you count certain statistics), Aguayo was the second-least accurate kicker in the NFL last year.

That seemed to improve a little this offseason, but as soon as the lights turned on and he had to kick in a real stadium, Aguayo crumbled again. Two misses in three attempts could be coincidence, but his technique also looked awful, and his misses fit a consistent pattern, arguably dating back to his final year in college when he really struggled on long-distance kicks.

I’d say it’s a bit pointless to cut him this early in preseason, why not see what he has left? But the Bucs have seen plenty of Aguayo behind the scenes and honestly, there’s not much of a chance of redemption left here.

The Bucs will roll with Nick Folk as their kicker. They signed the veteran to provide real competition for Aguayo this offseason, and that has apparently proven to be necessary: Aguayo just can’t hack it, not with the Bucs.

And this is why you don’t draft kickers high, or even at all: if they work out, they’re not that much better than their free agent and undrafted competitors. And if they fail, you throw away a valuable draft pick.