The Tampa Bay Bucs cut this former Florida Gators star after benching for not hustling
Former Florida Gators star Vernon Hargreaves is no longer a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
The Bucs cut their former first-round NFL Draft pick Tuesday.
“After thoughtful consideration over the past few weeks, [Bucs head coach] Bruce [Arians] and I came to the conclusion that we needed to make this change,” Bucs general manager Jason Licht said in a news release. “Decisions such as this are always difficult, but I felt it was in the best interest of our team to part ways with Vernon at this time and allow him to explore other opportunities. We are disappointed that it did not work out here for Vernon and we wish him continued success moving forward.”
The Bucs drafted Hargreaves, a cornerback, with the 11th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Arians benched Hargreaves during Sunday’s victory over the Arizona Cardinals for not showing enough effort, ESPN reported.
“He didn’t look like he was hustling to go in for a tackle,” Arians told ESPN.
Before the season began, Arians sat Hargreaves out from OTAs, because Arians said Hargreaves “was not mentally ready to practice,” according to ESPN.
The Bucs previously picked Hargreav’ss player option for the 2020 season at $9 million, guaranteed only for injury. Any team can pick him up off waivers.
