Vernon Hargreaves' underwhelming tenure in Tampa is over.
The Buccaneers waived the former first-round pick Tuesday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported, per a source informed of the situation. Tampa Bay later confirmed the roster move.
"After thoughtful consideration over the past few weeks, coach [Bruce] Arians and I came to the conclusion that we needed to make this change," Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said in a statement. "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."
Hargreaves' standing with the team saw its first significant in-season warning sign over the weekend, when Arians benched the cornerback due to a lack of hustle. This came months after Arians held Hargreaves out of an OTA session because he felt as if the defender wasn't ready to participate.
Hargreaves didn't fight Arians' assessment Sunday, sounding confident a chat and adjustment was all that would be needed to improve. Tuesday's news tells us otherwise.
Hargreaves' time with the Buccaneers comes to an end after less than four seasons. The 11th-overall pick of the 2016 draft, Hargreaves never became the player Tampa Bay imagined it was getting with the selection, battling injuries through much of the past two seasons and appearing in just 26 games over his first three campaigns combined. He did not miss a game in 2019 and recorded an interception that he returned for a touchdown, but it was just his second interception of his career.
It appears as though Arians' Buccaneers believe Hargreaves is no longer worth the hassle and have decided to move on.
