Tampa Bay’s 2016 draft is officially an abject failure

The Bucs officially set fire to the pool of gas that surrounded the status of the 2016 draft class by releasing Vernon Hargreaves III on Tuesday.

Hargreaves was the last hope for a draft class that was simply abysmal when it comes to the Bucs’ ROI.

Just look at the list of players from that class:

• CB Vernon Hargreaves III: Cut after injuries and inefficiency defined his three-and-a-half year career in Tampa Bay. Two career picks and 19 passes defensed over 33 starts.
• DE Noah Spence: He looked good during his rookie year, but injuries and an inability to crack the starting rotation dismissed Spence from Tampa Bay. He plays for the Redskins and has one sack on the year.
• K Roberto Aguayo: It’s not like Tampa Bay was setting the world on fire before the 2016 draft, but trading up to take Aguayo in the second round and his subsequent failures have made the Bucs the laughingstock of the league. He is not on a NFL team.
• CB Ryan Smith: Primarily a special teams player and the only player from this class left on the roster.
• OT Caleb Benenoch: Ew. Not even Dante Scarnecchia - the best offensive line coach in the league - could save this guy. He is not on a NFL team.
• LB Devante Bond: Never found his place on the team before Arians came along and four-game suspension to start 2019 certainly didn’t help things. He is not on a NFL team.
• TE Dan Vitale: Poor guy didn’t even make the team in 2016, but has since found a home with the Packers, where he currently resides.

There are two takeaways, here:

1. The fact that three of these guys haven’t even found a home on another NFL roster tells you all you need to know. They weren’t just supposed to stay out of Tampa Bay, they were never really supposed to be in the NFL.

2. Ryan Smith is the only guy left on the roster from this draft class? Yikes. Big yikes.

I’ll say it again: Yikes.

I feel like I should take a shower after writing this.