Since being cut by the Buccaneers in August, we haven't heard much from Roberto Aguayo.
The beleaguered kicker, who lost his job in Tampa after a rough preseason, signed with the Bears in late August only to get cut just before the regular season started.
Aguayo then spent the first seven weeks of the season watching the NFL from home before the Carolina Panthers called him this week. Panthers kicker Graham Gano has been dealing with some soreness in his knee, so Carolina decided to add Aguayo to the team's practice squad Tuesday.
Although Aguayo isn't expected to play Sunday, there is an outside chance that he could end up on the field. Gano missed practice Friday and has been listed as questionable for this week's game. If Gano can't play on Sunday, then the Panthers will roll with Aguayo, and in a fitting twist of fate, the kicker's first game of the year would come against the same team that drafted him in 2016: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That's right, the Panthers are playing in Tampa on Sunday and there's a chance that Aguayo could get revenge on his old team. An Aguayo game-winner on Sunday would probably send Buccaneers fans into a conniption fit.
Of course, just because Gano missed practice on Friday doesn't mean he's going to miss the game. Panthers coach Ron Rivera said that Gano's absence from practice didn't have much to do with his knee injury and was more closely related to the fact that Gano has been dealing with the flu.
According to the Panthers' official website, Rivera said that Aguayo is "strictly an emergency" situation for Carolina. However, the Panthers coach did add that Aguayo has been "kicking really good."
If Aguayo does get on the field in Tampa, you have to figure he would relish the chance to get revenge on the team that gave up on him just one season after making him the 59th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Aguayo spent most of 2016 under a microscope thanks to the fact that the Buccaneers traded up to select him in the second round of the NFL Draft. The selection made Aguayo just the third kicker since 2000 to be taken in the second round or higher.
The rookie responded to the pressure by finishing last in the NFL in field goal percentage. Aguayo only hit 71 percent of his kicks, which was due in large part to the fact that he went 4 of 11 on kicks of 40 yards or longer.
The Bucs gave on him in August after he missed two kicks -- an extra point and a 47-yard field goal -- in Tampa's 23-12 preseason opening loss to the Bengals. Aguayo also missed a 49-yard field goal during his short time with the Bears.
