There’s nothing wrong with a little dose of honesty.
Just ask Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Robert Ayers, who delivered this brutally honest quote about the progress of his new team to Jeff Darlington of NFL Network:
I’m now in Tampa, where Robert Ayers just had the quote of the offseason when summing up Bucs’ progress: “We’re a little less terrible.”
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) June 15, 2016
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The Buccaneers finished 6-10 last season, losing five of their last six games after a promising 5-5 start. The disappointing result led to the firing of head coach Lovie Smith, who was replaced this offseason by offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter.
Still, there’s reason for optimism in Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers re-signed running back Doug Martin and added Ayers, J.R Sweezy, Brent Grimes and Daryl Smith in free agency. During the draft, Tampa Bay took cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and pass-rusher Noah Spence with its first two picks.
The most promising development for the Bucs’ future is second-year quarterback Jameis Winston, who threw for over 4,000 yards with 22 touchdowns as a rookie starter in 2015.
Darlington later added some context to Ayers’ original quote:
To provide context to Ayers’ quote: At start of OTAs in April, he said, “Right now we’re terrible. Nobody knows anything this time of year.”
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) June 15, 2016
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Luckily for the Buccaneers, there’s still plenty of time in the offseason to continue getting better. As long as Tampa Bay gets a little less terrible every day, Ayers’ new team should eventually be ready to become a contender in the NFC South in 2016.
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