Roberto Aguayo Signs with Panthers' Practice Squad After Release by Bears

Roberto Aguayo will reportedly attempt to kick his redemption tour into high gear with the Carolina Panthers. 

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Panthers signed Aguayo to their practice squad on Wednesday as Graham Gano deals with knee soreness. 

It's the first opportunity Aguayo has received since the Chicago Bears waived him on Sept. 2.

That extended tryout period in the Windy City came on the heels of a disastrous run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which ended Aug. 12. The Buccaneers traded up to select him in the second round of the 2016 draft, but they decided they had seen enough. 

"You never feel good when you shatter someone's dream," Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht told The MMQB's Peter King. "That is always tough, especially someone you had such high hopes for. You don't have good feelings about that. It is a little bit of a sense of, I don't want to say relief, but we've ripped off the band-aid, and we move on. We're moving forward."

During his lone season with the Buccaneers, Aguayo went 22-of-31 on field-goal attempts and missed two extra points. He was also a liability from distance and converted just 4 of 11 attempts beyond 40 yards. 

Aguayo's woes followed him into the 2017 preseason. 

In Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Florida State product missed one of his two field-goal attempts and shanked his only extra-point try. 

At that point, the Bucs decided to cut the cord. 

Aguayo proceeded to struggle in camp with the Bears, and he didn't flash nearly enough consistency to win the job from incumbent Connor Barth.

Nonetheless, the Panthers were willing to give the the 23-year-old one more shot. 

Based on the way Aguayo has struggled to this point in his career, he figures to be on a short leash if he is thrust into action for the injured Gano. 

In the meantime, the Panthers will hope Aguayo can channel the confident ways that guided him to success at Florida State as he hopes to avoid another meltdown.