Trying to stick with Bucs
Ex-UCF WR Perriman looks to stick with Bucs after bouncing around
Former UCF receiver Perriman seeks NFL stability.
Some weddings are not planned as meticulously as an NFL player’s day-to-day existence.
Players depend on the structure of practice schedules, meetings and lifting sessions, among other job duties, in what can be a chaotic existence. Sometimes, though, just like in the real world, plans big and small fail.
Change is required.
That brings us to former UCF wide receiver Breshad Perriman. He probably shouldn’t be here, not going through practice on another humid day in Florida; not with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his fourth NFL team in what will be his fifth NFL season; and not still trying to find a home in the league.
“I live for the day,” Perriman said. “When it’s all said and done, I guess when I’m done playing, 20 years downfield, maybe I’ll look back. Now I don’t really think about why this happened. It just happened for a reason. I’m glad it played out this way.”
If things had worked out differently, Perriman would be with the Cleveland Browns, the Bucs’ opponent at 7:30 Friday night at Raymond James Stadium in a game that will air in the Orlando area on WESHChannel 2. During the offseason, Perriman had agreed verbally to a one-year contract for $4 million to return to the Browns.
Then Cleveland acquired Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants. The Browns let Perriman out of the agreement, and here he is, playing for a team a few hours from his offseason home in Miami.
“He’s showed me everything I need to see,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said of Perriman. “He has a major role right now.”
Said tight end Cameron Brate: “I’ve just been kind of blown away. You can see why he was drafted in the first round. He has all the tools, and now that he’s a little more mature and a smart football player, the sky’s the limit.”
With all Perriman has been through, it can be easy to forget how young he is. He won’t turn 26 until Sept. 10, two days after the Bucs open the regular season at home
against the San Francisco 49ers.
Perriman was once a hot prospect. Enticed by his speed and big-play ability, the Baltimore Ravens drafted him 26th overall in 2015. He injured his knee on his first day of training camp as a rookie and ultimately missed that season.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Perriman said. “I’m sure that [injury] was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it was saving me from something else that could have happened worse, so I never really looked back at it.”
Once Perriman hit the field, his production lagged. The Ravens cut him just before the start of the 2018 season, and after a brief pit stop with the Washington Redskins that lasted less than a week, the Browns signed him.
Perriman appeared in 10 games with Cleveland, averaging 21.3 yards per catch on 16 receptions.
For his career, he has 59 receptions for 916 yards (a 15.5-yard average) and five touchdowns.
“I learned a lot, man,” said Perriman, whose father, Brett, played 10 years in the NFL as a wide receiver. “Some situations are unfavorable, but if you can control what you can control and keep praying, you’re going to come out on top every time.”
Perriman is glad to be in Tampa, catching passes from the player selected first overall the same year he entered the NFL.
“He’s an excellent talent,” Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston said. “He’s getting better every single day, and I’m just happy we got him this offseason.”
Winston has something to prove in 2019. So does Perriman.
“No matter how good you’re doing or how bad you’re doing, it can change at any moment,” Perriman said. “Always work hard, and it’s going to play out.”