The writing was on the wall after Vernon Hargreaves was benched following a perceived lack of effort in a recent game, and now the former Florida cornerback is looking for a new team following his release from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The former first-round draft pick was benched in the third quarter of the Bucs’ 30-27 win over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday because coach Bruce Arians said he didn’t believe Hargreaves showed enough effort at the beginning of the third quarter, when the defense surrendered a 55-yard catch on a slant route by Andy Isabella, ESPN reported.

“He didn’t look like he was hustling to go in for a tackle,” said Arians, who had called out the secondary last week for giving up a fourth-quarter lead to the Seattle Seahawks.

The team announced the release Tuesday morning with a statement from General Manager Jason Licht.

“After thoughtful consideration over the past few weeks, Coach Arians and I came to the conclusion that we needed to make this change,” said Licht. “Decisions such as this are always difficult, but we felt it was in the best interest of our team to part ways with Vernon at this time and allow him to explore other opportunities. We are disappointed that it did not work out here for Vernon and we wish him continued success moving forward.”

Hargreaves started the first nine games of the season and recorded 40 tackles, one interception, four passes defensed and one fumble recovery.

Overall, Hargreaves appeared in 35 games for the Buccaneers, with 33 starts, and produced 164 tackles, four tackles for loss, 19 passes defensed, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one defensive touchdown. He was the 11th overall pick in the 2016 draft.