Buccaneers Gab

Today the Bucs released 3 players today, Punters Josh Bidwell and Dirk Johnson and CB Torrie Cox.

Bidwell, 33, had been with the Bucs since 2004. He was scheduled to earn a base salary of $1 million and had two years remaining on his contract. Bidwell was in the process of recovering from season-ending hip surgery he underwent in training camp. Johnson was signed after Bidwell’s injury, but landed on injured reserve later in the year after injuring his leg on a fake punt attempt at Atlanta.

Cox was a sixth-round pick with the Bucs in 2003. Cox, whose base salary in 2010 was scheduled to be $1.1 million, was a reserve cornerback, but made some significant contributions on special teams when healthy.

In addition, Tampa Bay officially announced it has tendered contracts to eight restricted players, including tackle Donald Penn, tackle Jeremy Trueblood, running back Cadillac Williams, linebacker Barrett Ruud, wide receiver Maurice Stovall, wide receiver Mark Bradley, cornerback Elbert Mack and running back Clifton Smith.

The Bucs didn’t tender contracts to the following restricted free agents: wide receiver Brian Clark, linebacker Matt McCoy, linebacker Rod Wilson and fullback Byron Storer. These players are now unrestricted free agents.

Tampa Bay likely will release or trade more players as it acquires new ones throughout the offseason.

The St.Pete Times today reports that you can expect Byron Leftwich to stick around, as he didn’t play enough to trigger a roster bonus:

The Buccaneers won’t release QB Byron Leftwich soon because he didn’t play enough to trigger a roster bonus. More important, Tampa Bay is not opposed to having exclusively young players behind Josh Freeman, 22. They are high on Josh Johnson, 23, and Rudy Carpenter, 23, and would like to create a situation like the Packers had at one time when Brett Favre was backed up by young, inexperienced quarterbacks such as Mark Brunell, Matt Hasselbeck and Kurt Warner.

Chris Mortensen is at the NFL combine, and while there are plenty of tidbits out today, there is one that has a lot to do for Tampa Bay, as it looks like Antonio Bryant won’t be back:

Raheem Morris tells Bucs beat reporters than WR Antonio Bryant’s career in Tampa “is over.”

Bryant was just considered a must have a season ago in the offseason, and now he’s gone, showing the direction the team is headed in with Raheem Morris over Jon Gruden.

The Tampa Tribune reports today that Derrick Ward may end up as the teams feature running back in 2010:

Buccaneers running back Derrick Ward, a targeted free agent from the Giants, averaged seven rushes per game and only 3.6 yards per carry, a shocking drop from the 5.6 average he sported with New York in 2008. By midway through the season, Ward stopped talking, waving the media away from his locker, he was likely worried he would reveal his frustrations by blurting out something negative about the organization that wanted him so much a year ago. Ira Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune thinks Ward will be the featured back the second time around, the Bucs guaranteed him $6 million last year and ownership would like to see more impact for that degree of commitment.

Maybe the front office finally saw what fans did, and that’s the fact that he shut down nearly every Right DE he faced. Penn is and will be worth every penny and then some. Pay him already!

This rumor came via La Canfora,

The Buccaneers intend to put the high restricted free-agent tender on LT Donald Penn, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Penn, 26, hit a rough patch in 2009, but he still would command significant interest on the free-agent market. By tendering Penn, the Bucs would receive compensation if he were to leave.

The team worked on a new long-term deal for Penn during the preseason, but that came off the table largely because of an inability to agree on upfront money. The Bucs have been very judicious with spending in recent years.

Penn is one of several players who entered the league expecting to be unrestricted free agents in 2010, but the rules regarding a possible uncapped year could end up binding them to their current teams as long as a qualifying offer is extended.

JoeBucsFan.com is reporting it looks as if the Bucs are going to be aggressive in moving up in April’s draft:

Speaking to Steve Duemig, of 620 WDAE-AM, on Monday evening, Bucs General Manager Mark Dominik confidently spoke of his readiness to trade up from the No. 3 overall pick to meet the team’s needs. “We have the ability to go either direction,” Dominik said. “We’ll prepare to go either direction, which is a good option for Tampa Bay.” It’s hard to fathom the Bucs trading up in such a deepdraft , considering they are filled with holes and trading up would likely cost them a later pick. And that depth was acknowledged by Dominik in the interview, as he said he had been targeting adding picks in 2010.

The Tampa Tribune reports that DE Jimmy Wilkerson underwent knee surgery in mid January:

Buccaneers defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, who started at left defensive end and is likely headed for free agency next month, had surgery to repair a knee injury in mid January. It will likely force Wilkerson to miss most, if not all, of the team’s offseason workout program but is expected to be ready in time for training camp. Wilkerson, whom the Bucs have already had contract discussions with, may have to settle for a reserve role in 2010 if he returns as the Bucs are looking for second-year pro Kyle Moore to step up and possibly take his place in the starting lineup.

Pewter Report states that LB Geno Hayes will be on the shelf until training camp after surgery:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Geno Hayes will be off of the football field until training camp after undergoing surgery. Hayes injured his shoulder in the second quarter of the Bucs’ final game of the season on Jan. 3. He’s expected to miss three to four months of football activity, and he’s expected to return in time for training camp in July.

The St.Pete Times reports today about the franchise tag, and says the club won’t use it on WR Antonio Bryant:

Teams can begin applying the franchise tag to players beginning today, but wide receiver Antonio Bryant will be losing that designation from the Buccaneers. Bryant, 28, earned $9.88-million last season as the Bucs’ franchise player but he struggled to recover from knee surgery and had only 39 receptions for 600 yards and four touchdowns last season. The Bucs could still re-sign Bryant as a free agent or consider trading for a veteran receiver like the Broncos’ Brandon Marshall, who likely could be acquired for a second-round pick.