The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-7. They’ve already tried two different starting quarterbacks. They will now try a third. Rookie Josh Freeman, who the Bucs selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, will get the start in Week 8 when Tampa Bay plays the Green Bay Packers.
To begin the season, the Buccaneers had Byron Leftwich at quarterback. After three starts, the Bucs changed up and went with Josh Johnson. Neither quarterback was too effective — Leftwich had a quarterback rating of 71.2, while Johnson’s QB rating was 50.9.
In Week 7, Freeman saw his first NFL action. He …read more

After missing two games due to a broken rib, Donovan McNabb will be back on the field on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McNabb was originally injured in Week 1 when being hit as he was scoring a touchdown.
With McNabb on the sidelines, the Eagles actually got good play from backup Kevin Kolb. In Week 2, Kolb had 391 passing yards and two touchdowns. In Week 3, he had 327 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown.
Add Michael Vick to the equation and the Eagles have a ton of depth at quarterback. If McNabb struggles out of …read more

Antonio Bryant, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver who broke out with a fantastic season in 2008, will be out of the lineup in Week 2 when the Bucs take on the Buffalo Bills. Bryant has been slowed by a knee injury for several weeks and was noticeably gimpy in Week 1.
The Buccaneers will likely start Maurice Stovall at wide receiver next to Michael Clayton. The backup wide receivers will be Sammie Stroughter and Brian Clark. Without the team’s best wideout, quarterback Byron Leftwich will need to spread the ball for the team to have a chance.
Last season, Bryant had …read more

With the NFL season about to kick off in a few weeks, it’s time to take a look at which teams are destined to be bad in the 2009 NFL season. Here are the worst teams in the NFL as of this moment.
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
With a rookie coach and no quarterback standing out so far, the Bucs appear to be headed to a poor season in their 2009 campaign.
4. Oakland Raiders
For the Raiders to be decent, they need JaMarcus Russell to play better than expected. Don’t count on it.
3. Kansas City Chiefs
It’s difficult to find any bright spot on …read more

Tanard Jackson, a starting safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been suspended for four games by the NFL. Jackson’s suspension is due to failing a drug test. The type of substance that was detected in Jackson’s system has yet to be released.
Although Jackson isn’t a star, this is a big blow for the Buccaneers. Since being drafted, Jackson has started all 32 games of his NFL career. Last season, he had 69 tackles, two forced fumbles, one sack and one interception. The 6-foot, 200-pound Jackson played his college football at Syracuse.
With Jackson suspended, Tampa Bay will likely move Will …read more

Antonio Bryant was one of the better stories in the NFL last year. Playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bryant was back in the league after a one year absence. Despite the layoff, Bryant had the best year of his career.
The 28-year-old out of Pittsburgh had 83 catches for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns. All three of those stats were a career highs.
However, despite his great season, the Buccaneers aren’t likely to give him a new contract. Instead, Tampa Bay has given him the franchise tag. As a result, Bryant will receive a raise from around $600K to nearly $10 …read more

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress is reportedly drawing interest from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to the report by Steve Wyche on NFL.com, the Bucs likely contacted Burress’ agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Burress, who was the Super Bowl MVP for the Giants during the 2007 Super Bowl championship, was waived by New York over the offseason. Not only did the talented wide receiver have a falling out with the coaching staff, he’s facing legal troubles that could possibly land him in jail.
Currently, the two biggest receiving threats for Tampa Bay are wide receiver Antonio Bryant and tight end Kellen …read more

The New England Patriots always seem to value having depth at tight end. On Thursday, they completed a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for tight end Alex Smith. In return, the Bucs received a draft pick in 2010 NFL Draft.
Smith is a 24-year-old out of Stanford who has shown good potential at various points in his career. The best season of his four-year career was his rookie campaign. In 16 games in 2005, he had 41 receptions for 367 yards and two touchdowns.
His consistency statistically has been impressive. Over the last three seasons, he’s had three touchdowns in …read more

Byron Leftwich, who earned a Super Bowl ring last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers, has signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His contract is reportedly a two-year deal worth a little less than $8 million. For the 2009 NFL season, Leftwich will make approximately $2 million.
Multiple teams, including the Steelers and the Washington Redskins, were interested in signing Leftwich. However, the former Marshall star decided on the Buccaneers apparently due to the possibility that he can win the starting job in Tampa Bay.
As it stands, the Bucs have Brian Griese, Luke McCown and Josh Johnson at the quarterback position. With …read more

On Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen. Earlier in the month, Tony Dungy retired from the head coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts. Combine these two news items and you can get the perfect marriage.
A large reason for why Dungy retired is due to him wanting to be around his family more often. Guess where his family lives? That’s right, Tampa.
Obviously being an NFL head coach takes up a lot of time and Dungy has said he wants to make a clean break from the coaching grind, but if he’s …read more