The Buccaneers have re-signed 26-year old WR Michael Clayton to a 5-year deal.  Clayton played in 15 games for the Bucs last season and he caught 38 passes for 484 yards (12.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 5 yards (2.5 ypc) last season.  Clayton has now played in 71 games for the Bucs in his career and he has caught 205 passes for 2,706 yards (13.2 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 18 times for 100 yards (5.6 ypc) in his career.  The Bucs hope that Clayton can get back to the player he was as a rookie when he caught 80 passes for 1,193 yards (14.9 avg) with 7 TDs in 2004.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have acquired 25-year old TE Kellen Winslow from the Cleveland Browns for a 2nd round pick in 2009 and a 5th round pick in 2010.  Winslow played in 10 games for the Browns last season and he caught 43 passes for 428 yards (10.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He played in 44 games in his career with the Browns and he caught 219 passes for 2,459 yards (11.2 avg) with 11 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Bucs as Winslow immediately becomes the 2nd best receiver on the Buccaneers.  If he can just stay healthy the Bucs might have a Pro Bowler on their hands as Winslow is one of the most physically gifted tight ends in all of football and he catches everything that is thrown his way.

The Bucs have re-signed 27-year old Luke McCown to a contract fitting of only a starting QB.  That means that this will be his big chance in 2009 to prove that he’s a legit NFL QB.  He played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Bucs last season and he threw one incomplete pass and he carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc).  McCown has played in 12 games (7 starts) in his NFL career to date and he has completed 142 for 238 passes (59.7%) for 1,617 yards with 9 TD passes and 10 interceptions (75.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the football 21 times for 157 yards (7.5 ypc) in his career.  At least the Bucs have decided to retain 33-year old veteran Brian Griese as a safety net in case McCown can’t handle the job.  But, McCown does have the arm and mobility to develop into a good starting NFL QB and the Bucs are banking on that happening in 2009.

The Buccaneers decided to cut ties with Jeff Garcia before free agency began telling him that they are going in a different direction.  The 38-year old Garcia played in 12 games (11 starts) for the Bucs last season and he completed 244 of 376 passes (64.9%) for 2,712 yards with 12 TD passes and 6 interceptions (90.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 35 times for 148 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  This was probably the right move for the Bucs to make as they couldn’t count on Garcia playing a full season in 2009.