The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded up two spots with the Cleveland Browns costing them a 6th round pick (#191 overall) for the right to select QB Josh Freeman.  It was surprising to me that the Bucs selected a QB when they had so many other needs.  Freeman is a little raw and will likely take time before he’s ready to start in the NFL despite Coach Morris saying that he will compete with Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown for the starting job.  Freeman is a good athlete standing at 6′6″, 240 pounds and he runs a 4.8 40.  There’s no doubting that Freeman has a big time arm but he often throws the ball where he shouldn’t.  Freeman played in 35 games (32 starts) in his 3 years at Kansas State and he completed 680 of 1,151 passes (59.1%) for 8,078 yards with 44 TD passes and 34 interceptions.  Unless Freeman turns out to be a franchise QB (doubtful) then the Buccaneers should have picked someone else in the first round.

The Buccaneers have signed 29-year old QB Byron Leftwich to a 2-year contract.  He will battle Luke McCown for the starting job in the pre season and training camp.  Leftwich is a hulking QB at 6′5″, 250 pounds and he has a rocket arm.  Last season he played in 5 games for the Steelers and he completed 21 of 36 passes (58.3%) for 303 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions (104.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 7 yards (1.8 ypc) last season.  Leftwich has now played in 54 games in his NFL career and he has completed 842 of 1,438 passes (58.6%) for 9,624 yards with 54 TD passes and 38 interceptions (80.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 130 times for 378 yards (2.9 ypc) with 9 TD runs in his career.  This was a good signing for the Buccaneers as it forces Luke McCown to earn the starting job if he gets it.  Brian Griese will likely lose his roster spot with the Bucs going with young and promising Josh Johnson as their #3 QB in 2009.