The Buccaneers have released 31-year old DT Chris Hovan.  Hovan played in all 16 games for the Bucs last season and he finished up with 33 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he had 1/2 a sack.  He played 5 seasons for the Bucs appearing in 79 games in which he made 220 tackles, he had 5 sacks and he defensed 4 passes.  Hovan’s release should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the Bucs after they drafted DTs Gerald McCoy and Brian Price over the weekend.

The Buccaneers have released 25-year old OG Arron Sears and 27-year old OG Shawn Murphy.  Sears missed all of last season due to him having some mental issues which is also what led the his release.  Sears was a former 2nd round pick of the Bucs (2007) and he played in 31 games (all starts) in his career with them.  Shawn Murphy only played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Bucs last season.  The Buccaneers won’t miss either of these guys as they didn’t give them anything at all last season.

The Buccaneers have released 26-year old punter Sam Paulescu.  Paulescu played in 5 games for the Bucs last season and he punted the ball 24 times for 1,022 yards (42.6 avg).  He had 5 touchbacks (20.8%) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 8 times (33.3%) last season for the Bucs.  When the Bucs drafted punter Brent Bowden in the sixth round of the NFL Draft you just had a feeling that it was a matter of time until Paulescu was cut loose.

The Buccaneers have released 29-year old fullback B.J. Askew.  Askew played in 5 games for the Bucs last season and he carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards (0.0 ypc).  He also caught 2 passes for 3 yards (1.5 avg) last season.  In 3 years with the Buccaneers, Askew played in 28 games in which he carried the ball 8 times for 14 yards (1.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 33 passes for 244 yards (7.4 avg) in his time with the Buccaneers.  This was just a case of the Buccaneers cutting a player they can easily replace.

The Buccaneers have released 33-year old punter Josh Bidwell.  Bidwell didn’t play last season for the Bucs due to injury.  Bidwell played six years with the Bucs in which he punted in 80 games.  Bidwell punted the ball 419 times for 18,426 yards (44.0 avg) for the Bucs.  He had 44 touchbacks with the Bucs (10.5%) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 124 times (29.6%).  The Buccaneers will be looking for a new punter in 2010.