FanHouse Tampa Bay Buccaneers

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey -- The UFL plans to add two more teams and four games to each club's schedule next season, according to Rick Mueller, general manager for all four of the league's teams.

Mueller, speaking exclusively to FanHouse on Thursday, said that "it looks good" for expansion in 2010. He said that there is enough talent for the league to field six teams, start the campaign in September and play a 10-game season.

Los Angeles, a city currently without an NFL team, has been rumored as a frontrunner. Mueller did not say for sure whether a deal was in place to bring professional football back to L.A. and would not mention any other locations specifically.

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Byron Leftwich will be the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coach Raheem Morris has informed his team. Leftwich beat out Luke McCown in one of the least inspiring QB battles in recent memory, and will direct a Tampa Bay team of which little is expected through a likely rebuilding season.

Morris' decision leaves only two NFL teams -- the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions -- undecided about their starting quarterbacks as the third week of the preseason hits its climax. (That is, unless you count the Patriots.) Daunte Culpepper gets the start for Detroit this afternoon against the Colts and at this point looks like the favorite to open the season as the Lions' starter over rookie Matthew Stafford. Meanwhile, true to frustrating form, Browns coach Eric Mangini isn't saying who will start tonight's game against the Titans, though the thought in Cleveland seems to be that a decision will be made today on whether Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson will be the regular-season starter.

NEW YORK -- Looks like the Cleveland Browns really didn't like this year's first round. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really like Josh Freeman.

Tampa Bay traded up two spots, from No. 19 overall to No. 17 overall, and selected Freeman with the a pick that changed hands twice today. (The Jets dealt it to Cleveland, and Cleveland dealt it to the Bucs). Tampa Bay must have believed the Broncos were planning to take Freeman at No. 18, or else why not just wait and take Freeman at 19?

To save some cap room prior to free agency, the Buccaneers waved farewell to five players, including wide receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard. Of course, when you cut two of the six receivers on your active roster, you leave yourself with a bit of a depth issue. To bridge the gap a bit, Tampa Bay has reportedly re-upped wide receiver Michael Clayton to a five-year deal.

You have to believe that the Bucs will guarantee as little of the contract as possible, given Clayton's rather rapid decline since a sensational rookie season in 2004. In his debut year out of LSU, Clayton put up 80 catches for 1,193 yards and seven touchdowns. Since then, over a span of four seasons, Clayton has 1,513 yards and just two measly touchdowns.

There's a lot of football to be played in 2007 but with Lovie Smith finally pulling the plug on Rex Grossman in Chicago let's turn the clock forward to 2008 for a moment. Grossman's contract is up after this season and, unless he pulls a Lazarus, he won't be signing another one in Chicago. His career won't come to an end, though. From Jim Plunkett to Trent Dilfer to Vinny Testaverde, football history is laden with quarterbacks who failed at their first stop only to find success at a destination down the road. Some coach will look at Grossman's powerful arm and give him another chance to run an offense. Who might roll the dice on Rex?

Tampa Bay - Jon Gruden always finds the grass greener on the other side of the quarterback fence, even if Jeff Garcia is off to a good start in pewter. Garcia has another year on his deal but is 38 and might not have a lot of football left in him. The con is that Gruden's offenses are predicated on accurate, efficient quarterback play and no one will ever mistake Grossman for one of those.

Miami - Adam Schefter of the NFL Network reports that Cam Cameron recruited Grossman while he was the coach of Indiana and could look in that direction again if John Beck isn't ready and/or Trent Green suffers another concussion or two.

As the Super Bowl afterglow dims, and we move towards the off-season, it seems like a lot of teams out there have their eye on Jeff Garcia ... the Vikings, the Bears, the Buccaneers ... there's even a small minority of Eagles fans that want him to start next year.

And that's to be expected ... tt's an extremely thin free agent crop at the quarterback position, and Garcia was impressive with the Eagles in the season's second half. I'd be reeeally careful about giving him any kind of significant financial deal, though.

I think teams would be wise to keep three things in mind. 1) That Andy Reid knew exactly what Garcia's strengths and weaknesses were, and he knew that he had a system tailored perfectly to fit Garcia, 2) Garcia's 2004 season with the Browns, and 3) his 2005 season with the Lions.

Both the Browns and the Lions were thinking along the same lines as Garcia's potential suitors this off-season ... "we'll just bring him in to be a steady veteran presence until we can develop a younger guy." He was mediocre with the Browns and terrible with the Lions, both teams cut him after one year, and neither developed another decent quarterback in the meantime.

It's nothing against Jeff Garcia ... I'm not trying to tell you that he's a terrible quarterback. In a certain system, obviously, he can be effective, but teams should be very careful about what they ask Garcia to do. I tend to believe that backing up Donovan McNabb is the best place for Garcia, and it might be best if other teams leave him there. Ending up with the 2004 or 2005 version of Garcia is no prize.

The Good:
After spending the 2005 season on the New York Giants' practice squad, former UNC defensive lineman Jonas Seawright (pictured) has made the final 53 man roster. A solid outing in the Giants' pre-season game against the New England Patriots helped solidify his spot.

The Bad:
Former North Carolina running back Jacque Lewis was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending last season in NFL Europe. Lewis only received two carries during pre-season games, so it's no real shocker that he was let go. He's likely to continue his stint overseas.

The Ugly:
Former Tar Heel defensive end Tommy Davis broke his elbow in a goal-line practice drill about a month ago and will spend the 2006 season on the New Orleans Saints' injured reserve list. This is both good news and bad news in that he will continue to be a part of the Saints organization, but he won't be eligible to play this year.