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Bucs' Clayton Also Seems To Have Had Change Of Heart

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2009

TAMPA - Luke McCown isn't the only potential Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agent who's had a change of heart about leaving the team.

WR Michael Clayton, once adamant about leaving the Bucs, seems a lot more interested in returning now that new head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik are in charge.

Clayton says he still plans to test the free agent market but it sounds as if the Bucs will get the best chance to re-sign him.

"I feel great about the direction of the Bucs and would love to be a part of things there,'' Clayton said. "I hope it all works out.''

Is McCown Really Making Starter's Money?

There's been a lot of talk generated by the re-signing of quarterback Luke McCown. Much of it has centered around the belief that McCown's new contract will pay him "starter's money.''

Well, that's true if the starter you're referring to is Jeff Garcia.

McCown's deal includes $2.5 million in guarantees and base salaries of $2.5 million in 2009 and 2010. That's basically the same deal the Bucs gave Garcia in the spring of 2007.

It's also the same deal that the Bucs signed Chris Simms to when Simms was still recovering from his spleen injury.

So yes, technically it is starter's money. But it's at the bottom end of that scale.

The point is that the Bucs have not anointed McCown their starter. They've simply signed him to a deal that allows him to compete for the starter's job and pays him adequately should he win the job.

Now, who he competes with for that job is another question. It doesn't appear as though it will be Jeff Garcia. And in the wake of re-signing McCown, it's hard to imagine the Bucs working a deal for Matt Cassel.

In fact, it was hard to imagine the Bucs working a deal for Cassel in the first place. That would cost them two first-round draft picks and the Bucs have needs for those picks – particularly on defense – that go far beyond the quarterback position.

More likely is the signing of a lesser free agent such as Simms maybe or even Byron Leftwich. The Bucs may even opt to add another quarterback through the draft.

Either way, that quarterback will probably get something close to "starter's money,'' too, but it won't make him the starter. That won't be decided until training camp.

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