McCown trade caps off day of housecleaning for Bucs

Luke McCown had a feeling his days as a Buccaneer were numbered. And indeed they were.

Less than a week after losing the starting quarterback's job to Byron Leftwich, McCown was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars late Saturday for an undisclosed pick in the 2010 draft.

The deal alleviated a logjam at the most important position on the field for the Bucs, who dealt McCown in large part to ensure that rookie Josh Freeman gets the work necessary to quickly advance his career.

With McCown out of the way, the Bucs are expected to quickly - if not immediately - promote Freeman to the second spot on their QB depth chart.

McCown is expected to move into the same slot on the Jaguars' depth chart behind David Garrard, and though it's not the starting opportunity he's always wanted, he's happy with it.

"I'm smiling right now,'' McCown said. "It's really not a bad situation at all for me. I'm going to a good team with lots of talent.''

McCown said he sensed a trade would come for whichever quarterback lost the battle for the starter's job because the Bucs are clearly eager to get Freeman on the field.

"I've been around the business long enough to know how it works,'' McCown said. "When you have a first-round pick waiting in the wings, you want to get him on the field. I understand that and that's fine.

"I really don't have any problems with it. I mean, I've known (Coach) Raheem (Morris) and (General Manager) Mark (Dominik) for a long time, and they were nothing but fair with me.

"They gave me a chance to win the starter's job, really gave me my first opportunity to compete for a starting position in six years in this league and for that I'm thankful.''

While McCown was smiling over the day's events, nearly two dozen other former Bucs were frowning. Saturday was cutdown day in the NFL and in reducing the size of their active roster to 51 players, the Bucs moved a total of 24 off it.

The most notable of that group was kicker Matt Bryant, who was told Saturday afternoon that his record-setting four-year tenure with the Bucs was over.

"I am gone,'' said the 34-year-old Bryant, who lost his job to free-agent signee Mike Nugent.

The dismissal of Bryant, who set a team record with 131 points and tied a team record with 32 field goals last year, hardly came as a surprise as Bryant spent most of training camp and the entire preseason nursing a sore hamstring in his kicking leg that didn't figure to get better for at least a few more days.

Nor did the Bucs surprise anyone with the other moves they made in reducing their roster.

The most notable name among the others let go probably belonged to veteran fullback Jameel Cook, but Cook's departure probably helped open the way for the Bucs to keep eight linebackers.

The one area where the Bucs appear to be thin is at safety, where the team has just three players after placing starter Tanard Jackson on the reserve suspended list.

Jackson will immediately begin serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy, so the likelihood is that the Bucs will fill one of the two holes they have on their roster by adding a safety.

The Bucs are expected to spend the next 48 hours scanning the waiver wire for other potential roster improvements, so some of the 51 players currently on the team might not be when the season opens.

Bucs officials were not available for comment on any of the moves made Saturday.

Of the players who did make the team, eight are rookies. Six of the Bucs' seven 2009 draft picks are among that group as are tackle Demar Dotson, guard Marc Dile and cornerback Marshall McDuffie.

The only 2009 draft pick not on the active roster is tackle Xavier Fulton, who was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury in the Bucs' preseason finale.

Several of the players let go could return to the Bucs as soon as today as members of the practice squad. Center Rob Bruggeman, defensive tackle Louis Holmes, receiver Mario Urrutia, running back Kareem Huggins and cornerback Kyle Arrington are among the players who could wind up on that eight-man squad.

In addition to Fulton, the Bucs may also wind up adding safety Donte Nicholson to their list of players on injured reserve. Nicholson was waived/injured, but if he clears waivers the Bucs can place him on IR.