Bucs acquire WR Reggie Brown from Eagles

As suitors for wide receiver Antonio Bryant began to gather Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took their first step toward replacing the dispatched playmaker.

In their first move of the free-agency signing period, the Bucs traded a sixth-round draft pick in 2011 to the Philadelphia Eagles for former starting receiver Reggie Brown.

Brown, 29, has 177 catches for 2,574 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career, but only nine of those catches came last season as Brown was edged out of the Eagles lineup by rookie Jeremy Maclin and second-year pro DeSean Jackson.

A product of the University of Georgia, Brown was a second-round pick of the Eagles (35th overall) in 2005 who quickly stepped into the starting lineup as a replacement for suspended wideout Terrell Owens.

Brown went on to catch 43 passes as a rookie and he caught 107 more over the next two seasons as a starter, but his 2008 season was marred by injuries that allowed Jackson and eventually Maclin to replace him.

Brown comes to the Bucs with four years remaining on a contract that is slated to pay him $1.2 million in 2010; $1.3 million in 2011, $1.7 million in 2012, $3.2 million in 2013 and $3.8 million in 2014.

The deal came down as Bryant, an unrestricted free agent who led the Bucs in receptions and receiving yards in 2008, was preparing to visit the Cincinnati Bengals today.

Bryant's agent, Lamont Smith, said Bryant had also arranged a visit with the Washington Redskins that could prove more enticing as Bryant would apparently be a second receiver behind Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati.

The trade proved to be the capper to a busy day for Bucs free agents as backup safety and special teams standout Will Allen signed a three-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Allen, a fourth-round pick of the Bucs in 2004, spent six seasons in Tampa. He was a backup most of his career, starting in just 26 of the 84 games he played in before finishing the 2009 season on injured reserve with a broken thumb.