Ruud ends tenure with Bucs, signs with Titans

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have no choice but to move on from middle linebacker Barrett Ruud now.

Three days after the Bucs suggested they were ready to make either Tyrone McKenzie or Mason Foster their new starting middle linebacker, Ruud signed a one-year contract with the Tennessee Titans.

Ruud, 28, confirmed the move, which signals the end of his six-year tenure in Tampa, in a text message to The Tampa Tribune late Saturday. He is expected to join the Titans at training camp on Sunday.

"I found some mutual interest, which was good," Ruud told The Tennessean. "I am really excited it worked out this way. I plan to come in and learn (defensive coordinator) Jerry Gray's system and just roll with it."

Ruud replaced Shelton Quarles as the Bucs starting middle backer four years ago and led the team in tackles each of his four years as a starter. Still, his future in Tampa had been in doubt for more than a year.

The first inkling the Bucs may not have been committed to Ruud came following the 2008 season, when they refused his request for a new long-term contract and retained his rights for the year as a restricted free agent.

Ruud was deemed a restricted free agent again following the 2009 season, when the pending expiration of the collective bargaining agreement kept five-year veterans from becoming unrestricted free agents.

Ruud expressed displeasure with the Bucs' stance during the 2008 offseason by skipping the team's voluntary workouts and again last year after they rewarded restricted free agent Donald Penn with a new deal and ignored Ruud's request.

The Bucs then opened training camp this year by signing Foster, their 2011 third-round draft pick, and naming him and Tyrone McKenzie their middle linebackers of the future.

Ruud did not describe any of the conversations he and his agent had with the Bucs, but he said after the start of camp last Thursday that he was not surprised by the team's stance.

"I really hate to say that the door is shut until it's all said and done," he said. "I really don't know how this thing is going to go. It's a lot like the draft all over again. I'm just waiting to see what happens."

As late as Friday, Bucs coach Raheem Morris remained hopeful that Ruud might be brought back to a defense that may now be forced to lean on two inexperienced players to fill one its most important roles.

"You never close the door on anything," Morris said when asked if the Bucs had moved on from Ruud. "All of those guys are always in negotiations. That is a (general manager) Mark (Dominik) thing.

"But with everything being so close together, it's a little bit different than it's ever been. I'm optimistic, but I'm a coach. Whoever is sitting in those seats are the guys I'm going to coach. That's what we're doing right now."