Samuel To Look At Saints, Bucs, Jets

The Jets are also setting their sights on Samuel, but the free-agent cornerback appears to be favoring the Saints and Bucs at this point, according to multiple reports. "Tampa Bay is a situation that makes sense," Alonzo Shavers, Samuel's agent, told The Tampa Tribune. "Tampa Bay is definitely worth considering. It was an organization that was in the Super Bowl not too long ago. It is an organization Asante wants to play for. It's definitely something that makes perfect sense for everybody." It's unclear how many teams are willing to offer Samuel the kind of salary the Pro Bowl cornerback will command. Samuel made $8 million last season with the Patriots and is believed to be seeking a 10-year, $100 million deal.

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Bucs Look For Back-Up QB's

The St. Petersburg Times reported the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will look to add at least one veteran quarterback this offseason to serve as a reserve to Jeff Garcia. The guy to keep an eye on is Daunte Culpepper, who struggled in his only season with the Raiders. Remember, the Bucs met with Culpepper in Tampa last year, and Gruden is intrigued by his arm strength and accomplishments. Last season, Culpepper started six games for the Raiders, passing for 1,331 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions. But he has completed 63.8 percent of his career passing attempts, a figure that stands out to Gruden. And the Florida native might welcome a return to his home state. Others who might receive some attention from the Bucs include Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, who is an unrestricted free agent; Brian Griese, who could be cut loose from Chicago and had good success with the Bucs; and the Jets' Chad Pennington, a career 65.6 percentage passer who could become a free agent.

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Kelly To Test Free Agency

Brian Kelly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' cornerback who played opposite Ronde Barber for the past decade, said he plans to become a free agent the St. Petersburg Times reported. Kelly, 32, is scheduled to earn $3.2-million in 2008. But he said he plans to "buy back" the final year of his contract by exercising a $480,000 option in the second week of March.

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Alstott Retires

Tampa Bay's A-Train has made his final run. Six-time Pro Bowl fullback Mike Alstott announced his retirement after 12 seasons Thursday, saying goodbye to the NFL during a tearful news conference in a meeting room where the Buccaneers played a highlight film of some of his most memorable plays. The Bucs all-time touchdown leader spent the 2007 season on injured reserve with a neck problem that was not related to a career-threatening injury that required surgery in 2003. He held little hope for a return, but still had difficulty saying his career was over. "Though mentally I feel like I can continue, physically I can't," he said. "The second injury to my neck will prevent me from playing football forever."

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