(I promise to stop using this photograph any decade now)
OK, calm down, Phil. I’m just attributing words to the Orlando Sentinel’s Chris Harry that he didn’t really compose. But Harry’s quick to note Chucky’s Bucs “decided to keep four quarterbacks on their 2007 roster. That’s one quarterback for every victory last season.”
Chris Simms remained a Buc and Byron Leftwich officially was jettisoned by the Jags as NFL teams scrambled Saturday to meet a 4 p.m. deadline to trim regular-season rosters to the leaguewide 53-man limit.
The fifth-year pro has struggled to regain his fundamentals and technique while rehabbing from a ruptured spleen that ended his 2006 season last Sept. 24. He took six snaps — all in one game — during the preseason and scratched himself from the exhibition finale Thursday night against Houston, a move that clearly frustrated Coach Jon Gruden, given his postgame remarks.
Still, the Bucs’ final roster listed Simms, along with starting quarterback Jeff Garcia and backups Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski, while veterans such as Ellis Wyms, Jamie Winborn and Mark Jones were cut.
It was last December the Bucs signed Simms to a two-year, $14.5 million contract extension that included close to $5 million in guaranteed bonuses, a move made to keep Simms from becoming an unrestricted free agent in March.
Bucs executive vice presidents Joel and Bryan Glazer, the sons of team owner Malcolm Glazer, may have reminded Gruden and Allen how much they wanted to keep Simms around nine months ago — and whose money they were spending.
I’m wagering Tampa will be down to 3 QB’s prior to next Sunday. Trouble is, I’m not sure I can get Bruce Gradkowski to take my bet.