--GM Mark Dominik is reluctant to use the R word.
"I'm not a big fan of the rebuilding word, but in a way, we did today, in a direction we want to head," he said. "So it wasn't so much what Derrick Brooks or Cato June couldn't do, it's the direction we want to go with the guys currently on the roster and men that are going to join us as we create the roster over the next few months to get to training camp."
--Coach Raheem Morris said he called several players - including C Jeff Faine and LB Barrett Ruud - to inform them of the decision to release Brooks and others and asked them to take more of a leadership role. "Those are some big shoes to fill," Morris said.
--WR Antonio Bryant signed his one-year, $9.884 million tender as the franchise player.
--The Bucs placed the maximum tender of a first- and third-round pick on LT Donald Penn, who will earn about $2.792 million next season unless a long-term agreement is reached.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We are sticking to our plan." - Coach Raheem Morris.
