Dan Pompei of the National Football suggests that Ronde Barber returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his sixteenth NFL season. The veteran cornerback supposedly waited to see what the Bucs would do to improve the team, and he was excited by their offseason moves. By adding Carl Nicks, Vincent Jackson and Eric Wright the Bucs certainly improved the team this offseason - although they still have a few holes to fill.

The suggestion that Barber paid attention to the team's offseason moves is interesting, because it shows that even the team's own players weren't exactly sure of the team's commitment to spending in free agency.

Pompei also talked about Ronde Barber's possible position, noting that Barber knows he'll have to win a competition for playing time - and could even be moved to free safety. Given the team's investment in Eric Wright and Aqib Talib's quality of play, Barber seems unlikely to win a competition for playing time. I would expect him to be the team's nickel cornerback, mostly used to defend quality tight ends - such as Jimmy Graham. He could still be forced to start however, depending on the outcome of Talib's trial and possible league discipline.