The first free agent signing of the season is in effect: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed tight end Chase Coffman according to Howard Balzer of St. Louis' 101 ESPN. Chase Coffman was a star in college at Missouri, leading to his selection in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Coffman hasn't done anything in the NFL since then, however, and has a grand total of 3 receptions for 30 yards. Coffman was not on a roster last season.

Coffman is the son of Paul Coffman, three-time Pro Bowl tight end for the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. Chase Coffman may be best remembered from his appearance on the 2009 version of the TV show Hard Knocks, which chronicled that season's Cincinnati Bengals training camp. Interestingly Coffman is the third player I know of to have signed with the Bucs after appearing on 2009's Hard Knocks, as the Bucs have seen free agent Corey Lynch contribute for the past seasons, while fullback Chris Pressley was featured on the roster at times as well.

It's not clear what the terms of the contract are, but given Coffman's complete lack of production in the previous three years I would expect him to be little more than a camp body, likely signed to a reserve/future contract to keep him with the team throughout the offseason.

Amid all the coaching news, here's a tiny tidbit of roster management news: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed LB Mike Balogun, TE Collin Franklin, WR Ed Gant, T Mike Ingersoll and QB Brett Ratliff to reserve/future deals per Aaron Wilson of FOX Sports. This is standard practice after the season to keep practice squad players with the team during the offseason.

The most significant name there is WR Ed Gant, who made a splash during training camp and preseason this past season, catching a 96-yard touchdown in the final preseason game against the Washington Redskins. Gant did not get a chance to play during the season, and was on the practice squad for the entire year.

Interestingly, this means the Bucs did not see fit to bring back DT Lamar Divens, T Chris Riley or RB Austin Sylvester, all of whom were on the practice squad at the end of the season. Of course, those signings could still occur in the next few days. The Bucs have a small window to sign their practice squad players to future deals.

Well, that will be it for Aqib Talib this year. The star cornerback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be placed on Injured Reserve, as he;s struggled with hamstring injuries the past weeks. Talib had a disappointing first half of the season, but had a terrific pair of games against the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans, shutting down Greg Jennings and Nate Washington in consecutive games. Since then he has not been able to stay on the field, however.

This could be the last we see of Aqib Talib as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, as the talented cornerback has repeatedly gotten into trouble over the years. He will go to trial in March for an incident involving a handgun - he has been charged with Aggravated Assault With a Deadly Weapon. If he's convicted, he will be cut immediately. Even if the's not convicted, a new coach could make a statement and release Talib anyway. Chances are that Talib's days in Tampa Bay are over.

Here's what is baffling to me, though: the Bucs signed Jovan Haye to replace Aqib Talib. Jovan Haye has played one game this year, but had some productive season with the Bucs from 2006 to 2008. However, the Bucs have had immense troubles at cornerback this season, but now will have to turn to E.J. Biggers as their starter and Elbert Mack as their third cornerback. You will see Elbert Mack trying to stop Julio Jones or Roddy White in the season finale against the Atlanta Falcons. Good luck with that.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have added DE Nick Reed to their regular season roster. They had an open spot on the roster after putting LB Jacob Cutrera on injured reserve. Nick Reed was originally a seventh-round draft pick for the Seattle Seahawks in 2009, and played seven games with the Chicago Bears this season before being cut. He has one sack in 23 total games and is mostly a special teamer.

One interesting note: when the Bucs played the Chicago Bears in London, I noticed Nick Reed dropping into coverage on zone blitzes a lot.

In addition, the Bucs signed DT Lamar Divens, T Mike Ingersoll and FB Austin Sylvester to the practice squad. Neither Ingersoll nor Sylvester has ever been active for a game in the NFL, but Lamar Divens has played in five games with the Baltimore Ravens: two in 2010, three in 2008. He is listed as a nose tackle on NFL.com.

Once again, Frank Okam is back on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' active roster. The big defensive tackle was placed on the practice a couple of weeks ago after the Buccaneers signed Albert Haynesworth and John McCargo. But as the Bucs are forced to place John McCargo on IR with a triceps injury, they're now promoting Okam back on to the active roster. McCargo had been playing backup three-technique defensive tackle for the past few games, and Okam will likely fill that role now.

In addition, the Bucs placed linebacker Jacob Cutrera on injured reserve, and released RB Nic Grigsby from the practice squad. Cutrera's injury gives the Bucs a free roster spot, but it's not clear what they will do with that roster spot. Cutrera was a special teamer signed off the Jaguars' practice squad earlier this year.

Similarly, the Bucs now have three open practice squad spots with Rudy Carpenter and Ahmad Black's recent promotions to the active roster, and Grigsby's release.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed QB Brett Ratliff to the practice squad according to Baltimore Ravens beat writer Aaron Wilson. Ratliff went undrafted in 2007 and has spent a couple of years with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. He has never played a regular season game.

The Bucs had an open practice squad spot after re-signing QB Rudy Carpenter to the active roster. It's possible they signed Ratliff simply to take snaps during practice, but that would suggest something else: the Bucs might just be without Josh Freeman a little longer.

Normally, the Bucs carry three quarterbacks to have enough quarterbacks to run practices. With Josh Freeman missing last Sunday's game with a shoulder injury, his availability at least for this week's practices must be in question. That would explain signing a fourth quarterback in Brett Ratliff. And if this Freeman's practice availability is in question, his game availability must be too.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers promoted QB Rudy Carpenter from their practice squad, which is a sure sign that Josh Freeman's readiness for the Panthers game is in question. To make room on the roster the Bucs decided to release LB Zac Diles, eating into the Bucs' linebacker depth. If Josh Freeman can't start, Josh Johnson will be the starter with Rudy Carpenter being the third QB.

Interestingly enough, the Bucs decided to keep Micheal Spurlock on the roster, despite the fact that he has not been active the past weeks and has participated in only a handful of plays this year. I still do not know why the journeyman WR is on the roster. He was supposed to be the Bucs' emergency QB instead of Rudy Carpenter because he could at least contribute in other phases of the game. But that argument went out the window when the Bucs stopped using Spurlock altogether.

So now, the Bucs have three QBs on the roster, and an emergency QB who never plays.