Per Jay Glazer, Raheem Morris has informed the team that Byron Leftwich will be the starting quarterback this year.
He beat out Luke McCown in what can hardly be called a battle over the first three preseason games. Leftwich went 9 of 17 for 100 yards while McCown went 5 of 11 for 38 yards. Neither threw a touchdown or interception, though all of the Bucs points came on Leftwich led drives.
Glazer said Morris informed the team this morning in a meeting of the news. Coach Morris is due to speak to the media around 11:30 AM ET, and I imagine will be spilling the beans then.
In other news, the Bucs cut four players, the most notable being Kelly Campbell. This gets the Bucs to 76 players. They need to be at 75 by September first and down to 53 by September 5th.
Update: Reports, specifically from PFT, are saying that Freeman will open the season as the 3rd QB. Does this mean Josh Johnson will go in as #2, or are we sticking with McCown and dumping JJ?
Update #2: Morris has now said that Leftwich had the lead coming into camp (then why give McCown the new deal?) and that McCown closed the gap during camp. McCown will open the season as the #2 QB and Josh Johnson still has a shot to make the team. This might be another year carrying 4 QB's, and we lack depth at other positions. One of the three (Leftwich, McCown, Johnson) need to get shipped out to free up some room, maybe net a draft pick, and allow us to keep other players. The truth is, we don't need to develop Luke or JJ if Freeman is the guy in 2010.
Will be back for analysis on this deal later in the weekend.