After playing for three different teams between the 2004 and 2006 seasons, Antonio Bryant had no team in 2007. In 2008, he not only found himself a fourth NFL franchise to call home, he's earned himself a starting job in Tampa Bay opposite Joey Galloway, according to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times. Bryant was given a one-year contract this off-season, and was competing for the starting spot along with Maurice Stovall, Ike Hilliard and former first-round pick Michael Clayton. Bryant won the job, despite not playing in the teams final two preseason games.
"He's going to be out there with Joey,' receiver Ike Hilliard said. "That's the decision coach (Jon) Gruden made. He's obviously a guy we're looking forward to taking our offense to another level.''
As I said yesterday in the Buccaneers preview, I've never been a big Bryant fan. He can be a frustrating player on (and off) the field, and there's a reason three teams have given up on him in the past, while he was out of the league entirely in 2007.
He's butted heads with Bill Parcells in Dallas -- which eventually resulted in him being traded to Cleveland for Quincy Morgan -- while his time in San Francisco was so tumultuous that the 49ers released him after just one year of a 4-year, $14 million deal. He caught 40 passes with the 49ers during the 2006 season, and was slapped with a 4-game suspension following an arrest late in the year.
He was a second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys during the 2002 draft, after spending three years at the University of Pittsburgh. He won the Biletnikoff award as the country's best wide receiver during his sophomore season.
