You can call Jeff Garcia selfish for trying to get more money from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the truth is he's not just asking for a raise for himself. He's asking for a raise for Earnest Graham, too.

"There are a few players on this team that I believe should be rewarded. One of those guys isn't here with us right now, and I don't know if that's the reason.

"But a guy like Earnest Graham - he had such a spectacular year last year. And in no way did I feel or does anybody on this team feel that it was a fluke. But he's stuck on the bottom."

See? Garcia wants to share the wealth. He's a team player after all.

Graham became a starter last season after injuries benched Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman, and he ran well, averaging 4.0 yards a carry and scoring 10 touchdowns. As of right now, he'll make only $605,000 next season. Currently, the Bucs' other options at running back are Michael Bennett, who struggled in this offense last season, Warrick Dunn, who is a great guy but is way past his sell date, practice squader Kenneth Darby and 7th-round pick Cory Boyd.

I've written here before that Graham deserves a raise. Another million wouldn't damage the Bucs' salary cap status. Knowing the way Bruce Allen operates, though, I figure Graham will get traded or cut before he sees that money. Enjoy old Warrick Dunn, Bucs fans.

Look, I get that Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden has an unhealthy obsession with geriatric quarterbacks, even the grumpy ones, but I really can't see this happening -- on this planet, anyway.

To paraphrase the Green Bay Gazette's Mike Vandermause, who's obviously due a drug test: Packers general manager Ted Thompson is looking forward (read: not talking about Brett Favre), but Favre will undoubtedly want to play, probably in 2008. Which means that if he's to return to the NFL, it'll have to be somewhere other than Green Bay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might be just such a team. The Bucs were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, so adding Favre could push them to Super Bowl-contending status. It doesn't hurt that Bucs coach Jon Gruden worked with Favre as an offensive assistant in Green Bay, or that Tampa Bay's offense would be somewhat familiar.

Would Thompson be willing to endure the public relations fallout? Then again, would Thompson be doing his job properly if he was offered a first-round draft choice and didn't seriously consider it?

A more relevant question: would Gruden be doing his job properly if he offered the Packers a first-round pick for a 39-year-old quarterback? (Answer: Hell. No.) Suspending reality long enough to assume this happens, there is a silver lining: according to Vandermause, "trading Favre could incite an angry mob, yet stranger things have happened." So that could be fun.

Wishful thinking, of course. Plus, Josh Johnson is the future in Tampa Bay. Just ask Chris Simms.

* small print

Hat tip: Shutdown Corner

Jeff Garcia has informed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he would like to get paid more money.

Oh, dear. The Bucs must be scared to death. I mean, who else will they ever find to play quarterback for them? Y'know, aside from Brian Griese, Luke McCown, Chris Simms and rookie Josh Johnson.

I'm not saying Garcia doesn't have a good argument for a raise. After leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs in 2006, Garcia was brought in to lead the Bucs to the playoffs, and he did that without a whole lot of help from the rest of his offense. After all that, he's only set to earn $2 million in base salary, which is pretty cheap for a playoff quarterback. Plus, he's 38, so he wants to make as much as possible while he still can. Besides, being married to a Playmate can't be cheap.

Garcia, however, is a really bad position to ask for more cash, because Jon Gruden collects quarterbacks like the IRS collects taxes. He can replace Garcia with Griese or McCown while he grooms Johnson, and there might not be that big of a drop-off in performance. Garcia was always a temporary fix for the Bucs, and if he holds out now, Gruden will have little trouble replacing him.

Good luck getting that extra cash, Jeff. You're gonna need it.

A number of you aren't going read this because as Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says, the public prefers to follow news of celebs and sports figures who are "[expletived] up." The rise of the sports blog generally hasn't be driven by fans' desire to read do-gooder stories. (Though I have to say, I think that would be an interesting niche sports blog).

In any event, I want to highlight a few stories in the news this week that talk about NFL players doing good in the world.

The New York Times had a great article yesterday about four NFL players with ties to Nigeria visiting the country in March. They must have been an impressive display of defensive linemen big people: NY Giants' Osi Umenyiora, Houston Texans' Amobi Okoye, and Chicago Bears' Adewale Ogunleye and Israel Idonije.

It was Okoye's idea for them to all go to Nigeria as a group, figuring they could do more good works together than separately. They also could get scared together as the bus they were traveling in got broadsided by a truck on the first day of their trip. The article is certainly worth a read.

Another article worth checking out is the continuing help that Tampa Bay running back Warrick Dunn gives to single parents looking to purchase their first homes. He does this to honor his police officer mother who never owned a house. She was shot while working her off-duty security job, and a 17-year-old Dunn along with his grandmother found themselves taking care of his five siblings. To date, his foundation has helped 77 single parents buy their first homes by providing a down payment and home furnishings. (Here's the donation link).

The next time you feel like ragging on athletes for being a bunch of "turds", ask yourself what you are doing to make this world a better place. Athletes are like the rest of us imperfect people. Some do good, some do bad, and some get busted for being a smiling black guy who loves his mom on a boat full of white women in bikinis boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

(Photo of Dunn as the first winner of the Home Depot Neighborhood MVP award in January. Photo Credit: Scott Halleran, Getty Images).

Apparently, a few people in Tampa think Chris Simms has been properly compensated by the Buccaneers for giving his spleen for the cause, and it's time for them to cut him loose.

That had to be Jon Gruden's message to the team after he drafted University of San Diego QB Josh Johnson with the Bucs' fifth-round pick. Johnson was reportedly impressing his teammates in a minicamp last weekend. He seems like a natural fit for the Bucs, given that he played in a West Coast offense at San Diego and threw 43 touchdown passes and one interception last season -- impressive numbers at any level.

Still, Johnson is a project, and the Bucs are loaded up with quarterbacks. Jeff Garcia is old but clearly still capable, and Brian Griese and Luke McCown are serviceable backups.

Which brings us back to Simms. Nobody really knows his current form. His throwing motion was reportedly ruined after his spleen was removed. Has it recovered? Could he return to his 2005 form, when he led the Bucs to the playoffs? Or is he done as an NFL quarterback, and if so, are the Glazers just keeping him on the payroll out of guilt, or out of fear that he'll become a starter for another team?

The only thing for sure here is that Gruden really wants to move on without Simms. Perhaps the Bucs should as well.

The Tampa media is getting its introduction to Aqib Talib, the Buccaneers' top pick in last weekend's NFL Draft. The young cornerback seems to be saying all the right things -- how he played lots of Cover-2 at Kansas, how he and his buddies think Ronde Barber is one of the best corners in the business, how he hasn't gotten any sleep because he's so excited, and so on and so forth.

Then someone threw this question at Talib: "What scares you?"

"Animals, period. Dogs, dragonflies; I don't like no kind of animals. I don't like lizards, gators, none of that."

On the one hand, no one will ever have to worry about Talib becoming another Michael Vick. On the other hand, "no kind of animals?" Really? And why dragonflies in particular? Does he still believe the childhood myth that they'll sew up his lips?

The easy joke here is that Talib clearly enjoys plants more than animals, but given that he hasn't tested positive for marijuana in two and a half years, that's probably unfair. Instead, what the Bucs should do is hire Jack Hanna to try and cure Talib of this irrational fear -- and get it all on video. Hilarity is bound to ensue.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2008 Draft Picks:

20. Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas
58. Dexter Jackson, WR/KR, Appalachian State
83. Jeremy Zuttah, OG, Rutgers
115. Dre Moore, DT, Maryland
160. Josh Johnson, QB, San Diego
175. Geno Hayes, ILB, Florida State
238. Cory Boyd, RB, South Carolina

The Good: The Buccaneers found the best player available at a position of need in the first round -- always a good thing -- and found some much-needed speed in the second. Then they did well to address both the offensive and defensive lines and even took a flier on a project quarterback, which is sure to make Jon Gruden happy.

The Bad: Gruden might compare Talib to Charles Woodson, but he comes with baggies ... uh, I mean baggage. Yeah, baggage. So taking Talib over Mike Jenkins, who went 25th to the Cowboys, is a bit of a gamble. Plus, while Dexter Jackson is super-fast, he's no guarantee at receiver, and the Bucs took a pass on Limas Sweed to trade down. Finally, this team needs another quarterback like New York City needs another pothole.

Sooooo, the Buccaneers traded their second-round pick (53rd overall), but it was to the other Florida team. Instead of the Dolphins, the Jaguars worked a deal, and traded up to grab Auburn OLB Quentin Groves. Word on the street had Miami receiving Tampa Bay's pick in exchange for Jason Taylor.

It didn't quite work out that way, but he still seems destined for the Bucs. From the Sun-Sentinel (which attributes the story to the NFL Network although, like MDS, I haven't heard it and my earballs have been glued to the teevees all day):

An early sign that Taylor would be traded Saturday came from team owner H. Wayne Huizenga, when he said during a radio interview that, "he deserves,'' to go where he's got a shot at getting a Super Bowl.''

"He deserves that. If we can get him placed in a spot where he can go to the big game, then we would do that ... We've had a lot of conversation but we never really got down to saying trading him. That never happened. What's the best thing for Jason? He's got a big career ahead of him yet...He should go where he can go to the big game.''

Well, at least Huizenga's a realist about the Dolphins' changes. Of course, he had everything to do with their current situation, but, hey, that's why Bill Parcell's was hired. By the way, Parcells was the guy who said that the only way Taylor wouldn't be with the Dolphins is if he retired.

I had no idea "retired" also means "traded." Weird.

FanHouse's Michael David Smith, after typing non-stop for four hours, is now over at PFT busting out posts, and here's the latest, via the St. Petersburg Times: the Dolphins and the Bucs might already have a deal in place for Dancing With the Stars (also known as Jason Taylor for those of you too lazy to click the link):

As told to us, the deal would involve, at a minimum, the Bucs' second-round pick, No. 52 overall, in exchange for the 33-year-old likely Hall-of-Famer.

The Bucs have continued to bemoan the lack of a consistent pass rush, and adding a player with 117 career sacks would certainly be a step in the right direction. But there are challenges involved in this potential deal, not the least of which is addressing Taylor's contract. Taylor is scheduled to earn $17-million over the final two years of his contract.

Well, we're currently up to pick No. 42, so we'll know one way or the other in an hour or so.

For the Dolphins, it would be another opportunity to stock the roster with young players, which has pretty much been the theme since Bill Parcells took over earlier this year. For the Bucs, as Stephen Holder mentions, Taylor immediately upgrades a lackluster pass rush, but it'll only be a temporary fix because twinkle toes will be 34 next season.

That said, Jon Gruden has never shied away from old guys, particularly if it gives the Bucs a legit chance to make a deep postseason run.

We heard straight from Jon Gruden's mouth that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were leaning toward a cornerback with their 1st-round pick. We knew they needed a cornerback, and Gruden even said which cornerback they would like to take, and he was available when pick #20 came around.

So of course, the Bucs picked a cornerback. Just a completely different cornerback.

Still, this shouldn't come as a huge shock to anyone. Simply put, the lack of cornerbacks taken earlier made this particular pick possible for the Bucs. Talib's stock only fell this far because he tested positive for marijuana use at Kansas and admitted as much to NFL scouts during the combine. For some teams, though, his talent on the field clearly outshines his issues off the field. Talib was a standout corner at Kansas, and some considered him the best corner in this draft.

The only question is whether this team can keep Talib away from Mary Jane long enough to make him a quality Cover-2 corner. If Mary Jane is his only problem, though, Talib might not be as big a risk as some GMs suggest he is.