With Byron Leftwich named the Buccaneers’ starter on Saturday, interest turned to how they’d stack up the three players bidding to back him up.
First-round pick Josh Freeman is making the team, obviously. Assuming Luke McCown’s role in the fight for the starting spot assures him of a place on the roster, the fate of Josh Johnson becomes the biggest questions.
Attempting to cut Johnson and re-sign him to the practice squad would almost certainly see him landing with another team via waiver, so the options are keeping four and staying shorthanded at another spot or letting Johnson go.
For most of the offseason, coach Raheem Morris has said that the team would keep three quarterbacks on the final roster. With the deadline for setting that roster approaching quickly, Morris sounds like he’s changing his tune.
“There are always reservations about [keeping four quarterbacks], because you lose a roster spot, but I’ve been preaching from the beginning that I’ve got to keep my best 53 guys on this football team,” Morris said. “We have a long-term plan here, and Josh Johnson may be a part of that long-term plan.”
Johnson was inactive for all 16 games in 2008 and has played sparingly in the preseason. He’s completed 5-of-9 passes, and he ran for a 43-yard touchdown against the Titans.
