The Tampa Bay Buccaneers re-signed cornerback Juran Bolden Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bolden is entering his ninth season. In his first season in Tampa Bay last year, he played a career-high 16 games with two starts. He had a career-high 42 tackles and two interceptions for the Bucs, who led the league in total defense.

The Bucs are working on a deal to bring Brian Griese back for at least one more season. That might not be the best news for quarterback Chris Simms, who has fired his agent in an apparent response to the slow pace of negotiations. Simms, who has terminated agent Marvin Demoff and hired Tom Condon, is likely to receive a one-year, $2-million qualifying offer from the Bucs. That would enable Tampa Bay to receive a first- and third-round draft pick for Simms if they fail to match an offer from another team when he becomes a restricted free agent March 3. Griese's agent, Ralph Cindrich, met with Bucs general manager Bruce Allen at the NFL scouting combine Wednesday night and talks resumed Thursday. The Bucs have to trim as much as $19-million from the payroll to reach the league's mandated salary cap by Thursday.

The Bucs have signed former Cowboys place-kicker Billy Cundiff as insurance against the possibility of losing Matt Bryant in free agency, ESPN.com reported. Cundiff is a four-year veteran who missed all but six games last season because of a groin injury he suffered during training camp. Cundiff has made 60 of the 82 field goals and all but one of the 101 extra points he's tried during his career, but he made just five of eight field-goal tries last year, with all the misses coming on attempts of between 30 and 39 yards. The signing of Cundiff comes a little more than two weeks before Bryant would become eligible for unrestricted free agency and may be a sign the Bucs are not optimistic about their chances of retaining Bryant.

Weeks after the conclusion of a season many thought would be his last, Bucs fullback Mike Alstott is strongly considering a return to the NFL for another season, his agent said Wednesday. Ben Dogra, one of Alstott's representatives, made it clear Alstott has not reached a final decision on his future. However, Dogra's "gut feeling" is that Alstott will attempt a comeback. "He loves to play the game and (the Bucs) were so close last year," Dogra said. "Nothing's been decided, but I think he'd like to play."