The Cowboys remain interested in trading for QB Chris Simms if the Bucs will lower their asking price of a midround draft pick. The Cowboys are believed to have communicated their interest in May but the Bucs have insisted on a third- or fourth-round pick. Simms has taken limited or no reps in seven-on-seven and team drills since starter Jeff Garcia arrived in training camp Monday. "I understand the situation," Simms said Tuesday. "I don't know what the plan is, but I understand the situation."

Bucs Coach Jon Gruden couldn?t bring himself to end the speculation that Brett Favre will wind up in a Bucs' uniform. Asked yet again if he could say definitively that the Bucs have moved on from Favre and will go with Garcia as their quarterback this year, Gruden said, ?That wouldn?t be fair to Brett Favre."

ESPN reported Tuesday night that Brett Favre "clearly prefers to play for the Vikings." But Tampa Bay is increasingly looking like Favre's destination. Buccaneers' quarterback Chris Simms told the St. Petersburg Times that General Manager Bruce Allen asked him last week how he thought Favre would fare in the Bucs' offense with limited practice time. "(Allen) asked me questions about Brett Favre," Simms told the paper's NFL reporter, Rick Stroud. "He asked if I felt Brett would be able to come back and be good here if he didn't have a lot of reps in training camp. I said I thought he would, but there would have to be some compromise with Coach (Jon) Gruden. He'll just want the play called and to drop back and throw it in there. "But it's something we talked about." The Bucs run a version of the West Coast offense, and Gruden, a Packers' assistant from 1992 through '94, long has admired Favre.

The Cowboys could try to deal for disgruntled Buccaneers' quarterback Chris Simms if they aren't comfortable with veteran Brad Johnson backing up Tony Romo, according to The Star-Telegram. There have been reports that Simms has told friends that he would like the chance to play for Dallas. For the time-being, though, the team appears content with Johnson as the primary reserve. "Brad is a smart veteran who knows exactly what to do and how to prepare for any kind of situation," Cowboys' quarterback coach Wade Wilson said during the team?s minicamp back in June. "There isn?t a situation he hasn?t been in before."

Bucs' DE Greg White is planning on playing out his one-year deal, according to a report from Jim Trotter on ESPN?s First Take this morning. Trotter said if no new and improved deal is in place by the time White becomes a free agent this winter, he will not play for the Bucs in 2009.