Barrett Ruud has long said he wants to remain in Tampa Bay and now the Buccaneers have gone public with their desire to retain the linebacker. Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik strongly suggested at the Senior Bowl that the only thing standing in the way of Ruud's return is a contract acceptable to both parties. "Barrett had another good season for us," Dominik said. "He led our team in tackles again and he had more splash plays for us this year than he did the year before, which was good. Now we just have to sit down with his agent. "(But) as these things always go, there's always two sides to it. Just because you say you want to sign him and because they say they want to be back, that doesn't mean that's how it's going to work out." Ruud will be a free agent in March.

The Buccaneers have hired Vikings offensive line coach Pat Morris, a 14-year coaching veteran with strong ties to offensive coordinator Greg Olson. The announcement came one day after Tampa Bay fired offensive line coach Pete Mangurian. Morris was Detroit's offensive line coach in 2004-05 under Steve Mariucci when Olson served as quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator.

Ronde Barber said Wednesday he intends to return for a 15th season with the Bucs. However, Barber said he still needs to meet with general manager Mark Dominik and a contract agreement has to be reached. On Tuesday, Bucs coach Raheem Morris said he was 'really confident' Barber would return next season. "I'm not trying to create any drama about my situation,' Barber said in a text to the Times. "I just haven't spoken to Mark (Dominik) about next year yet. I'm certain I will soon, though. Rah's intentions are very clear though and I would be lying if I thought otherwise at this point. But nothing is done.''

The Buccaneers have picked up a two-year option on coach Raheem Morris' contract, the St. Petersburg Times reported Saturday. Tampa Bay went 10-6 this season, a seven-win improvement over last year. The option is worth $2 million per season, and it includes incentives that could pay him as much as $7 million total during the next two seasons based on performance.

The Buccaneers narrowly missed out on a playoff berth and they hope to continue to make progress under general manager Mark Dominik and coach Raheem Morris. Dominik told the St. Petersburg Times that he will meet with Morris and the Glazer family over the next few weeks to talk about the coach's contract situation. "Coach and I will sit down and go through the whole season, what it felt like, and we'll take care of the business," Dominik said Monday. "But we'll handle it like a family would. We'll handle it internally to take care of it. "It's like everything else, I'm not a big rush-into-everything guy. I like to let it breathe a little bit. Today is going to sting, I can guarantee you it's stinging for coach Morris right now and it's stinging. It's going to take a few days to walk away from 10-6 -- and see the best part of 10-6, instead of the frustrating part of 10-6. That's the same way I want to do that with our staff as we go through free agency. I want a couple days of that buffer, or an entire week. It might take a little bit of time to do everything in the best interest of the entire organization." The Glazers -- who have a contract option for Dominik in 2011 -- are targeting the GM for an extension. "I'll keep that between me and ownership," Dominik said. "I wouldn't want to comment on it."