The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have followed through on their threat to make quarterback Jake Plummer pay for retiring unilaterally.

The Bucs and Denver Broncos have jointly filed a grievance against Plummer for as much as $7 million in bonus money he received while playing in Denver.

Plummer, 32, announced his retirement from the NFL shortly after the Bucs traded a 2008 seventh-round draft pick to the Broncos in exchange for his rights.

Should Plummer eventually play for Tampa Bay, the seventh-round pick would become a fourth-round selection.

Bucs general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Jon Gruden spent the offseason attempting to convince Plummer to play for Tampa Bay.

Gruden even met with Plummer in Idaho shortly after Tampa Bay’s offseason workouts concluded, but Plummer still chose not to report to Tampa Bay’s training camp, which required players under contract to report for duty on July 26.

“We consider [Plummer] a holdout, and there are consequences to holding out from the Buccaneers,” Allen said earlier this offseason.

Plummer, who has three years remaining on his contract, has completed 57.1 percent of his career passes for 29,253 yards and tossed 131 touchdowns and 131 interceptions since entering the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals in 1997.

The Bucs currently have four quarterbacks – Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Bruce Gradkowski and Chris Simms – in training camp.