We found an article on Bucs left guard Arron Sears today that will interest fans, mainly because little has been known about Sears' progress after he missed all of last season dealing with a private matter. The 2007 second-round draft pick only missed one start in his first two years in the league, but was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list for the first 10 weeks of the 2009 season before being reinstated to the team. Sears is now in the process of getting back into football shape, and could be ready to workout with the team in May.

Guard Arron Sears, who missed all of last season due to what the team has repeatedly referred to as a private matter, has been working out at One Buccaneer Place. That’s a positive sign because Sears is working out on his own, long before the rest of the team begins offseason conditioning. Dominik said the goal is for Sears to be in football shape for mandatory workouts in May and June and have him at 100 percent for the start of training camp.

With the Bucs already holding 10 picks in this year’s draft, they’re going to have a lot of rookies on the roster. With that in mind, Dominik said coach Raheem Morris has decided to push all organized team activities until after the draft. That would allow the rookies more time to get comfortable.

Source: ESPN's NFC South Blog - Pat Yasinskas

PewterReport.com's Take: It's a very good sign that Sears is working his way back into football shape after missing the 2009 season. Sears has a long way to go in terms of getting back into playing shape and picking up offensive coordinator Greg Olson's offense, but the fact that he will be working out on his own the entire offseason shows his commitment to the team and his will to play again. Because the Bucs pushed all the OTAs back until after April's draft, Sears should have enough time to be ready to work with the rest of the team in May and June. If Sears is able to go for OTAs and mini-camp, it should provide for an interesting competition at left guard between himself and 2008 third-round draft pick Jeremy Zuttah. - Andrew Scavelli