Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said that the team's first priority was going to be re-signing the team's own players in free agency, and he was true to his word as linebacker Quincy Black was retained with a five-year contract. NFL.com is reporting that the deal is worth $29 million, which includes $11.5 million in guaranteed money.

Black, who is the team's starter at strongside linebacker, becomes the first unrestricted free agent to be re-signed by the Buccaneers. The team is also heavily pursuing the re-signing of right guard Davin Joseph.

Despite playing in only 11 games because of ankle and forearm injuries, Black finished the 2010 season with 88 tackles, four tackles for a loss, two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. A broken forearm against Atlanta forced Black to finish the rest of the season on injured reserve.

The 27-year-old Black was a third-round pick out of New Mexico by the Bucs in 2007. In his first two seasons, Black was mainly a backup and standout on special teams. Black had 41 special teams tackles, including a team-high 24 in 2008, and one forced fumble during his first two years in the league.

In 2009, Black earned the starting Sam (strongside) linebacker position and played well. He finished fourth on the team in tackles with a career-high 93 stops, with seven of those going for a loss. Black also recorded 1.5 sacks, one interception, and one forced fumble. On special teams, Black had 14 tackles.

Last season, head coach and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris got a little creative with Black. In addition to playing as an outside linebacker on early downs, Morris installed the 3-3-5 Redskin package in which the 6-2, 240-pound Black often blitzed off the edge.

For his career, Black has 192 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He also has a total of 59 special teams tackles.

~ by Charlie Campbell, Scott Reynolds and Wolf Heard