The Bucs have agreed to terms with newly acquired tight end Kellen Winslow on a new six-year contract.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed Winslow to a new six-year contract.

Winslow had two years remaining on his contract, which was scheduled to pay him base salaries of $4.5 million and $4.75 million in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

According to ProFootballTalk.com, Winslow’s deal is worth $36.1 million and could be worth as much as $42.1 million if incentive clauses are reached. Winslow is due base salaries of $5.17 million and $6.725 million in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In 2011, Winslow will reportedly earn $8.29 million in base salary.

ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas is reporting that $20.1 million of Winslow’s new contract is guaranteed.

The Bucs landed Winslow in a trade that sent their 2009 second-round pick and 2010 fifth-round selection to Cleveland on Feb. 27.

Winslow wanted a new deal from Cleveland the past two years and now gets one from Tampa. Considering all of his injury concerns, the contract is a bit of a risk but the Bucs can likely get out of it in a couple years if Winslow’s bad knee starts acting up again. It’ll be interesting whether or not he can cash in on all of his potential or if he’ll continue to have injury problems the rest of his career.

According to a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Browns have traded tight end Kellen Winslow to the Buccaneers for undisclosed draft picks. Rotoworld.com speculates that Cleveland could be getting a second and a late round pick in the trade.

This is a bold move by Tampa. Signing him to a new contract won’t be an issue because the Bucs have loads of cap space (the most in the NFL, in fact), but their quarterback situation is still unsettled and the bigger problem is that Winslow can’t stay healthy. He is also a head case that has the ability to disrupt a locker room, came down with a case of the dropsies last year and if he feels that he’s not getting the ball enough, there’s no shortage of bitching.

Tonight marks the much-anticipated NFL debut of Brady Quinn as the second-year quarterback will make his first career NFL start when his Cleveland Browns host the Denver Broncos on the NFL Network at 8:15 PM ET.

Quinn has been given a fantastic opportunity to succeed tonight. Not only does he make his first start in the comforts of the Dawg Pound, but he’s also facing a Broncos’ defense that has been shredded by air, ground and sea this year, and will also be without cornerback Champ Bailey, who continues to nurse a torn groin muscle.

Some feel that starting Quinn is a final desperation move by Romeo Crennel to save his job. That might be, but former starter Derek Anderson didn’t give him a lot of choice either. He was plagued by dropped passes (see Edwards, Braylon) and injuries (see Winslow, Kellen), but outside of a great game against the Giants and a decent first half against the Ravens, DA flat out hasn’t made as many plays as he did last year.

Quinn is going to be fine…at least tonight. The Browns have done a nice job building a solid offensive line and if they can get the running game going with Jamal Lewis, it’ll allow Quinn to take what the Broncos give him (which should be a lot) in the passing game. As long as offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski doesn’t ask him to do too much, Quinn shouldn’t have any problem moving the ball.

Looking ahead, Quinn has both favorable and nasty defensive matchups. Buffalo will be a decent test next week, but after that he faces two mediocre defenses in Houston and Indianapolis before getting his first huge challenge in Tennessee. He’ll also face Jim Johnson’s blitz-happy Philadelphia defense, as well as the Steelers at the end of the year so we’ll see what kind of mettle the young man has over the next two months.

But the thing to remember over the final eight weeks is that Quinn is still a pup. The torch has been passed, but everyone should give him time to develop. He might have a dazzling performance tonight, but fizzle next week; that’s just what you get from young quarterbacks. Regardless, the Browns have presented a great opportunity for him to succeed tonight. Let’s hope for Quinn’s sake that the offensive line opens holes for Lewis and the onus can be off of their young quarterback. As long as he doesn’t turn the ball over, he should be fine.

If you hadn’t noticed, staph infections are running rampant in the NFL. Kellen Winslow just became the sixth member of the Cleveland Browns to become infected, and he missed a game because of it. The Colts just denied a report that Peyton Manning had a staph infection in the preseason.

So what the hell is a staph infection? WebMD says the following:

It is a type of infection caused by a Staphylococcus (or “staph”) bacteria. Actually, about 25% of people normally carry staph in the nose, mouth, genitals, and anal area. The foot is also very prone to pick up bacteria from the floor. The infection often begins with a little cut, which gets infected with bacteria.

These staph infections range from a simple boil to antibiotic-resistant infections to flesh-eating infections. The difference between all these is how deep and how fast the infection spreads, and how treatable it is with antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant infections are more common in North America, because of our overuse of antibiotics.

The entry goes on to talk about the dangers of a NFL locker room (or any locker room, actually) and how to prevent staph infections:

Any time you have a cut or skin breakdown, wash it with soap and water, keep it clean and dry, use antiseptic ointment, and keep it covered. A couple of recent outbreaks among football players began when one team member had a boil, and the infection was spread to other team members.

The staph infection is contagious if the wound is weeping or draining, and if people share towels or other items that are contaminated. Wearing foot coverings in locker rooms and other commonly used areas can help prevent contamination.

Weeping boils? Ugh. That’s just gross.

Not that the Jaguars have been that impressive this season, but the Browns 23-17 win in Jacksonville might have been the best upset of Week 8.

Without tight end Kellen Winslow, Derek Anderson still managed to throw for 246 yards and a touchdown, amassing 168 yards in the first half alone. He hit for big plays all afternoon including a of 51-yard completion to Steve Heiden on a fourth down play, a 43-yard strike to Braylon Edwards that set up a field goal, and a 53-yard connection with Syndric Steptoe in the fourth quarter to set up a Phil Dawson field goal with less than five minutes remaining.

Cleveland has now won three of their last four games and were close to coming away with a win last week in Washington. With the Steelers losing to the Giants, the Browns are far from dead and have shown signs of life since starting the season 0-3.

The Jaguars might be the hardest team to figure out in the NFL. They started off 0-2, but showed some mettle in close wins over the Colts and Texans to get to 2-2. But they weren’t sharp in a loss to the Steelers in Week 5, then followed that performance with an impressive win over the Broncos in Denver. Now they sit 3-4 after their loss to the Browns.

Are the Jags are a playoff team lying in the weeds or are they underachievers that would be lucky to finish 9-7? One thing is for sure, this team isn’t running the ball anywhere close to what they had been in previous years and the passing game simply isn’t good enough to overcome it.

Listen in as Anthony Stalter and I discuss Brett Favre and “Lionsgate,” the firing of Mike Nolan and how it will affect the 49ers fantasy players, Tony Romo’s injury, the Larry Johnson and Kellen Winslow suspensions, and a couple of this week’s good fantasy matchups (SD/NO and NYG/PIT).

Click here to listen to the podcast.

(The opening and closing music is Ryan Adams’ “To Be Young,” which you might recognize as the opening music to “Old School.”) [iTunes link]

- Chiefs’ RB Larry Johnson is likely to be suspended or inactive for Sunday’s game following an investigation that he recently spat in a woman’s face at a Kansas City nightclub. (ESPN.com)

- Broncos’ CB Champ Bailey will miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a torn groin in Denver’s loss to the Patriots on Monday night. (ESPN.com)

- Tony Romo will not play in the Cowboys’ game this Sunday against Tampa Bay and could be out at least two more weeks with a broke pinkie finger. (Dallas Morning News)

- The Cleveland Browns have suspended Kellen Winslow one game for his rant Monday against GM Phil Savage and coach Romeo Crennel. Winslow questioned the team’s handling of his staph infection. (Rotoworld.com)

- Patriots’ safety Rodney Harrison’s season is over. He tore a quad muscle Monday in New England’s win over Denver and the injury likely will end his 15-year NFL career. (NFL.com)

The Seahawks were supposed to be the favorites to win the NFC West again this year. The Browns were supposed to contend for a playoff berth in the AFC. The Vikings were the chic-pick in the NFC. The Jaguars and Chargers were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders.

But all five of these teams have started the 2008 season 0-2. And all five teams have major issues.

So is it time for these teams to the hit the panic button? Let’s take a closer look.

Cleveland Browns

What’s gone right: Not much. The only real bright spot offensively has been TE Kellen Winslow Jr., who has 12 receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. And DT Shaun Rogers, the team’s top offseason acquisition, has made an immediate impact with 10 tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.

What’s gone wrong: Everything. The defense was brutal in Week 1 against Dallas, but bounced back in Week 2 against Pittsburgh (thanks in large part to bad weather conditions and Ben Roethlisberger’s bum shoulder). The offense that averaged over 25 points a game last year has managed just 16 points total in two games this year. Turnovers, penalties, poor quarterback play (Derek Anderson currently has a QB rating of 57.1), and bad coaching have buried this team so far.

Time to hit the panic button? Yes. The Browns’ poor preseason play has carried over into the regular season and the schedule doesn’t get any easier with the Ravens, Giants, Jaguars, Broncos and Bills coming up over the next eight weeks. Outside of Rogers, the offseason acquisitions Cleveland made on defense have not paid off and the offense has been non-existent. Worse yet, the Browns aren’t sneaking up on anyone this year and Romeo Crennel is starting to look overmatched once again.