Bucs sign veteran P Tupa for a year

TAMPA -- Veteran punter Tom Tupa signed a one-year deal Friday with the Bucs.

Tupa, 36, who has played 13 seasons, is the most experienced punter on the roster. Tampa Bay is his sixth team.

A Pro Bowl player in 1999, he has a 43.8-yard career average, but slumped to 38.4 last season with the Jets.

He began his career as a quarterback, a position he played for four seasons with the Cardinals and one with the Colts.

Also Friday, the Bucs signed rookie free-agent long snapper Mike Malczyk and rookie free-agent defensive tackle Tommie Townsend to one-year deals, and hired Chargers assistant athletic trainer Scott Trulock as director of rehabilitation.

Malczyk was the long snapper last season for the University of Illinois. Townsend started last season at Arizona State and had 41 tackles (10 for a loss), 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery.

BENGALS: The team and tight end Matt Schobel, a third-round draft pick from Texas Christian, agreed on a four-year contract, but terms weren't given.

Schobel is the first of Cincinnati's six draft picks to agree to terms.

GIANTS: Tad Golden, Ryan Deterding and Brad Harris signed rookie free-agent contracts.

Golden, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defensive back, was one of six Tennessee captains last season though he did not start.

Deterding, 6-5, 275, started at right tackle the past two years for Chadron, a Division II school in Nebraska.

Harris, 6-3, 285, started all 25 games on the defensive line the past two seasons at Pittsburg State. He had 34 tackles, including 15 for losses, and seven sacks last season.

JETS: Receiver and kick returner Craig Yeast was waived. The four-year veteran appeared in the final 11 games last season, with 13 punt returns for an average of 9.4 yards and 29 kickoff returns for an average of 22.9.