In a move that reunites two men with shared Oakland Raiders backgrounds, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Tuesday reached a contract agreement with free agent tight end Rickey Dudley on a one-year deal.

Dudley, 30, was the Raiders' first-round selection in the 1996 draft and he played three seasons in Oakland under head coach Jon Gruden. He will sign a contract for a base salary of $525,000, which is prorated over the balance of the season, for a total of $463,235.

Tampa Bay will have to release a player to create a roster spot for Dudley.

A former Ohio State star, Dudley was released by the Cleveland Browns in the final roster cutdown before the beginning of the regular season. He had signed with Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent last summer and playing five seasons with the Raiders.

A severe foot sprain sidelined Dudley for all but four games in 2001, but he has demonstrated no ill effects of the injury, and could resurrect his career under Gruden, a coach who is familiar with the skills. Because of the injury, Dudley had career lows in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (115) last year and he failed to score a touchdown for the first time in his NFL tenure.

Dudley is one of the most athletic tight ends in the NFL and his background, having also played basketball at Ohio State, make him an intriguing player. Gruden likely will attempt to take advantage of Dudley's long speed and his ability to split the safeties deep up the middle of the field.

For his career, Dudley has 195 catches for 2,742 yards and 29 touchdowns. His 14.1-yard average per catch is testiment to his ability to get deep and his average of one touchdown every 6.7 receptions is excellent. His best season was in 1997, when he caught 48 passes for 787 yards and seven touchdowns.

Dudley has appeared in 84 games and started 83 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.