Leaf

Bucs coach Tony Dungy and general manager Rich McKay asked Ryan Leaf to buy into the idea of getting off the front page of the newspapers and resurrect his career in Tampa. Leaf bought into the idea so much that he agreed to the Bucs' cap-friendly request to sacrifice $7 million of potential pay over the next two seasons and even purchased a home in the Tampa area.

The Bucs also sold Leaf on the idea that starter Brad Johnson learned playing behind Warren Moon in Minnesota, and Leaf's two- or three-year process only will make him better.

Lucas the next "Slash?"
Dave Wannstedt's thought in bringing in Ray Lucas as a backup is to see if offensive coordinator Chan Gailey can resurrect the magic Kordell Stewart brought to the Steelers in his early days as "Slash." Although Lucas will be playing behind Jay Fiedler, Lucas will be used in specialized plays every game, forcing defenses to prepare for him. Like Stewart, Lucas brings mobility and unpredictability to the Dolphins' attack.

No cap room to roam
If salary-strapped teams such as the Jaguars want to find trade value for $2 million-plus players such as linebacker Kevin Hardy, forget it. As of the start of this week, only $85 million in cap room was available among the 31 teams, which is $35 million less than is needed for the NFL rookie pool of $120 million. Sixteen teams only have $1.6 million of cap room or less.

Denny not green at making deals
There is no one better at taking advantage of a tight-cap market than Vikings coach Dennis Green. Like he did in past years with Jerry Ball and Jeff George, Green will try to talk veterans such as Chester McGlockton into signing incentive-laden, one-year contracts. Green compares this time of year to college recruiting.

A star is born
While Matt Hasselbeck prepares to be the starting quarterback in Seattle and brother Tim Hasselbeck of Boston College awaits next month's draft, the bigger story in the Hasselbeck family is that of Tim's girlfriend, Elisabeth Filarski, the darling of Survivor. Elisabeth is so popular that when she and Tim attended recent B.C. basketball games, Elisabeth got most of the autograph requests.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.