Leaf

The Ryan Leaf experiment didn't work out.

Bothered by a sore wrist and being demoted to the fourth quarterback spot, Leaf was released Monday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make room for wide receiver Milton Wynn, who was claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Rams.

"Ryan came out of training camp as our fourth quarterback," general manager Rich McKay said in a statement. "It was our hope that we could find a way to keep all four quarterbacks from a roster and contract standpoint; however, we were unable to do so."

Leaf went to the Bucs during the offseason in a waiver claim from the San Diego Chargers. To fit under the salary cap, he received a $600,000 signing bonus and a base salary of $900,000 as part of a three-year, $10 million restructuring. But a wrist problem that might require surgery after the season hurt his ability to throw the football as effectively as in past years.

There were reports that the Bucs called the Dallas Cowboys to see if they would be willing to make a trade for Leaf, but they didn't have the cap room nor the desire to give up a draft choice. It is possible that they might consider acquiring him by Tuesday, the deadline for Monday's waivers' claims.

Coach Tony Dungy named Joe Hamilton the team's third quarterback Monday behind Brad Johnson and Shaun King.

Hamilton outplayed Leaf for the third-string job during the preseason, but Dungy said Sunday that he had decided to keep four quarterbacks because it was deemed the best thing to do for the "long run."

But injuries have left the Bucs thin at center, guard and nose tackle -- increasing the likelihood that either Leaf or Hamilton eventually would be released.

One way Leaf could have remained with Tampa Bay is if he had been put on injured reserve to have surgery to correct the wrist injury that occurred while he was playing for the Chargers.

Leaf completed seven of 19 passes for 81 yards with one interception in four games.

The 25-year-old Leaf flopped during three turbulent seasons in San Diego, compiling a 4-14 record as a starter and alienating teammates, management and fans with boorish behavior.

Since joining the Bucs, Leaf had been able to avoid the off-the-field problems that contributed to his lack of success in San Diego, where he threw more than twice as many interceptions (33) as touchdown passes (13).

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.