Hilliard had spent entire career with Giants
By Len PasquarelliFree agent wide receiver Ike Hilliard, released by the New York Giants earlier in the offseason in part for salary cap reasons, on Wednesday evening reached an agreement in principle on a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
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Hilliard, 29, is expected to arrive in Tampa on Thursday to sign the contract. Financial details were not immediately available, but Hilliard likely will receive a base salary that is at or near the NFL minimum for a player of his tenure.
The eight-year veteran, who had played his entire career in the Giants organization before his release, will bolster a Bucs wide receiver corps perilously shy of experience.
Beyond projected starters Michael Clayton and Joey Galloway, the Bucs do not have any other receivers with more than 25 receptions in a season. The most experienced backup, four-year veteran Scotty Anderson, is regarded as a journeyman.
Tampa Bay selected three wide receivers among its 12 choices in this year's draft, but none higher than the fifth round. The most promising of those rookies, fifth-round pick Larry Brackins, spent his career at Pearl River (Miss.) Community College. While scouts agree Brackins has great potential, he is still considered very raw and a project.
Clayton was the league's most productive rookie wide receiver in 2004, one of only five players since 1990 to register 1,000 receiving yards in his inaugural campaign. Galloway, though, is 33 and, while still one of the NFL's fastest players, prone to injury at this point of his career.
In Hilliard, the Bucs are getting a proven pass-catcher, one who understands the role of a No. 2 or No. 3 receiver, but also a player whose productivity has waned in recent years because of injuries. Hilliard hasn't been quite the same player since suffering a bruised lung and bruised sternum in 2000. He has battled through foot and shoulder injuries and, as a rookie in 1997, he suffered a serious injury that limited him to just two appearances and required spinal stabilization surgery.
The former University of Florida star, a first-round pick of the Giants in the 1997 draft, had spoken to several teams since his release, but it is believed he opted to accept an offer from the Bucs over one from the Tennessee Titans.
Hilliard has been a starter in 92 of his 98 appearances and has 368 receptions for 4,630 yards and 27 touchdowns. In terms of receptions, his best season came in 1999, when he posted 72 catches for 996 yards. One year later, although his receptions dipped to 55, he scored a career-best eight touchdowns. Of his 368 catches, 242 have resulted in first downs or touchdowns.
Despite appearing in all 16 games in 2004, with 15 starts, Hilliard had just 49 receptions, his fewest in any season in which he appeared in at least 10 games.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here 
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