Miami Dolphins at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Connections

The Miami Dolphins travel up the state tonight to play their NFC cousins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  With this being the third game of the preseason, a game typically treated as a full dress rehearsal for the regular season, there will be plenty to watch tonight.  The Buccaneers are an incredibly young and talented team, having gone 10-6 last year and, although the missed the playoffs, it did mark the largest turnaround in team history, gaining seven wins over their 3-13 record from 2009.

With that, let's take a look at the connections between the Dolphins and the Bucs:

• Connor Barth, Kicker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Barth was brought into training camp with the Dolphins in 2009.  He was seen as competition for Dan Carpenter.  He lasted 19 days in Miami, before the Dolphins solidified "DC$" as their kicker and waived Barth.  He was then signed by the Buccaneers on November 3, 2009, and twelve days later tied an NFL record by kicking three field goals of 50-yards or more in one game.  Of course, that game was against the Dolphins.
  
• Patrick Carter, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins - Carter spent part of the 2009 season on Tampa Bay's practice squad, before being released.  Carter then bounced back and forth between the NFL and the UFL, before being picked up this year by Miami.
• Jeron Mastrud, Tight End, Miami Dolphins - Mastrud signed with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent after the 2010 NFL Draft.  He spent all of the preseason with Tampa, playing in all four of their preseason games that year.  However, he was a victim of the final round of cuts with Tampa.  Two days later, he signed with the New England Patriots as a member of their practice squad, but was again released, this time after just a day with the club.  He signed the next day with the Dolphins, originally as a member of their practice squad, before being promoted on September 21, 2010 to the 53-man roster, just 13 days after joining the team.

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