With every bad throw, interception and turnover, the exit door becomes bigger and bigger for Josh Freeman, who isn’t too happy with his situation on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and possibly looking for a way out of the team via trade, possibly even sometime this season.
The relationship between Freeman and head coach Greg Schiano seems to be at an all-time low, not exactly helped by the fact that they’ve started the season 0-2 with close losses to the Saints and the Jets. Freeman has completed only 45.3% of his passes, turning the ball over three times with two interceptions and a fumble.
There’s always been question marks about Freeman’s ability to become a consistent franchise quarterback, but it seems like the pairing with Schiano, whose rigid approach seems to be both turning Freeman into something he isn’t and virtually ruining his play while pushing him closer to the exit door from the team, isn’t working for anyone.
With Freeman due to become a free agent at the end of the season, this was supposed to be a test year, in which he shows and proves that last year wasn’t a fluke, and he’s capable of producing these numbers (4065 yards, 27 touchdowns) on a regular basis. However, the drafting of Mike Glennon and the bad start to this season indicate that the Bucs and Freeman might not be going to be partnered up together for much longer.
The next question is where does he go? The Oakland Raiders, and competing for the starting job with Terrelle Pryor, seem like a reasonable option, but that depends on just how well Pryor does this season. Another option that’s been mentioned are the Washington Redskins, and putting Pryor behind Robert Griffin III, although it’s hard to believe Freeman wants to be a designated backup right from the start.
There are the Pittsburgh Steelers – Freeman will be a backup there, but Roethilsberger is often injured, so backing him up might not be such a bad idea. And then there are the teams who will probably go for a new quarterback next season – Minnesota, Jacksonville and Cleveland. Freeman might not be their answer for the future, but he should do a better job than any rookie they pick.