The NFLPA is going for some heads with the new of Josh Freeman being involved in the league’s drug program, although not being one strike away from suspension. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seem to be doing everything possible to degrade and hurt the value of their former starting quarterback, which doesn’t really help them with him asking for a trade.
Freeman being benched is old news. Mike Glennnon looked just as bad as Freeman did in the 10-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, only he is a rookie playing in his first NFL game. Freeman is a fifth-year starter. Freeman and drugs? That’s new, although is shouldn’t have come out, and it might be going to cause some people a lot of problems.
Freeman is subject to random testing, but he does have a temporary-use exemption for Adderall to treat ADHD. Last year he took Ritalin by mistake, triggering a positive test. As a result of the positive test he submitted to frequent drug screenings, leading to his placement in stage one of the league’s drug program.
However, Freeman isn’t about to get suspended. His name shouldn’t be out there. Teams who want to trade for Freeman have a right to know about his situation only if he was on the ‘one strike away’ status, and it seems there are some ugly games being played in and outside the Tampa Bay locker room.
The fact that Greg Schaino doesn’t like Freeman and doesn’t believe in him is old news. But for this to come out, while Freeman is pretty much not even part of the team anymore as he’s staying out of the locker room and not getting a second of notice from his head coach, means someone is trying to make things worse for him.
Freeman wants to be traded, but it’s hard to see who might go for him at this point. Once he becomes a free agent, Freeman will be a popular player that gets courted quite a lot, but for now, the best thing the Bucs can do with their former first-round draft pick is tell him to pick up his paycheck and stay at home. He’s a distraction, and for the team to get out of this hole they’ve found themselves in (0-4), giving Schiano, who isn’t exactly innocent in all of this, the chance to groom his next quarterback, Freeman has to be either distanced or simply released.