Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik has given no indication he intends to extend quarterback Josh Freeman’s contract, allowing him to walk into the final year of his deal in 2013.
But he said Monday that Freeman and his representatives understood what was going on, and there was no ill will between Freeman and the team.
“With Josh, I think the main thing is that no one is in a hurry,” Dominik told Steve Duemig of 620-AM, via the Tampa Bay Times. “I’m not in a hurry as general manager of the football team. I’ve talked to his representation. No one’s in a hurry to push anything through because he wants to maximize his ability and we want to make sure with everything that’s going on. So it’s more about a comfort level. There’s nothing adversarial about it. It’s all positive. It’s been good communication between everyone.”
Freeman had a solid bounce-back year (more like 2010 than 2011), but much of his good work was undone with a late-season slide.
Bucs coach Greg Schiano said after the regular season that he thought Freeman could win Super Bowls, but stopped short of even saying Freeman was assured the starting job, saying he still had to “evaluate” things.
Evaluating worked out OK for Mike Shanahan this year. And if Freeman can play the way he did in 2010 and the majority of this season, it could result in a more lucrative payday for him as well.