APThe ugly divorce between the Buccaneers and Josh Freeman escalated in a hurry last night.
And it appears the Bucs’ efforts to move him have as well.
According to Ed Werder of ESPN, the Bucs have already talked to nearly a dozen teams so far about a potential trade, and expect to talk to the rest of them today. A league source tells PFT that G.M. Mark Dominik personally is making the calls.
[Editor’s note: We strongly advise against recording those calls.]
Frankly, if they’ve only talked to 12, they’re dragging their feet, and putting word out that they’re open for business today indicates they want a quick resolution.
After benching and exiling him (by making him watch Sunday’s game from a suite rather than the sideline), they’ve made it clear Freeman’s not a part of their future. But Dominik has said he wouldn’t give Freeman away, but at some point, subtraction becomes addition.
And if they’re getting their phones to a full charge for a busy day, it seems they’re looking to do some math soon.
I really suspect that there isn’t a market for a trade.
Who in their right mind would give up anything to acquire a sub-mediocre quarterback with an attitude problem and a possible substance abuse issues? How do you accidentally take Ritalin, anyway?
AND be on the hook for the remainder of his contract?
Tebow Time?
I hope Tampa Bay cannot trade him and he kicks up a storm all season… or until they cut him.
trade schiano too
So our quarterback for the past four years has ADHD. And he was inconsistent from week to week. Hmmm, that’s a surprise. Fantastic. Could things get any worse down here?
All this talk about Freeman and Schiano.
Not one word about Bucs backup QB Dan Orlolosky.
He is about to become the first player on two 0-16 teams.
Mark Dominik really needs to ramp up his efforts to get rid of Greg Schiano…if he wants to continue to be the Bucs GM. Schiano has done nothing but caused drama for the team with his antics and lies. Who is going to want to play for him if your a free agent next year? Mark better pull the trigger before the Glazers put him and Schiano in the “Inactive Suite”
Just get him out of Tampa so we can move on from this overhyped baby.
Schiano needs to find a new home as well, preferably far away from people.
“Hi GM of ____________, it’s the Bucs calling.
An opportunity opened up that I thought you might want to take advantage of right away. I have a quarterback that has had one solid season out of his last 4, he’s got a huge salary, and he’s a malcontent off the field and in the media. I know, too good to be true, right? When can we make this happen?”
It’s funny how the media works sometimes; here we have story after story defending the actions of Josh Freeman, the former starting QB who hasn’t been able to complete even half of his pass attempts this season, is a known party animal in the Tampa area, missed the team photo, lost his captaincy via team vote, dodged the local media and then conducted an unauthorized interview and now the troubling news which many fans suspected at least a year ago; Josh is in the NFL drug program…yet the bulk of the blame should fall on Greg Schiano, who was still at Rutgers in 2011 when Freeman began imploding?
Look, Schiano isn’t winning any popularity contests anytime soon, but how about we point the finger at the immature and irresponsible QB, Josh Freeman? Instead of going the Alex Smith route, Freeman has basically been throwing these strange passive aggressive tantrums for over a year. As troubling as it is, the Bucs shouldn’t give him away. Look at what happened when they flipped troublemaker Aqib Talib to the Pats for a 4th round pick (a pick the Bucs used to trade up to draft Lavonte David, remember). The Bucs are getting hammered by the same media that wants them to out and out release Josh Freeman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such support for a player who is openly being antagonistic. Look at this numbers, he was benched for a reason. It’s a shame, I uses to be one of his biggest supporters.
Thumbs up for a third round pick or higher and thumbs down for a fourth round pick or lower.
After the way TB has handled this situation, can they really expect a team to give up ANYTHING for Josh Freeman?
The racist team in Virginia should hurry up and trade for him. They have proven that they are willing to give away valueable draft picks for overrated, overhyped, one legged Frauds.
At least Freeman would instantly be a huge upgrade over the Reggae freak
Josh Freeman has everyone’s attention but his own.
Wonder if they have contacted the Cardinals? He would be an upgrade from Carson Palmer and might do well under a more mature and seasoned coaching staff. Hope Josh gets traded to a better team where he can continue developing his growth in a less hostile entivonment. Can’t imagine anybody wanting to go to the Bucs to play! That is one pirate ship on it’s way to the bottom of Davy Jones Locker! Hope Freeman sues them and gets his payday plus damages!
And that leaves Stafford from that quarterback class that many ranked him third. Detroit got it right.
He wasn’t watching the game from a suite,he was watching the redzone channel like the rest of us
Hey Dominik, how about you make the move that really needs to be addressed and fire Schiano!
All because they don’t want to pay him. Doug Williams vs. Hugh Culverhouse, revisited…
Who wants to pay Freeman the kind of money he makes to walk into a new system for 3/4 of a season? It’ll be week 10 before he knows half the playbook. I can’t think of a team that it would help make the difference for this season between making the playoffs or staying home.
Get it done and move on! Release Josh now and pay him the rest of his salary! This thing has been handled about as unprofessionally as it could be! It is an embarrassment to the Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay area! I have never been a great Freeman fan, but he dose not deserve the humiliating treatment from the Buc management. I am surprised we have not heard from the Glazers yet! Maybe they are looking for a ” broom” to clean house with. I hope so!
Why the delay in getting Freeman out of town? They can sit and call and talk to every team in 1 day and see where everyone stands…why did it take until today to do that?
Dominik (aka puppet) says he doesn’t want to give Freeman away, but I think things have already gone beyond the point of working with Josh to restructure contract and do things necessary for him to make it easier on the Bucs to get rid of him…unless a team he wants to play for is interested. Both sides are going to have to give more than they want if they both want to just move on.
Schiano is single handedly destroying the Buccaneers and I hope he does not get a pass from the Glazers. It is time to clean house and start over…New coach and new GM.
It is sad to watch grown men behave this way, especially a coach who should really be a father type of figure who should be capable of mentoring these young men, building them up…something Schiano just can’t do.
No advantage at all, It’s out there in the open, the Bucs will get a 6th or 7th rounder in exchange.
Should have kept it quiet with an mysterious injury or something.
This guy will go somewhere else and be very good with better coaching. He has all of the physical tools and after this fiasco the mental one’s also…imo
Schiano and the Glazers should be banned from the NFL.
I’ve been a huge Freeman fan. Huge. My son wore his jersey for school pictures two years in a row. I looked forward to having a real franchise QB for the first time in, well, about ever (OK, Doug Williams). I understand the compensatory draft process, and that the free 3rd rounder Tampa wound wind up with in the 2015 draft when Freeman walks at the end of his contract is a big thing, and you really want that draft pick.
That being said, enough. Cut him. Let him go today. This kid should have been the future of the franchise, and the organization could not have crapped on him any more than they have. We will live in a media-saturated culture where every move and transgression is blasted out to the world instantly, and, before this year, not one negative thing had ever been said about Freeman’s work habits or attitude. Not one. Now, suddenly, Schiano wants to be fully in control, and there’s nothing but negative press about the kid. Captain for what, three or four straight years, teammates raving about his work ethic, and now, nothing but the kid getting dumped on publicly by the team.
Cut him. Let him just go, forget about the compensatory pick, and move on. Then sit down with your head coach and ask him why a young football player with loads of talent who needed coaching wound up backsliding so much, and why his team is incapable of playing with anything resembling discipline or intelligence. THEN FIRE HIS STUPID @#$!!!!
I traded Manti Te’o and Keenan Allen for Freeman and Mason Foster in my Madden league. But he didn’t have a melt down there and has turned into one of the best passers in the league.
While I think he can be a decent quarterback in the right offense, as a Bucs fan, I’d rather not have that happen.
In any event, paging Teddy Bridgewater.
Browns will trade straight up for Weeden. Everyone is happy.
Just Sayin’…Go Brownies!!
destined to get cut… why over pay for him then lose him to free agency lucky if they get a 5th for freeman
Good luck, Bucs have done themselves no favors by completely destroying his reputation in the past month.
The Rams should make a trade. Bradford is not the answer and they have more draft picks than they know what to do with after the RG3 trade.
Raiders, Cardinals, Jets and now possibly the Titans could be in the market. I think Cleveland is happy with Hoyer and hasn’t given up completely on Weeden. However, I think the most likely team is right up the road in Jacksonville. It will all depend on what the Bucs are asking for in return, I would imagine. First round pick? Not gonna happen.
Tebow time!
For sale: slightly used QB.
4th RD pick OBO
Will trade Gabbert for Freeman… At least he averages over 3000 yds a season. I’ll take a minor distraction/improvement until we draft a new QB
Best of luck to Josh Freeman. He has been dumped on this entire season. It is sad that he was drafted by such an incompetent fool. Mark Dominik is a loser (check his record) and a moron. To compound the problem, he hired a small college coach who is in no way capable of coaching at this level. Greg Schiano should be coaching at a JUCO, not the Buccaneers. With the roster they have, they should be at the top of the division. Schiano has broken that team and no one wants to play for him. Put Dominik and Schiano on the first bus out of town.
Schiano and Freeman need to be gone. Move on from this mess and try to finally rebuild this franchise.
Dungy still lives in Tampa. Glazers should go apologize for how things ended and beg him to come back.
I cant wait to see which team identifies itself as the stupidest team in the league by actually making a trade.
Glazer Schmear Campaign.
Freeman = 6’5″ Sanchez/Geno combo
Tough decision being a die hard fan:
Would we rather go after Teddy Bridgewater this draft
or
Go after Clowney and a LT in the second round preferably James Hurst. Then hope we can have a shoot at Famous Jamous next season.
I’m not sure if the NFL allows trades to players on IR, but what about a trade that would send Freeman to the Jets in exchange for Sanchez straight up? They both have similar contracts. This would allow the Bucs to cut bait with a player it obviously wants to cut bait with, and bring in a guy they can work out, and likely cut at the end of the season. Granted, the Bucs wouldn’t get anything in return, but they would be getting rid of a problem that is so obviously causing a disruption with their team. The Jets could bring in a guy that could step in and play, if Geno goes down or continues at his horrid pace.
I don’t know, seems like a decent option in a horrible situation.
orivar says:
Oct 1, 2013 8:53 AM
I don’t know much about Goodell but I could see Vegas having a hand in it.
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Where do the flying saucers come into this story?
There MUST be flying saucers !!
E.T., Call home !!
Schiano is a guy who has a coaching style and a philosophy he is comfortable with. Wonder if this issue is more with Freeman wanted to emulate Kaperdink and run the spread and Schiano poo pood that idea from day one.
How did this kid regress so much? It started before Schiano got there that’s for sure.
Josh should sue honestly with the whole medical disclosure.
Anybody interested in Freeman would do the logical thing, sit tight till he is cut and then sign him to a minimum contract.
That way you get to keep your draft pick and your money.
So does anyone know where Talib and Eric Wright got unprescribed Adderall 15 months ago when Freeman took Ridilin and initiated Drug testing? Wait, 15 months ago, that’s right after Schiano got here. Wonder why he wasn’t sold on Freeman from day one and drafted a qb? Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries.
Cue the Brett “The Silver Fox” Favre to Tampa conversations…
Don’t know if they have any sense, but if they want the most value possible, Bucs should not be in a rush unless they get a pretty good offer. In sales, the more anxious party always overpays/undersells. Would not suprise me if another team gets more willing to make a deal as the season progresses and injuries occur. Bucs can send him home for a while if necessary to clear the locker room.
Josh should get a really good lawyer and sue the entire organization for what they are doing to him.
I cannot believe the NFL front office and the players organization isn’t getting directly involved in this.
“Frankly, if they’ve only talked to 12, they’re dragging their feet”
Not necessarily. I think you could assume the teams with the top 15 ranked QBs would not be interested in giving up a draft pick for a QB they would have to pay 6 million for. You can probably add some other teams to that list that have rookies or young starters they’re not ready to give up on.
I think that probably doesn’t leave much more than a dozen teams worth talking to.
Freeman should sue the Glazers for 100 million in damages.
Not excusing Freeman’s behavior by any means….but the fact is, it’s up to the head coach to rise above it, show some leadership, keep things on track, and prevent a single player’s actions from becoming a distraction for the entire organization. And in his regard, Schiano has failed miserably.
Freeman screwed up badly, ended up being replaced, and is now one foot out the door.
I’m guessing Schiano won’t be too far behind him.
Matt Flynn straight up.
Schiano is as good as gone, too. Glennon looked horrible last week, so that looks like a miss Schiano contributed to there. So, they won’t want his input on a new QB in the draft and they won’t want to risk him butting heads with whoever they do select in a replay of the Freeman fiasco.
you know that matt flynn idea is not a bad one for either team
It ain’t about Freeman getting a new deal, they want to cut him outright without having to pay him the guaranteed money. That’s the only reason they haven’t waived or traded him, because they want him to waive the right to that cash. What person in their RIGHT MIND would waive guaranteed money to aid a team that has proven since late last season that they want to rid themselves of you?
Subtraction would be addition if they were subtracting Greg Schiano. Otherwise, they are simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.