Josh Freeman entering high-stakes contract season

It's no secret that the Buccaneers are one of the most difficult teams in the NFL to predict. One season, they show potential. Then, the fall flat in the following year. Next comes another promising year, and the cycle repeats. It's not a winning cycle, and the Buccaneers are ready for a change if they need to make one.

General Manager Mark Dominik told WDAE-AM today that the team will be waiting until after the season is over before getting into contract talks with quarterback Josh Freeman.

"I think there's just a comfort level that everybody understands where Josh Freeman's going," Dominik said. "Let's focus on this season, and then, we'll go after the season's over."

With that decision, the Buccaneers are hedging their bet that Freeman is the future of the franchise. That type of move bit the Ravens in the ass in a big way last year when Joe Flacco led the team to a Super Bowl victory, forcing the Ravens to vastly overpay a largely average to above average quarterback.

If, however, Josh Freeman continues to be his inconsistent self, the Buccaneers will simplify their exit strategy or be able to secure Freeman with a  cheap contract, allowing them to put other pieces of the puzzle in place before going after a high-dollar quarterback. The decision to wait then becomes a high risk, high reward bet in which the Buccaneers are essentially putting their money on losing.

By waiting, the Buccaneers are putting the ball in Josh Freeman's court. If he wins, they'll be paying big for it, but the best seems to be against Freeman. At this point, the team knows, more or less, what it's getting from it's quarterback, and this could be the first step to moving on from a mediocre era.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

Quantcast