Adam Schefter of ESPN broke the news, as Freeman had the final year of his rookie contract cut short.NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Freeman missed more than one team meeting leading up to Week 4's loss to the Arizona Cardinals, in which the Bucs deactivated Freeman.
Rookie third-round pick Mike Glennon started the game at Raymond James Stadium and didn't fare much better than Freeman has this year. In his NFL debut, Glennon averaged only 4.5 yards per attempt on 43 passes and threw one touchdown to go with two interceptions.
Before the defeat that dropped Tampa Bay to 0-4, Glazer reported that Freeman wanted to be moved as soon as possible, whether it was in a trade or by way of release, per Ross Jones of FoxSports.com:
His time there is over. I spoke to Josh this morning and he’s already asked for a trade and Josh told me also, if they don’t want to do that, he wants his release. He just knows that he and [Greg Schiano] are not going to be able to come back and have a happy marriage. He says it’s just better for everybody that I just move on so I’m not a distraction.
Head coach Greg Schiano and Freeman evidently could not coexist, with Freeman even watching the game against Arizona from a suite rather than from the Bucs' sidelines. Schiano called it a mutual decision, but Freeman's agent Erik Burkhardt disputed that claim.
It was also reported this week by Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated that Freeman had been fined twice this month for conduct detrimental to the team.
It has been a horrendous 2013 campaign for Freeman, as he's completed only 45.7 percent of his passes on 6.1 yards per attempt with two touchdowns, three picks and a passer rating of 59.3.
