Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman told ESPN in an interview that aired Thursday night that a trade is “probably the best option” for him.
Freeman lost his starting job to rookie Mike Glennon on Wednesday.
The 2009 first round draft pick said that he does not want to leave Tampa Bay, but it might be best for his career.
“You know, I don’t for a number of reasons,” he said. “But the bottom line is, if you want things to change, something has got to change. At the end of the day, yes, I think that moving forward, that might be, that is going to be probably the best option.”
The trade deadline is Oct. 29.
ESPN reported earlier this week that the Buccaneers would be willing to deal Freeman if a team lost their starting quarterback to an injury and was interested in him.
General manager Mark Dominik told USA Today that the Buccaneers have not been contacted by any teams about Freeman.
“The bottom line is for me as (a) player, I can’t worry about everyone else,” Freeman said. “I can’t worry about what everybody is doing. I just have to focus on the best situation for me. …
“Obviously the head coach (Greg Schiano) has come out and said that this isn’t the place for me to be a starting quarterback. He doesn’t think that I give this team the best chance to win. I don’t agree, but at the same time, I’m the player and he’s the coach. Whatever happens next, I’m moving on. I’m going to be excited to go out and make the most of any situation.”
Freeman has completed less than half of his passes this season as the Buccaneers are off to a 0-3 start. He was a team captain the first three years of his career with Tampa Bay but was not elected this year. Despite being the franchise’s all-time leader with 80 touchdown passes, he has only two with three interceptions this season.
Freeman’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, said that he and Freeman may consider restructuring Freeman’s contract. This is the final year of his deal.
Glennon, a third round draft pick, will make his first NFL start Sunday against the visiting Arizona Cardinals.