Should the Bucs sign QB Josh Freeman to long-term extension now?

[dbucfan]

Bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre is moving forward if you're not committing to mediocre long term.  You give Freeman a long-term contract, and you're committing to mediocre long-term.

The money I would consider would be similar to Campbell - and that enables the team to keep shopping.  Not committing mediocre play - look at is as committing to a back up qb who is in the top 20 of all NFL qbs...

[TheAman]

There is almost no way that Josh Freeman signs 1 year/3.5 million.  Someone would be desperate and sign him for more than that on the open market.

[Hate]

There is almost no way that Josh Freeman signs 1 year/3.5 million. 

None, zilch, nada!!!

[Feel Real Good]

Dave, i don't have that answer but i'm pretty confident that we can find mediocre anywhere.

Skip - bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre isn't moving forward.  IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT (something like Jason Campbell's contract) Freeman should be re-signed. 

And he isn't the only one on the team that is mediocre.  And we should remain curious to see how he might function with the starting O line in place.  The current group of backups can't keep the pocket clean in front of Freeman - and most qbs stink when faced with that condition.  I AM NOT SAYING Freeman is the answer - just that there is still information needed to decide what Freeman's final evaluation should be.  In the interim - if the bucs can extend him for a fair price - that is smart.

On what planet should Freeman accept Jason Campbell money after he finishes the season with 3,900 yards (team record), 30 TD's (team record) and 10 INT's? Campbell can't dream about that kind of production.

[Bschucher]

There is almost no way that Josh Freeman signs 1 year/3.5 million. 

None, zilch, nada!!!

Exactly... so what the hell does the team do with him? Going to be interesting for sure.

[VinBucFan]

Dave, i don't have that answer but i'm pretty confident that we can find mediocre anywhere.

Skip - bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre isn't moving forward.  IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT (something like Jason Campbell's contract) Freeman should be re-signed. 

And he isn't the only one on the team that is mediocre.  And we should remain curious to see how he might function with the starting O line in place.  The current group of backups can't keep the pocket clean in front of Freeman - and most qbs stink when faced with that condition.  I AM NOT SAYING Freeman is the answer - just that there is still information needed to decide what Freeman's final evaluation should be.  In the interim - if the bucs can extend him for a fair price - that is smart.

although I agree with and share the frustration, I am not sure it is actually fair -- at least not statistically -- to call Freeman mediocre.  I think statistically isn't he above-average in terms of yards, TD/int ratio etc?  The thing about Freeman that is frustrating though is that he is above-average (or mediocre) with what we all observe to be long runs of inexplicable substandard play. He is frustrating in his inconsistency. Look at today's game and you see a bunch of early missed routine throws that killed drives and gave the Eagles life.  Frankly, it is almost hard to imagine what a young Bucs team that has lost a bunch of games by less than 10 points would be like IF (emphasis on "if") Freeman was actually consistent. That is why the frustration level is so high, IMO.

[The Anti-Java]

Bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre is moving forward if you're not committing to mediocre long term.  You give Freeman a long-term contract, and you're committing to mediocre long-term.

The money I would consider would be similar to Campbell - and that enables the team to keep shopping.  Not committing mediocre play - look at is as committing to a back up qb who is in the top 20 of all NFL qbs...

Sounds great......but Free and his dad would scoff at that.

[TheAman]

Dave, i don't have that answer but i'm pretty confident that we can find mediocre anywhere.

Skip - bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre isn't moving forward.  IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT (something like Jason Campbell's contract) Freeman should be re-signed. 

And he isn't the only one on the team that is mediocre.  And we should remain curious to see how he might function with the starting O line in place.  The current group of backups can't keep the pocket clean in front of Freeman - and most qbs stink when faced with that condition.  I AM NOT SAYING Freeman is the answer - just that there is still information needed to decide what Freeman's final evaluation should be.  In the interim - if the bucs can extend him for a fair price - that is smart.

On what planet should Freeman accept Jason Campbell money after he finishes the season with 3,900 yards (team record), 30 TD's (team record) and 10 INT's? Campbell can't dream about that kind of production.

He shouldn't accept it, just because he is young....buuuut.

2009: 327/507, 3618 yards, 20 TDs

[dbucfan]

There is almost no way that Josh Freeman signs 1 year/3.5 million.  Someone would be desperate and sign him for more than that on the open market.

Perhaps - and then perhaps not - Campbell is pretty much the same player.  And Freeman has done little to show he would be entitled to much more - go 2.5 - 4.5  with performance bonus... my point is don't pay him like a franchise qb - voluntarily... but if you can afford to keep him, to conclude the evaluation as you shop for someone better it should be done.

[Biggs3535]

Bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre is moving forward if you're not committing to mediocre long term.  You give Freeman a long-term contract, and you're committing to mediocre long-term.

The money I would consider would be similar to Campbell - and that enables the team to keep shopping.  Not committing mediocre play - look at is as committing to a back up qb who is in the top 20 of all NFL qbs...

Campbell signed w/the Bears to be the back-up.  That won't be happening with Freeman in Tampa.

[VinBucFan]

Dave, i don't have that answer but i'm pretty confident that we can find mediocre anywhere.

Skip - bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre isn't moving forward.  IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT (something like Jason Campbell's contract) Freeman should be re-signed. 

And he isn't the only one on the team that is mediocre.  And we should remain curious to see how he might function with the starting O line in place.  The current group of backups can't keep the pocket clean in front of Freeman - and most qbs stink when faced with that condition.  I AM NOT SAYING Freeman is the answer - just that there is still information needed to decide what Freeman's final evaluation should be.  In the interim - if the bucs can extend him for a fair price - that is smart.

On what planet should Freeman accept Jason Campbell money after he finishes the season with 3,900 yards (team record), 30 TD's (team record) and 10 INT's? Campbell can't dream about that kind of production.

None, I think everyone's frustration level (completely understandable) with Freeman is coloring the analysis

[QaZ]

Absolutely the nut low?  Just because there have been worse, doesn't make this one any better.  That's like saying that Mark Sanchez is an adequate QB because he's better than John Skelton.

Does not make it better, but might give you an impression of the QB that follows Freeman...5 INT, but i hope it also comes with a SB win, since Brees did this too. If so, nice, then i guess we both will be happy. Just i fear we will only see the 5 INT QB, which we both will hate to see, no matter what his name is.

We are still able to ship Freeman after the extension, prolly even for a few draft pick, should we ever have a better QB on the team. How much of a cap hit would this then be? Maybe 1 cheap year, its not like we did not see such a team less than 1 year ago.
We can still bring in another QB after having extended Freeman, and then ship HIM, should Freeman surprisingly become the QB we both want him to be. How much would we have to pay for this?
On the other side i see R Leaf being the QB here, followed by J Russell, while we did not even get a 7th rounder for a mediocre QB like Freeman, who most likely,  after his career, will look back on 15yrs in the NFL, with a bit of luck, will having ended up with a great D# that one year, resulting in a ring.

[VinBucFan]

Freeman's TD and INT stats this season are comparable to Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers and Matt Ryan and better that some other "franchise" QBs. It's just that we all see the uneven game performance (reflected in a low completion percentage)

[dbucfan]

Dave, i don't have that answer but i'm pretty confident that we can find mediocre anywhere.

Skip - bringing in mediocre to replace mediocre isn't moving forward.  IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT (something like Jason Campbell's contract) Freeman should be re-signed. 

And he isn't the only one on the team that is mediocre.  And we should remain curious to see how he might function with the starting O line in place.  The current group of backups can't keep the pocket clean in front of Freeman - and most qbs stink when faced with that condition.  I AM NOT SAYING Freeman is the answer - just that there is still information needed to decide what Freeman's final evaluation should be.  In the interim - if the bucs can extend him for a fair price - that is smart.

On what planet should Freeman accept Jason Campbell money after he finishes the season with 3,900 yards (team record), 30 TD's (team record) and 10 INT's? Campbell can't dream about that kind of production.

Similar money for similar outcomes if he wants the extension FRG.  If he doesn't want it that is his choice.  As the talk has evolved I have noted something in the 5 million a year range is affordable and allows the bucs to keep shopping should they conclude Freeman isn't going to be the guy. 

[Feel Real Good]

You guys are smoking crack if you think Freeman is getting anything less than $10 million per year from someone? Chicago traded two 1st round picks for Jay Cutler after he went 25/18 his last season in Denver. They signed him to a 5-year $50 million contract. Freeman has already had two seasons better than that.