Josh Freeman Released By Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Josh Freeman saga in Tampa Bay is officially over. The Buccaneers and Freeman broke up today, as Tampa released their former starting quarterback and captain.

Freeman is still owed $6.2 million this season, all of which will come out the Buccaneer payroll. A release wasn't the first option, as Tampa Bay looked for trade suitors around the entire league.

However, with an alarming number of negative headlines regarding Tampa coach Greg Schiano's thoughts on Freeman, and with information that Freeman is currently getting treatment in stage 1 of the league's substance-abuse program (the information was leaked illegally), all 31 NFL teams declined to even enter trade discussions.

After showing great promise early in his career, including a 10-6 record in 2010 his first full year as a starter, Freeman has regressed, going 11-23 since.