Coach Greg Schiano recently told NFL Network that Josh Freeman is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' "only" quarterback, but the organization still isn't ready to commit to its starter on a long-term contract.
General manager Mark Dominik said in January that he was in "no hurry" to extend Freeman's rookie deal entering a contract year. He reiterated that stance Saturday.
"I think there's just a comfort level that everybody understands where Josh Freeman's going," Dominik told Tom Krasniqi on WDAE-AM. "Let's focus on this season, and then, we'll go after the season's over."
Schiano inherited Freeman from the previous regime and still wonders if he has a franchise quarterback on his hands.
"(Schiano) wants a guy who is going to get in guys' faces when they make mistakes," one Buccaneers source told Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com. "The fiery, take-charge guy."
While Schiano's locker-room expectations are a bit nebulous, Freeman's on-field issues are easier to dissect.
Only Mark Sanchez had a worse passer rating versus the blitz last season. Only four quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions since Freeman entered the league in 2009.
Freeman finds himself in the same position as Jay Cutler, a talented but flawed quarterback who could follow Joe Flacco's primrose path to a mega contract or wash out of the gutter as a journeyman in the fashion of Carson Palmer, Jason Campbell and Kevin Kolb.
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