Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have cut embattled quarterback Josh Freeman, a week after benching him in favor of rookie Mike Glennon. Freeman has been up and down throughout his career, and the Bucs grew weary of his turnovers. Freeman will likely not find a large market for his services, but there is one team who could be interested.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are reportedly interesting in giving Tim Tebow a tryout. This is a shameless ploy to sell tickets, and it does nothing to make them better on the football field. If the Jaguars actually think Blaine Gabbert is not the answer, they would be much better served to go after Freeman than Tebow.
Gabbert is completing just 49.3% of his passes this season and he has thrown for 0 TDs and 5 INTs. Clearly, he is not giving the 0-4 Jaguars any chance to win. Tebow is even worse than Gabbert, with his career 47.9% completion percentage. He will get people in the seats, but he won’t make the Jaguars any better.
Freeman is no franchise savior, but is clearly the best player of this group. Freeman is a career 58.2% passer, and he threw for 4,065 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. Tebow and Gabbert can only dream of putting up numbers like that. If the Jags were to sign Freeman, he would immediately upgrade the quarterback position and move this team from laughingstock to just an average bad team.
Of course, Jacksonville seems quite content to tank their way to the No. 1 overall pick, and signing Tebow would make them a little extra money along the way. However, if they want to be competitive at all this season, they need to sign Freeman to be their quarterback. Even if it is only a one year deal, it would show fans that the team hasn’t given up on this season.
Of course, Freeman might not be interested, but I think he would jump at the chance to be a starter in the NFL again, especially so soon after being benched and cut. The Jaguars’ decision in this case will tell a lot about what this franchise is thinking. If they sign Tebow, all they are trying to do is make money. If they sign Freeman, they are still trying to win games. If I was a Jags fan, I know which one I’d prefer.
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