Trade interest in Josh Freeman mild

Updated: October 1, 2013, 12:43 PM ET
By Ed Werder | ESPN

Josh Freeman has requested a trade, but he is pressuring the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his outright release, allowing him to receive his full $6.2 million remaining salary and the freedom to sign where he chooses. The team has no intention of immediately doing that, however, according to sources.

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Tampa Bay general manager Mark Dominik has made calls to about one-third of the teams in the NFL to determine whether they have interest in trading for the quarterback, and the team will have contacted every team by the end of the day, according to sources. Interest has been described as being mild.

If the team has to pay Freeman $500,000 each week, it will wait until closer to the trade deadline at the end of the month before cutting ties with its former starter, according to sources. The Buccaneers believe that Freeman is by far the best quarterback available and might be able to make a more equitable trade if a team loses its starting quarterback.

Information that was reported about Freeman's status in the NFL substance-abuse program obviously is harmful to the player and is supposed to be so confidential that the Bucs and other teams are not supposed to be told when they have a player enter Stage 1.

[+] EnlargeJosh Freeman
Brad Penner/USA TODAY SportsJosh Freeman said in a statement Monday night that he voluntarily entered the NFL's drug program and has a prescription for Adderall to treat ADHD.

Under the drug policy, teams that are interested in acquiring Freeman are entitled to know his status only if he is one strike away from a suspension, sources told ESPN Senior NFL Insider Chris Mortensen.

In a statement released after the report Monday night, Freeman said he has a prescription for Adderall to treat ADHD; however, last year he accidentally took Ritalin, which triggered a positive test. As a result of the positive test he submitted to frequent drug screenings, leading to his placement in stage one of the league's drug programs.

He says he has passed 46 league-administered drug tests, but the disclosure of all this could undermine the team's attempts to trade him. The NFL Players Association will certainly want to know how this happened, and executive director DeMaurice Smith is scheduled, coincidentally, to be at the Bucs' facility on Tuesday as he begins visits with each team.

"It is a shame that when times have gotten tough, people have chosen to attack the character of others, rather than supporting each other," Freeman said, adding in his statement that he has "never tested positive for any illegal drugs or related substances."

Sources with knowledge of Freeman's status said he is not one strike from a suspension despite being subject to random testing and has obtained a temporary-use exemption for a prescription drug that normally would be on the banned list.

ESPN Senior NFL Insider Chris Mortensen contributed to this report.

Ed Werder

ESPN NFL Insider
  • Covers NFL for ESPN shows, including Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live and SportsCenter
  • Covers the Dallas Cowboys for ESPNDallas.com

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