Today’s Big Winner: Josh Freeman

After he was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, quarterback Josh Freeman agreed to sign with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night. Freeman, who left the Bucs after the relationship between him and head coach Greg Schiano deteriorated beyond repair, will get a fresh start in Minnesota, where he will start as the backup to Christian Ponder.

He will not be the backup for long.

Freeman told press part of the reason he chose the Vikings is because it would allow him to come in as a backup, learn a system, and not have the pressure of starting right away in a new city, as he might have done if he joined a team like Buffalo. But don’t get that wrong–Freeman still wants to start, eventually, and he most certainly will in Minnesota.

Freeman is too good a quarterback.

Things were beyond repair in Tampa Bay. After sleeping through a team photo during preseason, Freeman wasn’t elected to be a team captain, even though he had been a captain his first three years on the team. The team later had a players-only meeting where players questioned the vote, and Greg Schiano had to clarify that he didn’t rig the vote so Freeman lost.

This isn’t a healthy relationship between any coach and any player. Nevermind a head coach of an NFL team and his franchise quarterback.

And yes, Freeman was a franchise quarterback. In his second full season in the NFL, Freeman led the Bucs to a 10-6 record, completing 61% of his passes, averaging 7.3 yards/attempt, and throwing for 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions. You don’t stumble into those numbers, not at age 22. Freeman has what it takes to play at the elite level in the NFL.

After a hot start in 2012, he had a bad six games to close out last season, which was when the Tampa Bay coaching staff started saying things like they had to “evaluate everything” and wanted “competition at every spot, including the quarterback.” The start of 2013 wasn’t much better, and Freeman got the boot.

You know how many other quarterbacks have had bad stretches? Look at Eli Manning’s first five games this season. He’s on pace to break the NFL turnover record. But no one is saying Eli shouldn’t be the starter.

Nor am I saying Josh Freeman is Eli Manning. But what Freeman proved over his first three and a half seasons is that he can be a competent-to-good NFL quarterback. That’s more than the Vikings have been getting from Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel.

Ponder also has had a disastrous start to the 2013 season, but unlike Freeman, he’s never proven to be anything other than a game-management guy who can hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson. Cassel has been marginally better. Ask Minnesota fans if they think either will take them to the promised land.

The Vikings have a strong defense. They have the best running back alive. Peterson won’t be around forever, and they’re caught in that middle ground where it’s unlikely they’ll get a high enough draft pick to land a franchise QB any time soon. So why not roll the dice on Freeman? Worst-case scenario, Freeman doesn’t vibe with the team, and you plug Ponder or Cassel or whoever back in there and then maybe Peterson will carry them back to the playoffs.

At best, though, you land a proven NFL quarterback who is 25 years old. Yes, Freeman is 25. One year older than Russell Wilson. The same age as Colin Kaepernick. If this gambit pays off, and Freeman shines once he is free from the coaching staff in Tampa Bay, Minnesota might have just stumbled onto something special. And if they are smart, they will give Freeman a chance to make that happen by plugging him in at starter. Soon.

(GIF via Arrowhead Pride.)

*******

Today’s other winners…

Yasiel Puig – The Dodgers slugger celebrated their NLDS win by destroying a camera.

Harry Potter – Or, well, the actor who portrayed him. Daniel Radcliffe plays fantasy football and his team name is “Barkevious Mingo’s Mum.” This is real.

Prince William – Organized a soccer game at Buckingham Palace. Big FTW day for the Brits!

Ohio State – Their last-second touchdown reportedly cost Vegas casinos $100 million. Go on Buckeyes.

Tiger, Phil, Jason Dufner and the rest of the U.S. Presidents Cup Team: Took a perfect celebratory photo after winning the cup.

Jose Lobaton – The ice-cream loving Tampa Bay hitter blasted another walk-off home run. Plus he really loves ice cream.

You can read the Morning Win every weekday.