Someone gave Josh Freeman another job in the NFL

Ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman finally has another job — with the Miami Dolphins

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The long wait is over.

After sitting out the entire 2014 season, unwanted by even a single team, former first-round pick Josh Freeman has finally found a taker for his services. The ex-Buccaneers quarterback has reportedly inked a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.

NFL scribe Mike Freeman reported the signing:

Josh Freeman has signed a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) April 2, 2015

Freeman’s role on the team isn’t totally clear; the team is committed to starter Ryan Tannehill, and re-signed Matt Moore, an above-average backup, so the Freeman signing might be more along the lines of “we need more people on our team” than “we think Josh Freeman has something left in the tank.” The team also has a third-string quarterback on the roster, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, which is evidently the name of a person and not a washing machine manufacturer or something.

So Freeman has his work cut out for him, but at least he has his foot in the door. That’s something he couldn’t say last year, when he remained unsigned even as teams trotted out the likes of Ryan Lindley and Shaun Hill at quarterback. (No offense intended to either of those gentlemen).

When last we saw Freeman, he was turning in one of the worst starts in NFL history, a historic debacle in his first game with the Minnesota Vikings, who signed him at midseason. Freeman started immediately after being signed, and looked unprepared and just plain bad, going 20-for-52, the worst single-game percentage since 2007–despite facing the last-ranked defense, the Giants, in all of football. That’s not exactly a career highlight.

Yet his resume has some impressive marks on it as well, making it surprising that he had to wait this long to get another job. Freeman was a first-round pick of the Buccanneers in 2009, and in his second season, posted a 95.9 rating and 25 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. It appeared to be an impressive start for the young quarterback’s burgeoning career, but he never reached those heights again. He threw 22 interceptions the next year and his completion percentage fell all the way to 54.8 percent by 2012.

Yet with the quarterback market the way it is, excluding Freeman in favor of such luminaries as Matt Schaub and Josh McCown seems odd. Freeman hasn’t impressed lately, but he’s still young and has some success not far off in his history. He’s not going to be the next Drew Brees or anything, but at least now he’s getting a chance, however small.

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