Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman throws a pass before an NFL preseason football game against the Washington Redskins Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013,

Josh Freeman is a former first-round draft pick, 6 feet 6, 240 pounds, with a strong arm and good mobility. He has started 59 games in Tampa Bay, thrown for 80 touchdowns and passed for 13,534 yards. And he's just 25 years old -- two months younger, even, than San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick, who has started just 12 regular-season games in his career.

For Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, trying to upgrade the roster whenever he has the opportunity, it makes sense to sign Freeman to a one-year, look-see deal. Freeman has a lot going for him; maybe he puts it all together and becomes the franchise guy Tampa thought he could be. Maybe Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano and his staff clashed with Freeman in a way that held him back these past seasons.

If all it costs is money, with no long-term commitment, I would probably make the same decision. What can it hurt?

Still, a lot about this move worries me. First, the Bucs couldn't give this guy away. They sent offers out to 31 different teams, probably half of which could use a quarterback -- at least as a backup -- and every single one of them said no. They couldn't even get a seventh-round draft choice! I tend to think NFL front offices are filled with smart people; so why wasn't there a single organization willing to give up anything at all to guarantee getting him?

Then there are all the troubling reports that were coming out of Tampa during Freeman's last weeks with the team.


In one of the strangest soap operas I can remember of a player in conflict with his team, we heard about Freeman missing the team photo, not being voted captain by his teammates, being in Stage 1 of the NFL's substance-abuse program ... it was one thing after another. Regardless of who was leaking information to whom and why, it painted a very poor picture of his worth ethic and leadership.

And to top it all off, there's his play. I said in the preseason that Freeman has some nice stretches and plays well at times, but other times looks lost. That was before things got really ugly those last few weeks in Tampa. I just don't know that he has that special something that instinctively lets Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and guys like that make the right decision every time.

Why is it that can't-miss guys miss in the NFL? Whether it's Matt Leinart, Jamarcus Russell, Vince Young or David Carr, it's usually one of those two things: a bad work ethic or just not having the football smarts to make it at the most demanding position in professional sports. Usually, you can tell if a guy has it within two or three years. Despite his youth, this is already Josh Freeman's fifth season, and we're still waiting to see all that talent, all those athletic gifts, turn into consistent production and leadership.

So what does this signing mean for the 2013 Vikings?

No. 1, making the playoffs will be much more difficult this season. There's an old football cliche that says if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Well, if you have three, you have a circus.

The front office and coaching staff have invested a lot in Christian Ponder and are still publicly standing with him. But after the past two years and the start of this 1-3 season, Ponder still hasn't shown he has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback.

Matt Cassel last week played a great game -- he was professional, confident and effective. And he's been effective in the past, winning 10 games in separate seasons for New England and for Kansas City. I think he gives the team the best chance to win right now.

Now there's Freeman, too -- the new guy with lots of potential and lots of question marks. The locker room is going to be split three ways, and I expect to see coach Leslie Frazier and his staff go back and forth among all three guys over the rest of the season.

In the long run, you need a good quarterback to consistently win in the NFL. If the Vikings have even a slim chance of finding that with Freeman, and at no long-term cost, then you have to take that chance. But in the short term, the 2013 season is going to get a lot more bumpy with a lot more controversy over who starts every week.


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