GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Could the Green Bay Packers be a possible landing spot for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman?
Well, there’s a connection between Freeman, who was released on Thursday in an ugly ending with the Bucs, and the Packers.
Packers running backs coach Alex Van Pelt was Freeman’s position coach with the Bucs in 2010 and 2011 before he came to Green Bay in 2012.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t comment on whether Green Bay might be interested in Freeman but if he was looking for an endorsement from Van Pelt, he got one.
“I loved Josh,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “Josh and I had a good working relationship. He was nothing but a pro when I was there with him. He was never late for meetings. We actually had 6:30 (a.m.) quarterback meetings; we were an hour before anybody else, and I never had an issue or anything like that. He did everything that I asked him to do.
“He was a great teammate, watched him work around the other guys and had a lot of respect for him. I don’t know what happened, but I know the guy that I was there with I really enjoyed being with.”
When asked whether Freeman could still be an NFL starter, Van Pelt said: “No doubt.”
Freeman made his first NFL start against the Packers on Nov. 8, 2009, and led the Bucs to a 38-28 upset victory.
“I haven’t really seen Josh play in a few years,” McCarthy said. “But as far as player acquisition and so forth, I really don’t have anything to talk about. But when we did compete against him, I definitely thought he was a young quarterback that had a bright future.”
Given how the Packers shuffled through backup quarterbacks this summer -- from Graham Harrell to Vince Young to B.J. Coleman and now Seneca Wallace -- it makes sense that the Packers might be mentioned as a possible landing spot for Freeman.