"Josh Freeman is our man, boss. Freeman's our man."

Joe’s good friend and NFL Draft guru Justin Pawlowski, of WDAE-AM, stated today on a special edition of his radio show, “The Blitz,” that the choice of Bucs bust-in-waiting quarterback Josh Freeman might have come from above (at One Buc Palace) since, rumor has it, the Glazer Boys were upset Chucky never drafted or developed a franchise quarterback.

Pawlowski is not alone.

Longtime Bucs beat writer, Chris Harry, of the Orlando Sentinel, also smells the stink of the Freeman pick coming from the offices of the “frustrated” Glazer Boys, in addition to Raheem The Dream and Mark Dominik.

Harry explains and recounts his late Saturday night chat with Mark Dominik.

Late last night, I got a call from new General Manager Mark Dominik. Though this pick looked and sounded an awful lot like a Raheem Morris pick — with some strong encouragement from the Glazers, who have never had the proverbial “franchise” guy and had grown frustrated with Jon Gruden’s affinity for veterans — Dominik spoke very much along the lines of Morris. 

But the question being asked among Bucs fans Sunday morning was, “What about the defense?”

“We’re aware of those concerns, and we definitely have some needs on that side of the ball and another whole day in this draft,” Dominik said. “But you saw where a team like Atlanta drafted for needs on defense [getting DT Peria Jerry and S William Moore]. Well you know what? They already have their quarterback.”

He paused.

“Now we have ours.”

Joe is intrigued at the thought of the Glazers’ endorsing the Freeman pick, possibly as early as January. The head coach’s approach to the quarterback position probably was among the first questions the Glazer Boys asked Raheem The Dream during the interview process.

Of course, The Dream likely talked about Josh Freeman, as did Mark Dominik during his interview for the GM gig.

Joel Glazer himself told eye-RAH Kaufman of the Tampa Tribune back in March that the QB position was critical to the franchise, despite having just signed Luke McCown.

“There’s no question we need stability at the quarterback position,” [Joel Glazer said]. That’s something we haven’t had for one reason or another. It’s not easy to find a franchise quarterback. In the NFL, quarterbacks are the pillar of your franchise and that situation has to be solved.”

So it seems everybody is happy now with the QB solution at One Buc Palace. That is until the returns come in on jersey sales and ticket sales.

correction: Mark Dominik is a Kansas graduate. Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinal had him graduating from K-State and Joe repeated that incorrect fact.