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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers considered suspending Josh Freeman for conduct detrimental to the team, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Presumably they didn't go through with it because that would have been one ugly fight with both Freeman and the NFLPA and would have led to an even worse image for the Bucs in this fight, if that's even possible.
The Bucs could have built a case for Freeman's suspension based on his missing two meetings last week and conducting an unauthorized interview with ESPN, for which Freeman was already fined. Whether that's enough to suspend for him any length of time seems doubtful, and the NFLPA would have no doubt filed a grievance.
The Buccaneers were also willing to eat Josh Freeman's salary to facilitate a trade, but they were afraid Freeman's agent would have tried to "dictate a trade", according to Ian Rapoport. I'm not sure why that would be a big concern: getting anything in return from Freeman would be better than nothing, even if his agent would dictate where Freeman would end up.
Still, perhaps giving up a very late-round pick was worth just getting this over with quickly. Not quickly enough to prevent any drama from forming, however.