Schiano Mortgages His Career on Mike Glennon

And so here it is folks. Mike Glennon, your starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Josh Freeman era is over.

We knew it was going to happen. The fragile Freeman had performed poorly in his first three games, his offense looked out of sync and his receivers weren't catching balls.

Still, it's hard to argue that rookie Mike Glennon allows the Bucs to win this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Freeman has re-written the Buccaneer quarterbacking record book. Look at every major statistical category and you'll see Freeman's name at the top of the list.

Of course, the bottom line is Freeman is 24-35 as a starter. He has been given top notch receivers, has what is considered one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, a dynamic running game and and was in the second year of Mike Sullivan's offense.

He's also in a contract year. So in his fifth season in the league, this was supposed to be Freeman's year.

There's plenty of excuses as to why it hasn't succeeded. We've talked about it ad nausem.

The bottom line is he wasn't Greg Schiano's guy. Schiano has been chasing Mike Glennon for years. He believes in the kid, so much so he's willing to stake his career on it.

This is a very bold move by Schiano. By putting in the rookie, you're looking in the eyes of Darrelle Revis and saying this season is over. Dashon Goldson, you have no shot at return to the playoffs this season.

Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams, get ready for some frustrating times (as if their weren't enough already).

Will the players quit? Will they rally behind the rookie?

JoeBucsFan.com says that Williams has mentioned that Glennon is one of the most prepared backups he's ever seen.

He'll need to be more now.

If Glennon is terrible, Schiano will not survive this decision. Even if he's average, the coach is risking losing his team.

Schiano will give us the normal coachspeak, "We needed a spark on offense." The truth is he gave Freeman enough rope to end his own career here.

Surely, Freeman's alleged lack of interest certainly didn't help his case. Make no mistake, folks, this move is permanent. Don't be surprised if Freeman asks to be traded. Schiano can't go back from this. It's Glennon or bust. And if Glennon gets injured, you're going to Orlovsky. Freeman will find the deepest darkest corner of the bench and stay there. It has to be that way or you risk fracturing the team into camps.

Needless to say, Sunday's ballgame just got a lot more interesting. It could be the first step in deciding the future of not only Mike Glennon but Schiano, Dominik and everyone in the Buccaneer organization.