Casserly: Josh Freeman Information Breach Did Not Come from One Buc Place

Oct 13, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Josh Freeman (12) sits on the sidelines in the game against the Carolina Panthers at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. Panthers win 35-10. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Former NFL general manager Charley Casserly joined Rick Stroud and Tom Jones of 620 WDAE on Wednesday morning, and offered his usual number of cliches about being an NFL general manager (improving one day at a time, etc.). But it was a passing line about the Josh Freeman medical confidentiality breach that was the most interesting.

• “I can’t image Greg Schiano did that. I don’t think he’s that kind of a person. I was told the leak came from outside the building.”

Stroud and Jones didn’t follow up on this line at all, for whatever reason, but that’s certainly interesting news. Who on earth would leak Josh Freeman’s medical information outside of One Buc Place?

The only logical options are Josh Freeman’s camp and the NFL League officials in charge of the drug program, with conspiracy theories being a rival cheating the system to find the information by nefarious means.

It’s possible that Freeman’s camp leaked the information, as they would know all of the details about his involvement in the program. It would be seriously underhanded and somewhat risky to reveal his status in the drug program, as it would sway the thoughts of other general managers before the “reveal” of his actual reasons for being in the program.

But on the other hand, it turned out to be a quick ticket out of town, which suited Freeman quite well. So the possibility remains that Freeman was the source of the leak.

There’s a less than 1 percent chance that the league office was the source of the leak. Chris Mortensen didn’t get to where he is by accepting breaking news from interns at the NFL, and no one at the league office would benefit from this news leaking unless they were receiving money for the information. And again, Mortensen didn’t reach the level of reporter he is by shelling out cash for sources to reveal confidential medical information.

Mortensen mentioned the possibility of other teams looking into Freeman’s status in the drug program more than 24 hours before he released his report about the former Bucs’ quarterback and his stage one involvement in the drug treatment process. So there were either two leaks to Mortensen, or he chose to hang onto some of the information for a more opportune time.

At this point, unless Mortensen gives up his source, we’re unlikely to know the cause of the leaked information unless the NFLPA can support their claim that Greg Schiano is the source of the breach.