MANILA, Philippines -- For veteran forward Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, exploring free agency was a "nerve-wracking" process, even though it ultimately paid off for him.

Ganuelas-Rosser, 31, is part of the 2014 PBA draft class that was the first to experience true free agency in the league. His contract with TerraFirma expired on December 31, and Ganuelas-Rosser decided to decline the Dyip's offer of a two-year extension.

Days later, he signed with the TNT Tropang GIGA, the team where he spent the first three years of his PBA career.

"I'm just really grateful that I had the opportunity to (be an unrestricted free agent)," Ganuelas-Rosser said in an appearance on "The Game" recently.

"It had been in the talks for the last couple of years. It got voted on, and I knew my batch was the first batch, so for me, I really lined my contracts up for me to be able to exercise my right," he added.

But while he was determined to explore free agency, it still was not an easy decision for Ganuelas-Rosser. The process, he said, was somewhat slow due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic as several teams had to deal with positive cases.

He was ultimately able to talk with other coaches in the league before deciding on TNT.

"It's a little bit nerve-wracking, because you take a leap of faith, and you kinda bet on yourself," he explained. "But, I'm grateful that I did it, and I'm grateful to be where I'm at now."

Ganuelas-Rosser has already won five PBA championships, the last of which was the 2019 Commissioner's Cup with San Miguel Beer before he was traded to TerraFirma as part of the CJ Perez deal.

He wound up playing less than two conferences for the Dyip, as TerraFirma played just five games in the Governors' Cup before it was suspended due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

In those five games, Ganuelas-Rosser was averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.8 assists per game.

In choosing to return to TNT, Ganuelas-Rosser put a premium on his familiarity with Chot Reyes' system, and the opportunity to add more championships to his collection.

• READ: Rosser returns to TNT to play under Coach Chot

"Being able to play under Coach Chot, that was like a big factor for me," he said. "And then, obviously, they just won a championship, and they're contending, and they're really going up."

"So for me, it was like, once I got the call that they were interested, I was like, 'Okay, yeah, let's try to get this done.' Because that's a place I really see myself fitting in, and really wanna be," he added.

Aside from Ganuelas-Rosser, other 2014 draftees who took advantage of free agency were Rodney Brondial and John Pinto, who signed deals with San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra, respectively.