Understanding and controlling chondrocyte and cartilage metabolism in osteochondral tissues may facilitate ex vivo maintenance and application, both for allografts and tissue-engineered grafts. The hypothesis of this study was that maintenance of chondrocyte viability and matrix content and release of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) in the articular cartilage of joint-scale osteochondral fragments are temperature and metabolism dependent. The aims were to assess, for adult goat joints, the effects of incubation temperature (378C vs. 48C) on cartilage chondrocyte viability and tissue matrix content and mechanical function, and the effects of temperature and cellular biosynthesis on sGAG release. Chondrocyte viability was maintained with 378C incubation for 28 days, but decreased by *30% with 48C incubation. Concomitantly, with 378C incubation, cartilage sGAG was depleted by *52% with the lost sGAG predominantly unable to aggregate with hyaluronan, whereas collagen content, tissue thickness, and tissue stiffness were maintained. The depletion of sGAG was diminished by slowing metabolism, with 48C decreasing release by *79% compared with 378C incubation, and cycloheximide inhibition of cell metabolism at 378C decreasing release by *47%. These results indicate that the articular cartilage of joint-scale grafts have enhanced chondrocyte viability with incubation at 378C, but may need anabolic stimuli or catabolic inhibitors to maintain sGAG content.