Josh McCown reverses field, signs with Cleveland Browns
Browns new quarterback Josh McCown knows he's venturing into Brian Hoyer territory and that folks here can't understand why the Browns signed a quarterback who went 1-10 last when they have one of the roster who went 10-6 the last two seasons.
But he also knows that his woeful 2014 season in Tampa Bay was an aberration and that hopefully Browns fans will see more of the 2013 version of McCown who went 3-2 in Chicago while throwing 13 touchdown passes and only one interception than the one who struggled to pull the Bucs out of their slump last season.
Josh McCown was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2014 season. Josh led the team to a 2-14 record with 2,026 yards passing, 11 TD's, 14 interceptions, and the team will have the first pick in the 2015 NFL draft. In the past 16 days, Josh has been able to visit with the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills. When the word got out that Josh McCown was to sign with Rex Ryan and the Bills, the Browns stepped in and awarded Josh a three year $14 million contract with $6.25 million guaranteed.
The year was 2010 and Boston Red Sox' General Manager Theo Epstein discussed the upcoming season as a "bridge year." He was lambasted by the Boston media for throwing in the towel before the season had even started. In Cleveland, the Browns deal with Josh McCown is "commensurate with other "bridge" quarterbacks who are paid to come in and start until a team finds its quarterback of the future." In other words, his role is to prepare Johnny Manziel for the NFL.
The best odds for winning Super Bowl 50 are held by teams with elite QB's. The Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers are the frontrunners to take home the Vince Lombardi trophy. Two teams, the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys, are next in line. Both teams are faced with serious salary cap issues. Until these strategic roster decisions are resolved, their future will remain murky. Rounding out the field of eight would be the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens who both have solid NFL QB's.
The Cleveland Browns have plenty of company in searching for a productive NFL QB. From the outside, it would appear that Buffalo would be a better landing spot than Cleveland. To a QB who has a record of 17-32 as an NFL starter, that $6.25 million guaranteed was just too good to pass up.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.
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