Yesterday, Adam Schefter reported that Gary Kubiak had met with Johnny Manziel earlier this offseason with the idea that he could at some point be signed by the Denver Broncos. Mike Klis of 9News immediately refuted that idea, saying that it was no more than a friendly Texas A&M-to-Texas A&M quarterback conversation and that the Broncos are not interested in bringing Johnny Football to the Mile High City.
Still, that doesn’t mean the Broncos aren’t interested in signing a Browns quarterback. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, league sources have said that John Elway would pursue a trade for Josh McCown if the Colin Kaepernick discussions fall through.
McCown, 36, started eight games for the Browns last season, completing 63.7 percent of his passes for 2,109 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. With the signing of Robert Griffin III, though, and the much-speculated drafting of a quarterback in this year’s draft, the relationship between the Browns and McCown seems to be nearing a close.
That’s where Denver steps in.
McCown may not be an exciting option, but with a $4.4 million base salary in 2016, he’s cheap enough that a quarterback competition between him, Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian and whomever they may draft this offseason could make a lot more sense, in comparison to Kaepernick’s contract.
But while McCown, who’s entering his 14th season in the NFL, has shown flashes of competent quarterback play over the years, especially during the last few, it’s important to note that he is a combined 2-17 in his last 19 starts. Yes, those starts were with the Buccaneers and Browns, and he had little to no help surrounding him, but that kind of record does little to inspire confidence.
He’s a plug-in-and-play option, but that doesn’t mean he won’t come without risk.
Nonetheless, Denver needs a quarterback, and he’s available. It should be no surprise that there is mutual interest.
