Josh McCown told reporters that he’s likely planning on returning for another year in 2018 if he continues to feel as he does now.
Veteran quarterback Josh McCown says he’s likely going to return to play for at least one more season as long as he continues to feel like he does now. For the New York Jets, this is likely welcome news that directly affects the roster planning heading into next year. For many other teams around the NFL, this is the sort of news that flies under the radar but it’s something that will indirectly affect several other teams beyond those who play at MetLife Stadium.
On NFL Network’s Total Access, McCown made it clear that he wanted to return to play for Todd Bowles and company:
"“…where we’re at right now, I feel like I want to play … I’m looking forward to the next few months, seeing what happens, and I’ll be ready to go.”"
For the Jets, the return of McCown as a starting quarterback who also takes well to a back-up mentoring role is the perfect sort of leader to have in house. The Jets clearly need a quarterback of the future and no one will be surprised to see them pull the trigger on a rookie early in this year’s draft. McCown gives them a proven leader and performer who will remain an important, steadying presence no matter how the team decides to use him.
Therein lies the indirect effect. For the Kansas City Chiefs, McCown is another free agent entrant on the market. He’s 38-years-old and is not going to be the face of any franchise at this point, but teams looking for some sort of veteran option on the open market now have another option, especially if they flinch at any trade demands the Chiefs might want to make for Alex Smith.
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It’s unlikely that the teams shopping for Alex Smith are the same ones in the Josh McCown aisle. After all, there’s every reason to think that Alex Smith could be good for another 3-4 years as a solid option who even found his downfield accuracy in his mid-thirties. He set career highs in many categories for the Chiefs in 2017 and he should be a valuable trade commodity. Despite his own career marks last year, McCown is a placeholder. Those aren’t the same at all.
But in a general sense, McCown is another quarterback available on the market for teams needing one. McCown’s presence gives teams at least something else to think about, a much cheaper albeit aging option who also enjoyed a bit of late-career magic in 2017 (a completion percentage of 67%, 18 touchdowns, 9 interceptions). If the Chiefs demand an early pick for Smith, who will also demand $20 million per season on a new deal, do you not at least think about offering something to McCown for pennies on the dollar and no lost draft assets?
Perhaps even more important than McCown’s presence is his McCown’s commitment to the Jets in particular. While he’s a free agent, he seems to have his heart set on returning to New York, which takes a quarterback needy team off of the market for Smith. If they like McCown, and they should, the Jets’ decision on moving forward becomes that much easier knowing that McCown and a heralded rookie will create a nice tandem for the present and the future. And that’s one more team not at least window shopping for what K.C. has hanging in the window.