After Josh McCown left Buffalo earlier this week without an agreement in place, reports indicated that he had at least one more visit – and perhaps more – lined up. It looks like one of the stops on McCown’s free agent tour could be Cleveland, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who reports that the Browns are interested in the veteran quarterback. Cabot says the two sides haven’t officially planned a visit yet, but could do so soon.
The Bills and Browns certainly aren’t the only teams interested in McCown, however. The free agent signal-caller said last week that at least six teams had expressed some interest in him after he was cut by the Buccaneers, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets this morning that the number is up to eight. Per Rapoport, one of those potential suitors is the Bears, and according to Vaughn McClure and Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com (Twitter links), McCown is dining with new Chicago head coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace this morning. McCown can afford to be patient and take his time with the free agent process, since his main competition on the market won’t be free to sign until March 10.
For the Browns, McCown makes some sense as a potential fit. While we’ve heard some whispers about the club having interest in Oregon prospect Marcus Mariota, it seems more likely that the team would bring in a veteran to compete with and push Johnny Manziel, last year’s first-round pick. Brian Hoyer served that role in 2014, and could still return to Cleveland, but the closer this year’s free agent period gets, the more likely Hoyer is to test the open market.
As Cabot notes, McCown also has a little history with new Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who was working in Oakland as the Raiders’ quarterbacks coach when McCown started nine games for the team back in 2007. A source tells Cabot that, despite Hoyer’s 2-7 record during that run, the two enjoyed working together and would welcome the opportunity to do so again.