Jets Agree To Re-Sign Josh McCown

This was not the news Jets fans were hoping for. After losing out on Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum, the Jets have agreed to re-sign veteran quarterback Josh McCown to a one-year deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

McCown’s quality 2017 season will earn him a raise as well. The soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback will make $10MM this season, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets. This comes in north of McCown’s $6MM agreement from 2017.

The Jets’ work at quarterback likely is not done. Gang Green is reportedly working on a new deal with Teddy Bridgewater and the Jets are almost certainly considering this year’s top quarterbacks with their No. 6 overall pick. Bridgewater may not be thrilled about the crowded nature of that QB depth chart, but he’d be hard-pressed to find a team willing to sign him without a contingency plan (or two).

This now could crowd the Jets’ quarterback room. Although the same three passers are under contract from last season, with Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg still on the roster, that’s going to change once the Jets’ draft concludes. And Bridgewater could still be an option, despite McCown’s arrival. The Jets won’t figure to have to pay too steep of a price to sign Bridgewater given his injury past, and whatever rookie the team selects will be attached to a cheap deal for years. Given the team’s cap setup, it can easily make a McCown-Bridgewater-rookie arrangement work.

McCown will now be set to play an 18th NFL season. But his 17th did well to help some Jets pass-catchers. He established new career highs with 18 touchdown passes, 2,926 passing yards and a 67 percent completion rate. Both Robby Anderson and Jermaine Kearse played well with McCown, who likely will now be tasked with mentoring a higher-profile young passer than the ones he was previously tasked with tutoring.

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