Is Josh McCown the Best QB Option on Free-Agent Market?

Due to the nature of the NFL, the only term used less frequently than "free-agent quarterback" is "talented free-agent quarterback." Elite signal-callers are far too valuable to hit the open market, which is why teams usually must find their next franchise quarterbacks in the draft. 

This year is no exception. 

Among the 33 quarterbacks Spotrac lists as impending free agents, only the washed-up Matt Hasselbeck and Michael Vick have been to the Pro Bowl, and none were regular starters from start to finish in 2014. 

A shallow pool did gain some water on Wednesday, however, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers released 12-year veteran Josh McCown. 

McCown has had his moments, but don't be fooled into believing he's special. He's spent the majority of his career holding a clipboard, and as the NFL's fourth-oldest regular starter in 2014, he posted the second-lowest qualified passer rating in the league. 

Quarterback	Comp.%	TD-INT	YPA	Rating
Blake Bortles	58.9	11-17	6.1	69.5
Josh McCown	56.3	11-14	6.7	70.5
Brian Hoyer	55.3	12-13	7.6	76.5
Derek Carr	58.1	21-12	5.5	76.6
Geno Smith	59.7	13-13	6.9	77.5

But the 35-year-old was one of the few quarterbacks among this year's free-agent group who earned more than 10 starts in 2014, and he was stellar enough in relief of injured Chicago Bears starter Jay Cutler in 2013 that he landed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Bucs. 

With 13 touchdown passes and only one interception, McCown was actually the league's third-highest-rated qualified passer that season, causing many to ask whether he might in fact be a better long-term option than Cutler. 

Quarterback	Comp.%	TD-INT	YPA	Rating
Nick Foles	64.0	27-2	9.1	119.2
Peyton Manning	68.3	55-10	8.3	115.1
Josh McCown	66.5	13-1	8.2	109.0
Philip Rivers	69.5	32-11	8.2	105.5
Aaron Rodgers	66.6	17-6	8.7	104.9

Instead, he got borderline-starter money from the Bucs, where he became a borderline starter. But we rarely saw the 2013 version of McCown in 2014, which is why it's fair to wonder if that hot stretch in Chicago was an aberration. 

McCown's remarkably successful 2013 season might have also been tied to the fact he was working with arguably the best one-two wide receiver duo in football, with Pro Bowlers Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall combining for 189 catches, 2,716 yards and 19 touchdowns. He had Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson in Tampa, but that's still a downgrade, and it's clear he wasn't as well-supported elsewhere. 

The thing is, that's the only place in which McCown has been able to experience any level of consistent success. And we're still only talking about a run of only eight games, five of which he started. He's been employed by 25 percent of the NFL's 32 teams since 2005, which is never a good sign. 

Prior to his one-year stint with the Bucs, McCown hadn't been a Week 1 starter since he was a member of the Oakland Raiders in 2007. That year, he posted an abysmal passer rating of 69.4, ranking 35th among the 37 quarterbacks who played in at least nine games. 

A third-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2002, he couldn't cut it during his first four years in the league. The Detroit Lions gave him a one-year shot in 2006 before deciding that Jon Kitna and J.T. O'Sullivan were better options, which says it all. 

When he was a backup with the Carolina Panthers in 2009, he couldn't even earn a shot to replace struggling old-man starter Jake Delhomme. After that, he spent a year in the United Football League. The following summer, he lasted only two weeks as a glorified camp arm for the San Francisco 49ers before eventually getting a shot as an interim backup in Chicago (following an injury to Cutler). 

At that point, six teams had given up on McCown in a seven-year span. Fool one team, good for you. Fool a half-dozen teams, shame on them. 

Brad Gagnon/Bleacher Report

It's easy to look at what McCown did in 2013 and think that he could be the diamond in this rough free-agent quarterback class, but the reality is he probably shouldn't be viewed as anything more than a backup, or an older version of fellow impending free agents like Jake Locker, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett or Mark Sanchez. 

I mean, does he really stand out among this group of scrubs for anything other than his age?

Quarterback	Age	2014 starts	2014 rating	Career starts	Career rating
Josh McCown	36	11	70.5	49	76.1
Michael Vick	35	3	68.3	112	80.4
Shaun Hill	35	8	83.9	34	85.5
Brian Hoyer	29	13	76.5	17	76.8
Mark Sanchez	28	8	88.4	70	74.1
Ryan Mallett	27	2	67.6	2	61.0
Jake Locker	27	5	70.9	23	79.0

So, sure, there's a chance McCown can capture some of that 2013 magic for somebody in 2015, but with neither age nor his track record on his side, there's a better chance he serves as nothing more than an overpaid stopgap. 

Considering that time is at least on the side of fellow free agents Locker, Hoyer, Mallett and Sanchez, it might make a lot more sense for teams to invest in one of those guys. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon