Josh McCown is the Cleveland Browns quarterback of right now. McCown signed a three-year deal with the Browns last Friday that guarantees him $6.25 million and $5.25 for the 2015 season.
Asked on a conference call with Cleveland-area reporters Monday what he'd been told about the team's plans to pursue other quarterbacks, McCown chose to take a delay of game.
"I'll leave those conversations between myself and the Browns," McCown said. "I'm excited about what we're going to do moving forward and building the team. No matter who joins us in that room or what that room looks like, the goal and my part at least is to help us come together and play good football.
"It starts with me. As the veteran in there right now, it starts with me. I'm excited about that and I embrace that, and I look forward to helping that group play good football and going out and doing that myself, too. That's really as much as I can comment on that."
As usual, the game's most important position is a position in flux for the Browns.
McCown, who will be 36 this summer, has a 17-32 career record as a starter. Johnny Manziel, the No. 22 pick in last year's draft, is in rehab for off-field issues. Brian Hoyer, who started 13 games last year, is headed for free agency next week. The Browns also have 2014 undrafted rookie Connor Shaw under contract. Shaw was called up from the practice squad to start the 2014 season finale due to injuries to Hoyer and Manziel, who showed little in two starts.
The Browns have said they're not writing off Manziel and expect him to be with the team during the spring. The addition of McCown would presumably keep the Browns away from pursuing another veteran quarterback when the league year opens next week and might mean McCown is in the plans to open 2015 as the starter.
But McCown wouldn't say that the chance to start brought him to the Browns.
"For me, it was more of, 'What's the right fit? If I go there, can we win football games and be productive?' And NFL coaching experience was big for me," McCown said. "Just having guys that have been in the league for a while. This certainly qualified for me. As far as both Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) and (quarterbacks coach) Kevin O'Connell, they are new to their current positions but they both have experience in the NFL so I have value on that, for sure.
"Those were probably the main pieces. Any situation, you never know how it's going to shake out, but what you want to be able to do is, when you play, be able to play productive football. That's the key for me."
McCown played his best football in 2013 with the Bears, throwing 13 touchdown passes and completing 66 percent of his passes in five starts. He parlayed that into a contract with the Tampa Bay Bucs, with whom he went 1-10 last season.
The Bucs cut McCown in February and have the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, which begins April 30.
"Not a whole lot to say about (last year), other than it just wasn't good enough," McCown said. "I've said it before (and) I don't shy away from it. In that situation, I wasn't good enough to pull us out of that. It was an unfortunate thing to happen, losing an offensive coordinator the week before the season, and everybody busted their butt to try to pull together and get ourselves out of that.
"We just weren't good enough. I own my part of that, for sure. If anything, it just lights a fire to get that bad taste out of my mouth because that was not the way certainly I would have hoped to have planned for that season to go. I want to see it changed. Lord willing, I'll never be in that situation again, but I think, too, I'm better prepared if that does happen because I sure did learn a lot."
He had another chance waiting -- and he knows the Browns have 22 different players start at quarterback since the team returned to the league in 1999.
"It's obviously a tall order," McCown said. "(But) that is in the past. I have to hone in on this team in this year and play good football, do what it takes for this team to win football games. You can't get caught up in that.
"Every guy comes in with the same mindset and intentions and mine will be no different. What I am excited about is the people that are there currently -- the offensive line and those guys I will be playing with and the coaches I am going to be working for.
