Bears Meet With Josh McCown
(CBS) The NFL Combine affords front offices the opportunity to add more pages to prospect's scouting reports, but it's also a premier networking event.
Just a week after being released by the Tampa Bay Bucs, veteran quarterback Josh McCown met with the Bears, coach John Fox confirmed Wednesday while speaking ahead of the start of the Combine.
"There's obviously interest, or we wouldn't have met with him," Fox said. "He's a guy who's had opportunities as a starter in this league. He's served as a backup. He's the right kind of guy, I know from my perspective, that you want on your football team. So we'll see where it goes. He's got relationships with a lot of people in this league that have high opinions of him."
As it stands, the Bears have only two quarterbacks under contract -- incumbent starter Jay Cutler and David Fales, who has yet to take a snap in an NFL game. McCown has a history with both Fox, as the two were together in Carolina for two seasons (2008-2009), and Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who was an offensive assistant with the Lions when McCown was a backup in 2006. McCown also shares a close relationship with Cutler from the time they spent together from 2011 through 2013.
McCown parlayed a five-game stretch from his 2013 season in Chicago into a two-year, $10 million contract with $4.75 million guaranteed with Tampa Bay, yet was cut after one season. In 11 starts in 2014, McCown went 1-10 and ended the year as the league's 32nd-rated quarterback in passer efficiency.
In a league desperate for quarterbacking talent, McCown is likely a replacement-level bridge quarterback, ideally suited to be a backup.