Josh McCown Earned Release
February 16th, 2015
Joe isn’t sure what popular sports radio and TV personality Adam Schein sees in Josh McCown.
Joe has nothing against former Bucs turnover-prone quarterback Josh McCown. Good dude. Team guy. Did everything he could to get the Bucs to turn around their fortunes.
Problem was, McCown simply didn’t have it.
Things happened last offseason that didn’t pass the smell test.
One of the biggest was signing McCown. He was a journeyman. And, more often than not, journeyman quarterbacks are journeymen for a reason: They stink.
When was the last time you witnessed as bad a starting quarterback play before McCown called plays for the Bucs? It was truly, truly awful. Somewhere, “Son of Bob” was laughing.
That brings Joe to popular sports radio and TV personality Adam Schein. Last week, upon learning of McCown’s release from the Bucs, Schein torched the Pewter Pirates as Joe documented. Among his statements:
“I loved Tampa signing Josh McCown. Loved it.” Schein said. “Thought there would be an amazing quarterback competition. You know I think Mike Glennon is absolutely a top-32 quarterback in the NFL and should be starting in the league. But instead, they just gave the job to McCown. And they literally didn’t have, in early August, any offensive guards. They didn’t have – we had McCown on the show to talk about that. They didn’t employ starting offensive guards. They had to make the Logan Mankins’ deal. The whole thing was a mess.
“They didn’t have a quarterback competition. And in theory, you felt, all right, they will keep McCown for this upcoming year. They will draft a quarterback and they will trade Mike Glennon for a second- or third-round pick. A lot of teams want Mike Glennon. Cleveland, Buffalo, the Jets, Houston. Think of all the teams that could use somebody like Mike Glennon. [Chortles] The Buccaneers should be one of those teams but Lovie doesn’t like him.
Look, there is a reason why McCown is on the street. He was abysmal last year. Just awful. Joe had to get prescription eye drops his eyes hurt so bad watching McCown.
There were plays (read: turnovers) that were so godawful, a high school quarterback would have been pulled. And this was coming from a veteran NFL signal-caller.
No wonder McCown couldn’t hold a steady job with anyone.
Joe is guessing Schein was sticking up for a loyal guest (Josh McCown is much more gifted at talking a whole bunch but saying nothing than he is as a quarterback). That’s great for Schein, but seriously, no one could have watched McCown play for more than two games and come away thinking he was anything close to an average starting quarterback.
The Bucs, as the “Custodian of Canton” points out, are one more season away from setting a shameful NFC record for most years finishing in a division basement. That would not have happened with decent quarterback play, it’s that simple.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:03 pm
I think that some teams and scout view the Bucs as the worst team and worst run organization in the NFL the last 6 years. And they are most likely right. Other team think the Bucs are so bad that is worth a look see of Buc cast offs. while the player might not be great, Tampa will definitely make a player look worse than what they are.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
Haven’t we said goodbye to McCown enough……let’s move on!!!
February 16th, 2015 at 2:05 pm
V-Jacks and McCown; both the same:
Why keeping them, if you could upgrade the position + saving money and/or stock piling draft picks? + with a younger talent????
Torrey Smith + Mike Evans would be dream WR combo + Torrey is 26/27 years…
+ Draft picks for V-Jacks trade would be great, since we got lot of holes + Torrey will be not much more expensive, if not cheaper, because there are good talented out in FA + Draft…
February 16th, 2015 at 2:07 pm
+ T.Smith can outrun secondary unlike V-Jacks.
as much as i love to have V-Jacks here – the NFL is a business.. if you can be replaced in benefit of the team – its no personal thing..
February 16th, 2015 at 2:08 pm
Yeah, can we let this go? Rehash, rehash, rehash… It’s just a complaintfest.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:17 pm
HMMMM COULD IT BE THAT MAYBE HE WASNT A BAD QUARTERBACK, THAT MAYBE JUST PERHAPS THE FACT THAT THE GUYS ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE STARTING BY THE NAMES OF PATRICK OMAHMEH AND GARRETT GILKEY!?!? HOW BOUT NO RUNNING GAME?? PREDICTABLE SIMPLE PLAYCALLING?? ITS ALMOST SHAMEFUL THAT SOMONE COULD EVEN BLAME ONE PERSON AS MISERABLE AS THIS TEAM IS, LET ALONE JUST THE QUARTERBACK. I PREDICT HE HAS A PRETTY GOOD SEASON IN BUFFALO, AND WELL BE THE LAUGHING STOCKS ONCE AGAIN BECAUSE WE RELASED HIM AND DRAFTED AN OVERWEIGHT THUG QUARTERBACK.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:21 pm
People that post in all caps are specific type.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:23 pm
Ya shocking he had such a great coordinater and o line I’m suprised considering that he didn’t have more success.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:27 pm
It starts at the top. If your thinking drafting will change the fortunes of the TBB, your as sorry as Lovie. How bad is the Bucs organization, its as bad as it was under Hugh Culverhouse. When did you ever see an organization hire its coach before its GM. Its the Lovie show and if you did homework, you would know Lovie is stubborn, bigoted and holds a grudge forever. He is the guy that picks players based on working with them and does very little research.
Good teams develop a system that is consistent. Great teams develop the players and tweak their approach to fit the personal. We do neither.
We need new owners and that is never going to happen.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:32 pm
I was in the stadium right in front of him when he fumbled and picked up his own fumble and immediately threw an interception. That play summed up his year.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:33 pm
The Bucs probably will need a bridge while their first overall choice adjusts to the nfl. Especially if that choice is Mariota as many predict. Lovie knows that using Mccown as that bridge will likely cost him his job after 2015. Mccowns poor play got him cut. Starting Mccown while a rookie develops would probably result in another 2-14 season which Lovie and even Licht can not risk. They beleive Glennon while a bit underwhelming would be a much better option while the rookie develops. If they draft Jameis they might not even need Glennon to be a bridge. All things considered Glennon in their eyes gives them the best chance of success while a rookie is groomed. Hence Mccown was cut. If Glennon can get the Bucs 7 wins while everything develops then that would be a step in the right direction. If Glennon is starting and the defense takes a big step forward next year and we win 9 or 10 games and a playoff berth (very unlikely) then great Glennons the guy. Cool. Any way you look at it letting Mccown go was hands down the best decision this franchise couldve made.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Lets quit bashing the Bucs. Lovie had a terrible year but Lovie is NOT a terrible coach. He’s not Belicheck by any stretch but he deserves one more year as does Licht. If they draft Winston and the Bucs go .500 I will be happy. Its not the end of the world people we have sucked for a long long long time. I have faith Lovie will give us a good defense once again and I pray our new OC will give us some semblance of an offense.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
When we draft Winston, we’ll automatically have the 3rd best QB in the division – Sorry, but he’s better than Cam.
And if we can improve the defense, we can win with the 3rd best QB in the division – How so?
The Panthers have done it 2 years in a row.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:40 pm
Let’s ALL start over….especially you Joe!!! The dreadful season of 2014 is history and 2015 brings new hope and new optimism!!!
GO BUCS!!!
February 16th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Oh and whos to say that Lovie didnt want to keep Glennon in the rest of the year but the Glazers said hell no Lovie you wanted him here. We dropped 5 million in your boy you gotta ride it out with him when hes healthy. We didnt pay millions on your guy just for you to bench him when things get real.
Its just nearly impossible to think a great football mind like Lovie would really beleive Mccown gives them the best chance to win. Something about the whole thing just dosent add up. Its just too easy to sit here and say Lovies a moron. Theres more than meets the eye with all this.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Honestly. I hope mccown gets to start in buffalo. I want to see if it simply was him not being the guy or if it was the bucs/coaches that brought him down to the way he played last year. Stay tuned bucs fans.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:48 pm
In the last decade the only QB that rivals the mediocrity of Mccown is Chris Simms the first 3 games of the 4-12 ’06 season. But even Simms started a playoff game for us. Mccown is really at a level of mediocrity that hasnt been seen since the Culverhouse years.
February 16th, 2015 at 2:51 pm
If the Bucs draft Winston, they will have the 1st biggest bust in the division
February 16th, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Joe now beating a dead horse. Time to move on
February 16th, 2015 at 3:22 pm
You will be surprised at what you learn and have some misconceptions made clear. Everyone should watch because it will inform everyone and we can discuss later, be blessed all.
February 16th, 2015 at 3:23 pm
Oh and pass this on
February 16th, 2015 at 3:42 pm
Bucs trapped in Lovie’s basement
February 16th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
LargoBuc Says:
February 16th, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Its just nearly impossible to think a great football mind like Lovie would really beleive Mccown gives them the best chance to win. Something about the whole thing just dosent add up. Its just too easy to sit here and say Lovies a moron. Theres more than meets the eye with all this.
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Yea there is. Its called WE TANKED the last 4 or 5 games of the season – and McCown was working towards those means for Lovie. Did a skillfull job making it look like he was “trying” too.
February 16th, 2015 at 4:54 pm
The dude was lousy. Even in the one great Bucs win of the year, that preseason win at Buffalo he made bad decision and did not take care of the ball as advertised. You just can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and there is a reason why McCown has always been a backup.
Nice guy though, good luck in Buffalo….
February 16th, 2015 at 5:05 pm
@pickgrin:
absolutely true.. the big fear after Lovies first year here should be:
why in hell tanking, no matter the draft position, if you are making same kind of moves as last year – it realy doesn´t matter where you pick…
February 16th, 2015 at 5:11 pm
Worst starting QB in buccaneer history. Thanks Lovie Smith.
February 16th, 2015 at 6:12 pm
lovie the gm will get lovie the coach sacked
February 16th, 2015 at 6:26 pm
I doubt they were tanking week 10, the week Mccown was renamed starter. The last game or two maybe they were “tanking”. But to say the whole thing was based on tanking and just tanking seems a bit short sighted.
February 17th, 2015 at 1:13 am
LargoBuc Says:
February 16th, 2015 at 6:26 pm
I doubt they were tanking week 10, the week Mccown was renamed starter. The last game or two maybe they were “tanking”. But to say the whole thing was based on tanking and just tanking seems a bit short sighted.
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I’m not suggesting they were tanking when McCown 1st came back which was for the 9th game of the season with the team sitting at 1-7. Lovie had just watched Glennon lose 4 straight games and he definitely regressed a bit instead of improved after the Pittsburgh game. To be fair to Lovie because he was fair with Glennon’s opportunity – he gave MG8 2 extra games as starter AFTER McCown was healthy enough to come back – to see if the 2nd year player could improve with some additional game experience and perhaps earn or win the starting QB position based on solid play. Well that didn’t happen.
Lovie probably did feel that McCown gave the team the best chance to win at that point – I’m sure he was hopeful that the improved play of the defense which had already started by then combined with the (slightly) improved play of the OLine (compared to the 1st 3 games at least) would allow McCown to play better than he did in the 1st 2 1/2 games. Also – Lovie does not believe in a starter losing their job to injury unless the next man up clearly outplayed the original starter.
My believe is that by the time the season was clearly lost – either 2-9 or 2-10 time frame – that is when the tanking plan went into effect. I don’t know if it was Lovie’s idea and he presented it to the owners and they approved because of the QB talent expected to come out – or if it was the owners idea in the 1st place and they instructed Lovie to go ahead and lose out at that point but to not make it obvious. I think it was one of those 2 scenarios and that McCown may have been brought into the plan to help implement it. The QB who touches the ball on every play can easily swing the balance of a football game negatively with a well timed fumble here or a “stupid” interception there. McCown may well have been the only player who was in on the plan BTW – but there’s no way to know obviously.
If this is how it went down – then McCown did a good job of tanking but not making it obvious. It was not until the last game where the Saints seemed to be tanking harder than we were – that it became obvious to everyone what was happening in that game and that we were indeed trying to lose in the 4th quarter.
Everything I just wrote could be total BS and despite trying – the Bucs were just really that bad. But this theory sure does explain a few of the Mysteries that linger from 2014 doesn’t it? In particular the mystery of why Glennon didn’t start the last few games to get him some additional experience and evaluation once the season was obviously over at the 2-9, 2-10 or 2-11 marks.
February 17th, 2015 at 10:11 am
Yeah, but Glennon is a top 32 QB! Huh!?I think Shein was sippin’ some ‘shine!
February 17th, 2015 at 11:29 am
@pickgring:
realy well stated + obvious playcalling can make dramatic changes too and its all “well the OC had no experience” + playcalling obviously is allways a guess game anyway – so people will never know..
Remember the obvious weak playcalling when Freeman was leading the team?
People who actually studyied the “sheme” were impressed by how weak it was..
Then Freeman got mental.. Shiano had his guy taking the field.. jsut saying..
Could all be BS…
By the way, how about the whole Freeman investigation??
It´s just sooo easy to let a case rest in peace.. because who cares?
thats how a lot of things goes in the NFL – Rice case?
>>> good that at least some people cared