Oakland Raiders: 5 backup quarterbacks to target in free agency
By John Buhler
Though he wouldn’t be collecting a new NFL jersey in the process, as he played for the Silver and Black in 2007, it may not be a bad idea to see if the greatest quarterback journeyman of our generation in Josh McCown would venture a return to the Raiders. He may be coming off one of his best seasons to date with the 2017 New York Jets, but he’s not for long in the Big Apple.
McCown is one of those quarterbacks that is too good to be a backup, but not good enough to be a franchise quarterback. A team will win, or contend in, games with McCown under center. Given his nature for starting from scratch with a new playbook every offseason, McCown might be the perfect study buddy for Carr in Gruden’s West Coast attack.
McCown has had great staying power in the NFL for his ability to do everything in his power to get his starter ready to play on Sundays. If he is the starter on Sundays, well, then he surely gets himself ready to play. Given that McCown has maybe a year or two left of football in him, he may just call it a career this offseason. He did succumb to a season-ending injury with the Jets.
While he is injury-prone, McCown would be essentially another coach in the quarterbacks room for Carr to work with. It’s pretty clear that McCown loves football and loves to play the position of quarterback. Though he may only be with the Raiders for one more year, McCown could be instrumental in Carr taking the next leap in his quarterbacking development.