NY Jets interested in Josh McCown

According to the NY Daily News the NY Jets are interested in Bears QB Josh McCown. McCown is an unrestricted free agents who can’t be negotiated with by other teams until free agency starts on March 11. The Bears have exclusive negotiation rights with McCown until March 8th.

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The Jets think McCown “would be a quality backup” to 2nd year QB Geno Smith, but I think he would be a  big upgrade as a starter and give Geno Smith a year or two to develop. McCown was excellent last year for the Bears and led the NFL with a 109 QB rating in the eight games he played.

Both Marc Trestman and Phil Emery have stated that they want to bring McCown back. McCown has also stated that he wants to stay in Chicago. Hopefully the two sides can come to an agreement before free agency begins, but I wouldn’t be surprised if McCown tests free agency to see what’s out there. 2013 was the best season of his 11 year career and he might get one or two opportunities to be a starter somewhere else. If McCown leaves, the pickings are pretty slim on the back-up QB free agent market for the Bears.