Once upon a time the Dallas Cowboys reportedly showed some serious interest in quarterback Josh McCown. These were the days of 2016’s Training Camp, just shortly before the Dak Prescott era officially began in Cowboys Land.
Rumors were – at the time – that Dallas was interested in trading for McCown, who was then employed by the Cleveland Browns, after Tony Romo’s Preseason Week 3 injury last year. The move would have given the Cowboys some established veteran presence, if you believe that what McCown brings in that capacity is worth having. Now it can be had for far less than a trade would have cost, as McCown is on his way out of Cleveland.
Browns are releasing QB Josh McCown, source says.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 7, 2017
The Cowboys are in an interesting place with the quarterback position. They have established starter – and Offensive Rookie of the Year – Dak Prescott who is here to stay, Tony Romo with a situation that will unfold this offseason, and then a couple of question marks in Kellen Moore and Mark Sanchez.
I’ve pounded the table here at Inside The Star that due to Dak Prescott’s relationship with Mark Sanchez, the Sanchize should stay; however, what if the Cowboys look elsewhere? Could McCown be a realistic option? Should he be?
McCown, drafted in the 3rd Round by the Arizona Cardinals in 2002, made himself relevant once again with a 348-yard and 4 touchdowns performance against the Cowboys as a Chicago Bear in 2013, and has only won two games since during stops in Tampa Bay and Cleveland. He has yet to reach the four touchdown mark in a game since that fateful day in December 2013.
The truth of the matter at backup quarterback is that you’re not likely going to have someone who is supremely talented at the position. Cowboys Nation was spoiled in this regard when we had Tony Romo at the ready, but that is the outlier as far as normal circumstances are concerned. McCown’s glaring inefficiencies since his big day against Dallas were collectively a big reason that the interest in him a season ago was curious at best, but sometimes “curious at best” is all you can get from a backup quarterback; however, it’s not worth it with Josh.
Dallas is far better suited to stick with a quarterback that knows their system and knows Dak as far as backing him up is concerned. Both Mark Sanchez and Kellen Moore are much more viable options for QB2 than Josh McCown could ever be. I mean, the Browns said they’d had enough of him. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
At times, when pressed into starting duties McCown has shown that he can come in and fling the ball pretty well. Over his career He has 79 TD’s and 69 INT’s. But the dynamic has changed here with the emergence of Dak. I think we can all agree that Romo is gone one way or another but the possibility still exists, however small that he takes a cut in pay and remains a backup. I think of all the possibilities of playing destinations staying in Dallas still presents the best opportunity to get a ring. But I think we would be fooling ourselves to think he is on the roster in 2017. I have heard talk of Kellen Moore becoming a coach as early as 2017 but how true that is I don’t know. I do not want to judge Sanchez as a Cowboy based on his one performance so I won’t take that into consideration. I did see him sitting next to Dak on the bench going over plays a lot last season but it might not be needed as much this season. And of course there has also been the talk of drafting another QB to develop. In the end, I think it’s all gonna shake out well and we will covered at the QB position.
The adage is have a veteran backup QB if you are a contender. So you still have a chance to win a playoff game if your starter gets hurt – see 1993 NFC title game with Bernie Kosar coming in and icing the game with a TD to Alvin Harper, when Aikman went out with a knee to helmet.
So it’s all on Sanchez to either start looking like that guy, or the job is probably open to a veteran free agent the Cowboys can bring in. My sense is that Sanchez can be that player and just needs more reps in this offense. But he has to look that way in the 2017 preseason IMO.
If – if – Moore recovers entirely from the leg, I like his moxy and it’s not a bad #3 talent. Small QB’s like Doug Flutie and Pat Haden were able to have good stints in the NFL, so it’s not impossible.
I think Tony will likely leave. I would not bring in McCown. I would let K Moore and M Sanchez compete for the 2nd team QB position in 2017. I think K Moore is likely to beat out Sanchez. I also believe Dallas was lucky last year for Dak to get a chance to play and establish himself as the first team QB for the future. If K Moore had been starting my guess is he would have won a lot of games and would have done well. He would have fit well in the Dallas offense and been a good game manager type QB who could have consistently made the short to intermediate passes all over the field to multiple receivers. Dak probably would not have gotten off the bench. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think K Moore would have done as well as Dak actually did and it would have been harder for K Moore because K Moore is not a dual threat QB like Dak and does not have the arm strength Dak does. Romo would also have likely been given his first team position back after he recovered and we would likely have Romo as # 1, K Moore as #2 and Dak Prescott as # 3 going into 2017/2018.
I think the Cowboys need to bring Sanchez back. Sanchez would the perfect sounding board for Dak. Won’t have a Romo-Orton, situation.