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Oakland Raiders If Collins is let go, McCown is the best free agent option
By John Onan ; 02/20/06
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When the Arizona Cardinals decided to make quarterback Kurt Warner their Valentine on February 14th by resigning him to a three year deal that could be worth around $20 million, it may have helped the Oakland Raiders find the man who could replace their much-maligned signal-caller Kerry Collins if they decide to cut him loose.
Raiders’ owner Al Davis is not quite ready to hand the starting job to untested 2005 third round draft pick Andrew Walter, and is also not excited by the proposition of shelling out $8.5 million to Collins, including a $2.5 million roster bonus next month. For less than half the price, he could land the younger, more athletic Cardinals backup QB Josh McCown, who will be an unrestricted free agent on March 3rd.
The 26-year old McCown's fate was sealed in Arizona last summer when coach Denny Green brought in Warner and his prior MVP credentials to lead this longtime losing franchise to glory, but it didn't happen. With both eligible for free agency this spring, it was obvious McCown would be ushered out of town.
McCown has played well for a bad Arizona team the last two seasons, starting 19 games and throwing for nearly 4,400 yards. While Warner had slightly better numbers in 2005, McCown led the team to a 3-3 record compared to just 2-8 under the former NFL MVP.
He took over for the injured Warner this past October and had back-to-back career outings, throwing for 385 yards and two scores on 32-of-46 passing in a 31-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers and topped that the next week with 29-of-46 for 398 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-14 loss against the Carolina Panthers.
Despite being 9-10 in his career as a starter, Green had no patience with McCown and was always anxious to replace him under center and stunt his growth at the position. The head coach even installed dreadful quarterbacks like Shaun King and John Navarre into the lineup in 2004 with terrible results.
While he doesn't have the name power of Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper or Tennessee's Steve McNair, McCown has the most upside of any of the current free-agent quarterback crop. If Collins is unwilling to take a nice-sized pay cut to stay in Oakland, McCown could be the right guy to step in and lead the team back to respectability.
