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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed quarterback Josh McCown to a two-year deal, his agent announced via Twitter. The veteran quarterback visited Tampa last night, and the Bucs did not allow him to leave town without a deal. McCown is expected to compete with Mike Glennon and possibly a draft pick for the starting spot in Tampa, in what should be an actual quarterback competition.
The veteran quarterback was a career backup before coming to Chicago and getting the opportunity to start five games due to an injury to Jay Cutler last year. McCown put up some amazing statistics over those five games, completing 66.5% of his passes for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception at a rate of 8.2 yards per pass.
He was, however, helped by an outstanding quarterbacks coach, a terrific pair of wide receiver and an easy slate of opponents. Expecting McCown to put up similar numbers in Tampa would be foolish, but he should be able to at least run an offense competently under offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford.
Update: It's a $10 million deal, according to Ian Rapoport.
The #Bucs deal for Josh McCown: It’s two years for $10M. He gets $4.75M this year, $5.25M next year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2014
Alex Marvez has some more details on McCown's incentive structure.
McCown can earn $1M in 2014 and 2015 through play-time incentives and another $3M if @TBBuccaneers make playoffs, source tells @FOXSports1
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) March 12, 2014
That's very good backup money, or very, very poor starter money. You should see a real competition in training camp with Glennon and possible a draft pick given that salary.