Former Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown announces retirement

Former Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown announced his retirement Monday after a 17-year career.

McCown was a journeyman who had stops with 10 different teams, including the Cardinals, Lions, Raiders, Dolphins, Panthers, 49ers, Bears, Bucs, Browns and Jets. His Tampa Bay stop came in 2014, a year in which he started 11 games and threw for 2,206 yards and 11 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. His season was the 19^th-best (out of 21) by a Buccaneer quarterback since 2000 (minimum 200 attempts) based on ANY/A and QBR.

But it wasn’t all bad in 2014 for McCown, as he and Mike Glennon played a part in making team history. The two quarterbacks were involved in Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson becoming the first duo in franchise history to both reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark in the same season.

McCown was a respected leader in the locker room, as evidenced by his status as a team captain during his time in Tampa. By all accounts, he was loved and respected everywhere he went. As far as his time with the Bucs is concerned, he really was more of a victim of unfortunate circumstances. The Bucs were in year one under Lovie Smith and got stuck without a true offensive coordinator for the entire year after Jeff Tedford struggled with health issues. The season was probably doomed regardless, but McCown was a true professional the whole way.

And depending on your opinion about Jameis Winston, you partly have McCown to thank (or blame) for the Bucs being in position to draft their current starting quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Overall, McCown finished his 16-year career with 17,707 passing yards, 98 passing touchdowns and 82 interceptions on a completion percentage of 60.2.

Cheers, Josh. Happy Retirement!